Update on Dad

On Friday Dad called the VA nurse who handles the Veteran's in Elko (we don't have a VA facility here) to schedule his next physical. He mentioned to her that he'd been constipated for 3 days but that it had finally 'passed'. He then told her that his skin and eyes were showing signs of jaundice and she recommended that he go straight to the ER in Elko because that could be a sign for a number of things - gallstones, liver problems or a strain of hepatitis. After examination, the ER doc concluded that Dad had gallstones that were blocking the bile duct and that we 'needed to get to the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City ASAP!" They coordinated his arrival at the VA with the folks in SLC and Dad and I were on the road by 8:30 pm that night (after driving to my house so I could pack a bag then back up to his house for him to pack as well). We stopped twice - once to get gas and once at a rest area to nap for about an hour. When we got into SLC we stopped to get me checked into a hotel then headed up to the VA. When I got back up to the VA in the morning, Dad was having an ultrasound to see what they could determine from that. Dad was in good spirits, his stats were good, not running a fever, blood pressure fine, etc. When the docs palpitated his abdomen, he said he was only feeling a slight tenderness where his gallbladder was and that his only complaint of pain was hunger pain since they weren't letting him eat. later that afternoon they sent him up for an MRCP which is kind of like an MRI. Sunday they would send him out for an ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatogram), where they would go in endoscopically to remove the stones that were blocking the plumbing. Then they would schedule him to come back to have his gallbladder removed. At one point they were just going to back off of the GI consult and go straight for his gallbladder. They then decided that they were going to do the ERCP. They do this procedure over at the University of Utah Medical Center and would transfer us over there by ambulance. At about 6 pm the ambulance showed up and we got him all loaded up. The VA sent a nurse with him, too. At about 7 pm all the players were in place - the docs, the nurse from the U, the tech, the anesthesiologist (yep, I know it's not spelled right!) They told us that once they got Dad to sleep and intubated, the procedure would be about 30 - 45 minutes. Cody, the nurse from the VA and I went to the waiting room and switched on the Olympics. At about 8:30, Cody and I started to wonder why we hadn't heard anything, so we both snuck down the hall to see if we could find anything out. We ran into the nurse who told us it was almost over and that they would be taking him to recovery shortly. At about 9 the doctor came in to talk to us. When they got the stones out of the way, they discovered that there was infection sitting behind them. That was a surprise to all of us, since he didn't present with any sign of infection at all - no fever (the last one at the VA before we left was 99.1), no nausea, no pain at the sight, and his demeanor was typical Dad the jokester). They inserted a stint that would help with the drainage of the infection that would come out at a later date. They got him moved to recovery and at about 9:30 they let Cody and I back there to see him. He was in good spirits, just a little groggy. I can't remember what time the ambulance showed back up to take us back to the VA...I rode up front in the ambulance and I jokingly asked the EMT if we were gonna run with the lights on. He said "no", but indulged me by turning them on for a brief moment. Then he said I could hit the lights if I wanted to...so I did and it made me a little giddy :). Then he asked if I wanted to turn on the siren. "I am a 43 year old woman! How would that look?!" He said to think about it....So when we pulled up to an intersection with some cars ahead and behind us I said sure, lemme turn the siren on! So he showed me which button it was and away I went! He said that was one of the cool things about his job...but the the coolest was being able to run red lights legally! I thanked him for fulfilling one of my childhood dreams! We got Dad settled back into his room and after staying with him for a bit, I went back to the motel.

I'm getting ready to head back over to the hospital now. Want to be there when the docs come see him. So where we sit right now is scheduling him to have the stint removed and having the gall bladder taken out. I will keep everyone posted with updates when I can.