Monday morning and Dad is still in the ICU. He had a rough night last night, experiencing what the nurses called "sundowning". Once the sun goes down, the patient's world shrinks to a horizon of about four feet, and they start to get delirious. When I arrived this morning, it was good timing. A couple of really wonderful nurses named Kellie and Mercedes were trying to calm him down, but that's something I can do very quickly, whereas it would take them forever. When he saw me, he called out "Deb, I missed you *so* much!" but the crisis started to pass. I stepped out while they cleaned him up and put fresh bedding on, which helps him have a good visit. When I came back in I listened to him describe his night terrors, and helped him bond with the nurses. I stayed until the 7:30AM visitors ban began, and promised to be back at 4:30 this afternoon. I may try also to go back tonight around 10:00PM to help him ease into the night.
Today he's going to get a "swallow evaluation" and depending on the results of that could start eating. I promised him his juice and coffee he's been asking for, and that lit him up. He made peace with the nurses, though warned them with a wink in his eye: "I still don't trust you!". If we can get him into the main ward (his breathing is getting stronger even when the vent is off) then I could put him in a wheelchair and push him around. He needs to stimulation so badly. He wants his iPod but can't really operate it yet, and he has trouble reading without his glasses (I'm looking for those -- I think I have them). There's definitely some danger as long as he continues to struggle against the tubes and wires at night.
He's starting to ask for more. We went through the contacts in his cell phone, and he asked me to double-check with a couple of people in case I missed them. He wants me to pick up some books at his house on Saturday. And did I mention juice and coffee?? And the fiddle, of course.
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I don't know if this will help with the glasses but I think we found a pair of sunglasses in the plane when we were getting it ready to transport back to Flabob. Get ahold of Roger or Jan as the last time I saw them we put them in Rogers pickup.... Barry
Thanks, Barry. I found a pair of glasses with the belongings the hospital gave me. They only have one lens in them. I found several other pairs at his house. I'll get the broken ones fixed when I can figure out where his prescription is, and I'll take all the others in to the hospital this afternoon and see if any of those help him read.
Hi Deb,
I don't think Dick has sundowners. Sundowners is something you see in patients who have dementia. Sometimes people don't even know it and it shows up the first time in the evenings in a hospital because of the change in environment. Then families will say, oh ya we noticed he's not quite himself at home in the evenings. Thinks like he's a little more grumpy or restless. It doesn't sound like Dick has dementia, plus it would of been a problem earlier in his stay at the hospital. I would bet he's developing what is called ICU pychosis. When people are in the ICU for a long time like Dick has been, a real, but tempory pychosis can set in. This can develope to enclude the day time too. Also what are they giving him at night? Some of the sleep medicines or pain meds can cause people to become confused and afraid. The popular drug ambien has sent more than a few patients on a bad trip at night.
The sooner he's out of there the better he'll be. I'm glad he is going to have a swallow eval. Sounds like he's really looking forward to some coffee and juice.
Take Care,
Maryanne
Hi Deband Dick,
I bet once he has his juice and coffee, he'll be more himself. He must be ready to get around more frequently. Perhaps more wheelchair walks around the permitted areas would help so he gets his stimulation both mentally and physically. It may tire him so he'll sleep better in the evenings. Gosh, I can fell his frustrations. Speaking of medicines, Deborah, I was looking for another bowl and I saw there were several medicine bottles in a kitchen cabinet. Thought maybe the doctors should know what he's been on prior to the accident. Oh, and we saw one cat last night. The black one and he wasn't very receptive and was kind of growling at us. What's his name? Maybe if we call his name he'll be a little kinder to us. I'm sure he misses his daddy. Blessings and Prayers, Laura & Jonny
Hi Laura,
The black one's name is Budda, and the one you don't see is named Tigger. Budda hissed at me a couple of times, too -- seems to object to the presence of everyone except Dad. But he's not so unhappy about it that he won't eat the food!
Thanks for noticing the meds. I jotted those down when I was there, and they were all already in his medical chart at Kaiser.
Will you be around on Saturday? I'll be there fairly early, maybe 7:30. The cleaning crew arrives at 9:00.
Hey Dick----I heard about the plane accident but that's all I knew. I tried calling you a few times and left messages. I never heard back and I thought you might be in a hospital somewhere. This morning Deborah called me and gave me the full story. When you get out of ICU I'll plan to come up and visit. It's ashame what happened but the main thing is you are doing well and will be OK. It sounds like you will fully recover. I saw something on the Sonex talk site about a Sonex going down. I opened it up and saw a photo of your Sonex lying in a field upside down. I recognized the paint scheme and discovered it was you and read the newspaper article. I heard that the engine stopped. It sounds like you followed proper procedure as you have to land somewhere when the plane suddenly becomes a glider. It will be nice to know that the cause was. Anything can happen to something mechanical (Jab 3300).
I was out at Cable last Saturday. When I got there I discovered it was their open house day with airshow. I know you would have wanted to be there but there will be others. I spent some time at the show and then went over to the hanger and fabricated the flap and brake handles and a few other pieces made from angle. I got the doublers on the wings so they are done except for the tip rib which I'll do at the end and after strobes.
Well my friend, I'm relieved that you will be OK. Deborah has done a great job. It is times like these when family and friends really matter. I'll be in touch and hope to see you soon. I still need your help when I do my canopy!!
Russ ps: Fellow Sonex builders wanted to know how you were doing. Now that I know I'll send an email
I agree with Maryanne that Dick isn't showing the typical signs of sundown syndrome. I would expect to see that in the evening hours, hence the name. As it got dark out, people would just start to have panic attacks, hallucinations, disorientation, etc. It would usually subside by morning, however in your Dads case, I'm sure that he has no sense of day or night as the ICU's usually don't have windows. Physical touch seems to work well to calm folks down from the night frights. A 5 minute hand massage or something like that can work wonders.
I am anxious to hear how the swallowing evaluation went. I'm hopeful that they will see that he can safely have liquids and foods, and not worry about stuff ending up in his lungs. I'm betting even green jello and dilute chicken broth would be welcome at this point in time. And he'll probably propose marraige to the first eligible person to bring him juice and coffee!!
Do they routinely put your Dad back on the vent at a certain time, or does he do something that signals them that he needs to be back on it? Does he start to panic (due to whatever) and hyperventilate, which causes his oxygen saturation to drop and they put him back on the machine?
Looking forward to the next update.
Cousin Carole
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