Well, with regards to my Dad...

We have more bad news/good news stuff...

Summary of Previous...

Dad had a quintuple bypass. He recovered well until he had a platelet cell crash, they think from the Heparin (blood thinner). He was getting platelets, and IVIG it looked stable and under control.

On Tuesday my brother Gordon had just left to go home to Maryland, and Mom was on her way home when I stopped by the hospital to say hello for the evening. No big deal, just go by before visiting is over, give him a new teddy bear, stuff like that...

He is supposed to be done with platelets soon, and then have a walk.

He asks me if the platelets are "right" they are labeled the right blood type, he insists nothing is wrong, he just wondered...

He says he is cold (ok, you get cold when you get a transfusion...)

...then he gets short of breath

...we call the nurse, and call, and call...

Well he starts being very cold, and shaking... and shaking harder!

By the time they are taking him of fthe platelets and trying to draw blood, he is shaking the whole bed. (heavy hospital bed)

It really almost looked like a seizure, but he was coherent (and scared) and still short of breath.

About the time I got a message to mom to turn around and come back to the hospital they were still trying to draw blood (he has bad veins for this, and they have drawn so much...).

Mom got to hospital about the time they finally got a doctor to clear orders for intravenous Benadryl...

It was apparently a reaction to the platelets, apparently this can happen even when the blood type is ok.

He got better FAST after the Benedryl but I was so scared, and so was mom.

Mom stayed a while longer, I went to mom and dad's house to walk the dog and feed dog and cat.

(Hubby Wayne and friend Heather deserve medals, they have been real saints through all this)

Dad is now sleeping peacefully, and all looks okay. Mom is home, I am home.

I suppose it was a good thing that I was there to translate for Dad (who is deaf) and to call the nurses and tell them what was wrong. I am surely glad someone was there!

But...

...me and my needle phobia surely didn't like dealing with Daddy practically in seizures, and them poking both arms over and over trying to get blood.

Please keep us all in your prayers, especially Dad, of course (Rev. Roger Pickering) but also my Mom (Sandra) my brother (Gordon) and me... as well as everyone else involved. Please also pray for good communication between Daddy and the hospital staff, and all that.

I just got home... it is... at about 1 am on Tuesday... this all happened Monday at between 7 and 8:30pm.

I am still on "no mail" from many of my groups, as I have barely been on line.

Kirsten

Normally this space is for news about my business, but sometimes business and personal interfere with each other...

My father, Rev. Roger Pickering, has been admitted to the hospital after a minor heart attack. Fortunately not much damage was done to the heart muscle. He has been scheduled for a quadruple bypass on Monday.

His prognosis is actually very good, especially as his heart muscle had not suffered major damage. If it were not for a nearly 100% blockage in one of the major veins, they might have been able to work with one of the alternatives to a bypass, but since they must bypass that one they will be doing all four.

Understandably, no matter how good the prognosis, the entire family is at a loss. This was very suden. We are all lucky that daddy's heart attck, which is what started this sequence of events, was mild, and did little damage.

Mother is bearing the brunt of this, of course, and both my brother and myself, as well as our spouses, are trying to be available and provide support.

Prayers for his health, and the best possible outcome, are welcome. In addition i am asking that the entire family be added to your prayers, as this is very stressful to us all.

I do hope everyone understands that deliveries, and email response to inquiries, will be delayed.

Thank you for your understanding,

Kirsten Houseknecht