Just the Facebook updates for these days...
THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015
FACEBOOK UPDATES
§ 7:11 ~ I guess it's time for an update. Phillip made some good strides today. He
has managed to eat some for breakfast and lunch and keep everything down which
meant they could take his feeding tube out. He has FaceTimed with a couple
different family members which was good to see him reconnecting with those he
loves. He had a couple visitors, his grandparents and his parents which were a
bright spot in his day along with the phone calls. We got some good time talk
about our experiences, cried a little together and felt like a team again. It has been a little frustrating
today because the hospital has become very full and they are a tad
understaffed. Because Phil is in better shape it's been a little harder to get
attention when he needs it. The main struggle and burden Phil
has carried today is pain. With all the anesthesia and sedation finally out of
his system the pain is intense. There hasn't been an effective way to manage it
for a very long period of time, but they are working on it. It recently has
gotten worse. It seems like throughout the day the pain has become more and
more intense. They gave him a double dose of pain meds hoping to manage some
pain and hoping it would help him sleep. He tried to stay up most of the
day so he could start to get on a schedule and not get time all mixed up. I
think this maybe has contributed to his well-being because he is so worn out. It's so
hard to see someone, strong like Phil, struggle to just be comfortable for a
few minutes. It's opened my eyes to how brutal these next phases of recovery
will be. If you have a minute, please pray for Phil and his pain management. He
understands that he won't be free of pain for some time, but he just wants to
be able to feel like he can tolerate it. I read Phil many of your posts and
messages and he was so grateful and overwhelmed. The prayers and helping and we
appreciate them so much.
§ Tonight ended on a very low note. Please send prayers for a
restful night for Phillip.
We discovered that he's very sleep deprived and is affecting his mental health
in a very poor and negative way. Thank you.
FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015
FACEBOOK UPDATES
§ 11:39 AM ~ I was not prepared for how incredibly hard this would
be. Yesterday I was fooled into thinking it was a good day. It felt grand. But
late in the evening Phil, thank the heavens, opened up to me about struggling
with visions and hallucinations. He described the nature of them and they were
horrific, demonic scenes straight from hell. He explained that these
hallucinations weren't just happening when he was asleep, but every single time
he closed his eyes, even if he was talking or listening to someone. My heart
broke for him and I felt so incredibly angry that he would have to endure
something so terrible while going through everything else. He expressed
hesitation of telling anyone for fear of having to be sent to a psych ward. As
we talked about it I expressed the importance of telling someone and he became
comfortable discussing it with his nurses. The charge nurse, David, was
fantastic, understanding and reasonable with positive ideas of how to go about
getting a solution. He paged the physician, Dr. Griffey, who oversees both the
surgical and cardiovascular ICUs. He was so kind and quickly explained that
Phil was severely sleep deprived. He also told Phil that what he was going
through was unfortunately completely normal. They got him a sleeping pill,
melatonin and some anti-anxiety medication to help him get a couple hours of
sleep. All he needed was 90 minutes to help restart the body and mind. He
called me at 4:30 to let me know he slept and that he was feeling better. When I got to the hospital this
morning, he was not at all like himself yesterday. Which is probably a good
thing and is in a more appropriate demeanor considering all his injuries. I
think he's still struggling with the hallucinations but I think they're getting
better. I will probably take a few nights of good sleep to really help erase
the hallucinations all the way.
Hopefully today they
can send him to the floor, but the hospital is full that they may not have a
bed open for him. His swelling is continuing to go down. And they are
encouraging him to eat more food to try to build up some strength. He has been
suffering from heartburn and has had some pretty bad cases of hiccups. I just
feel so bad and helpless. I wish I could take it all away instead of sit and
watch him suffer. It's so hard. Thank you for listening and following Phil's
story. It would be unbearable with out all the prayers and support.
§ 11:38 PM ~ Ughhhhh. We road the emotional and physical roller
coaster today!!! Phil called me at 4:30am and 6:30, both times with crazy
hiccups, to let me know he slept some. The hallucinations lessened in frequency
and horror from last nights sleep but they have since returned. Phil managed to
eat with his mom and felt sick after. They helped the sickness with some zofran
and he was feeling better. He napped for about an hour, we woke him at noon
feeling rested. He felt good for about an hour but then pain settled in and
they washed him, changed his dressings and took him down for a face ct scan.
That beat him up pretty good and the pain became hard to manage. Not until 5 pm
or so did he start to feel better, smiled a couple times and cracked some
jokes. It was good to have that comfortable Phil around for a bit. Then the
content of his hallucinations started to change in content back to horrible and
demonic torturing. Close to bed time and sleep medication time a bed opened up
on the floor and things continued to get worse for Phil. The order for his
anxiety medication got lost and it was very stressful. I had to be the very
most annoying and bothersome person ever to get them to realize it was an
important priority. Then I had to be annoying and tell them shut up because
they were so loud laughing and talking outside his door where the nurses
station is. Phil was very mad and very anxious. He seems like he's doing okay
now. Hopefully he'll be able to get some good sleep. More updates to come.
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