hi all. I thought I would come on here to ask for prayer and answer questions for those that are praying with me.
my dad is very sick and in the hospital right now. doctors still don't know what is causing it- in fact, several times, his situation has been compared to a house episode.
it started, the serious part, this past weekend. he went to the doctors for a follow-up appointment on diabetes.
{a couple weeks ago he started experiencing a lot of frightening symptoms- dizziness, light-headedness, thirst, and felt like his heart was beating out of his skin. he went in to the doctor then and his blood sugar level was at 600. he should be between 100 and 125. 600 is a very high glucose level and could be very dangerous. they immediately started him on a regimen to lower it, and he stayed in the hospital then. he was released the next day, and had all sorts of follow-up procedures scheduled. he followed the strict diet they outlined and began insulin.}
fast forward to this past weekend. he was having some troubling symptoms again, went in to the doctor, was admitted to the hospital, treated, and then released.
I last spoke to him on Saturday, as did my sister, and despite being discharged, his symptoms still seemed to be present.
somewhere in the next 24 hours things took a sharp turn for the worst. he lost consciousness and started having seizure-like spasms. he was writhing in pain, and, from what I understand, started becoming incoherent. he was taken to the hospital and admitted.
the spasms/seizures continued, he became more agitated, and his coherency continued to slip away. at some point, he lost all feeling in his legs and was unable to move them or respond to touch. they tested him for strokes- his brain function looked and continues to look normal. his heart also looks fine. and the neurological exam showed no tumors or blockages. they observed that his spasms are not seizures and they do not know what is going on or why they are continuing. and he is in a great deal of pain. also, he started hallucinating. he believed he was back fighting in vietnam yesterday. in the brief moments he is conscious, he calls out in pain and sounds to be very confused. in trying to manage his pain and figure out the cause, they worried that some of the medication was making the hallucinations worse. so they removed certain meds, and the hallucinations appear to have decreased- but the pain has intensified.
for the first time this afternoon I was able to talk to him on the phone and tell him how much I love him. and it completely broke my heart. bev, his girlfriend, has been with him the entire time. my sister drove up last night when things got worse.
the doctors have said that right now they don't think his life is in immediate danger, but they really don't know what is going on. they do know that his potassium and magnesium levels are very very low and that could be causing a lot of this. but they do not understand what is making those levels so low, as he is obviously being given those intravenously.
right now I just want to be there. but since Jeremiah is gone and I don't have any family nearby and am in a new city, I'd have to take all of my kids with me- and everyone is firm in that my kids should not see him like this; and I doubt they would even be able to. not to mention it would be crazy expensive to fly the 5 of us out on last minute notice (though my sister has graciously offered to get our tickets). if jeremiah were here right now, I would already be there with my dad, holding his hand. but my husband is not here, so I am trying to wait for information from bet, the doctors, and my sister to decide what to do. if it gets any worse, we are going, and I will figure all the rest out later.
so I am asking you to pray. pray that his pain be eased, pray that the doctors figure out what is causing all of this, pray that his magnesium and potassium levels will pick up.
thank you. I will post an update as soon as I am able to.
