Hospice

Hello everyone,

This is so difficult and sad to say that my dad has been moved to the Hospice wing at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center after being in the ICU for 2 weeks. Dad was moved on Tuesday afternoon after a few days of really tough talks with the doctors and nurses we had been working with. This was such a hard decision and was not made lightly by my family. I want everyone to know that the doctors did everything they could and we thought of all possible options. In the end my mom, sister and I knew that this was the right thing for my dad as he would not want to be here in the condition that he is currently in.

In the last few days in the ICU we learned more about what happened and what we were faced with. On the night of the seizures he suffered at Chatsworth my dad also experienced a major infarction in his brain, basically a stroke without bleeding in his brain. My sister and I were able to get to the hospital 2 days after this happened and were with him for 10 days. When I got here he was heavily sedated, on a respirator and still having seizures we just couldn't see them since he was so sedated. He also came into the hospital with MRSA, a staff infection and was then put in isolation. After they got him stable and resting for a few days they began to decrease the sedation to try to wake him up. This is a difficult process since he has a brain injury already. we spent a few days going back and forth and throughout this time we started seeing the seizures since the sedation was being taken away to wake him up in order to see if he could breathe on his own. The seizures ranged in size and time but all were scary and not a good sign as far as showing the new trauma to the brain. When the seizures occur we were told that it was the brain shutting down and saying the connections were not working properly. He did finally get off the vent and had a day when he had his eyes open and was responding slightly to commands such as squeeze my hand, wiggle your toes, etc but he could not speak and could not really move his body or hold his head up. This changed pretty fast. He began to be unresponsive, not opening his eyes and not following commands. It was also at this time that he developed pneumonia as well as a blood clot in his arm. The second CT scan showed the infarction as well as parts of his brain that had been damaged and died.

My dad came so far after his first accident. We were so lucky to get 4 more months with him. He worked so hard and was so brave. His body just couldn't take any more and started to give out. My mom, sister and I know that he would not want to live in the condition he has been in the last 2 weeks. So we are all here at the Hospice together to be with my dad and support each other. My dad is being made as comfortable as possible and is being well taken care of by the nurses, they are actually taking care of us too which we greatly appreciate through this really hard time.

I can't really say any more than that as we are taking it hour by hour and day by day. There is space for us all to sleep in my dad's room so we are with him and together which is all we really want right now.

I know that you all love my dad and we wanted you to know where we are. I will post when I can to keep you informed. My family could not have gotten through this experience without all of your love and support and I thank you. Please keep saying those special prayers, all kinds help.

-Carrie