Huge Tumor

[leapyrtwins]

Ronan -

thank you so much for thinking of us and updating us on your father's condition.

It sounds like he's making progress little by little.  Sometimes recovery is slow, but he'll get there.

Stay strong.  Best wishes,

Jan

[Jim Scott]

Ronan:

We appreciate you making the effort to update us on your father's condition. 

It seems obvious that your father is a fighter and is struggling to come back from the brainstem stroke.  I believe he will but as you are well aware, it will be in small increments.  Sometimes recovery from such a medical crisis seems to move at a glacial pace, but apparently you're seeing small but steady improvements, even with the infection that was able to be treated effectively.  Your father's courage and determination with your support and love will certainly go a long way in helping him recover.  Prayers are being said for your father (and for you, Ronan).  Many folks you've never met care about this situation and the people involved.  Please try to update us when you can find the time.  However, we all understand that first and foremost, your attention is on your father, as it should be.  We wish you well and I'm confident that, in time, this will work out for the best.

Jim

[Sammict]

hi Ronan

I had just read about your fathers surgery. It sounds like you have a very close family your father is very lucky. I will be praying for him and your family that the rest of his recovery is a smooth one.


Sam

[cmp]

I'm sorry this has been such a long, hard haul for your father and you and your family, Ronan. It's so unfortunate that the infection developed, but I'm glad that he seems to be responding to the antibiotics and that he continues to improve from the stroke, though I can only imagine how hard it must be to bear with the necessarily slow pace of his recovery. I agree with Sam that he is very lucky to have you standing by him!

Your father will be in my thoughts... Hang in there!

[Ronan]

Hi

A lot has happened since my last update. My dad was making fantastic progress until 2 Sundays ago. He had his shunt inserted and his conscious level was very good. He was able to response to all our questions, either by nodding or shaking his head or using his hands. He was doing so well that the trache was removed and for the first time in 2 months he spoke. We could hear some words and one night he said goodnight.

All that came crashing down 2 Sundays ago. We visited him on Sunday morning and discovered he had a dislocated shoulder and a huge (7 inch diameter) hematoma on his right chest. The doctor came in and set his shoulder on spot without even doing an x-ray. He seemed a lot more comfortable after that, but his screams during the procedure was horrible. The doctor initially said that the hematoma was due to the dislocated shoulder. An x-ray was done only later at noon.

Later on, in the evening, a trainee nurse went in to do suctioning (to clear his lungs). We were told to wait outside the room. After a while, the nurse came running out, shouting "Staff nurse, patient is vomiting". Instead of rushing to his aid,the staff nurse in charge of my dad said "I am serving dinner". The trainee nurse rush in again, and a while later ran out again to shout for help. This time, a nurse went in. Within a short moment, the nurse came out and shouted for more help. It was only then the staff nurse in charge of my dad went in. She immediately called for the doc to come. By this time, a lot of the vomit has flooded his lungs and he was having difficulties breathing. The doc immediately asked for a new trache set to be prepared and he immediately reinserted the trache set. He was immedaitely rushed into the Intensive Care Unit. They spent a lot of time in there trying to suck as much of the vomit from his lungs. A CT scan later reviewed his right lung was very cloudy.

In the next few days, he developed a few more antibiotic resistant bacteria in his lungs. He is now on many more medication and stronger antibiotics.

We were very upset and angry with the hospital. We have asked for a full explanation and put it to the doctors and nurses that they are the once who put him there, they better do all they can to get him out of it. They have admitted responsibility for the afternoon incident, but have yet to justify the dislocated shoulder and hematoma.

He is doing slightly better this two days, but he is still very weak from all the drugs and infection. His hematoma is still huge and they are monitoring it very carefully now. I will keep everyone updated on his progress.

Ronan

[sgerrard]

About all I can say is Wow.

The dislocated shoulder is a real mystery, I don't see how that could happen. 

Is your dad still conscious during this? It sounds like he made good progress in recovering his mental state; hopefully that has not gone away. The whole afternoon incident is really distressing, I don't know what to think or say about that hospital.

I hope your dad manages to battle the infection and recover from that as well. He has been through enough now.

All the best, Ronan. You have been very strong through all of this; try to keep it up.

Steve

[leapyrtwins]

Ronan -

it's good to hear from you.  However, what started out as a very positive post ended up being very disconcerting.

I find it highly disturbing and very confusing that your father was doing so well and then took a turn for the worse.  Did the doctors give you any reason for your father's sudden dislocated shoulder and huge hematoma?  Is it even possible for someone to just develop those?

As for the lung incident with the nurse, I am speechless 

You and your family have every right to be angry and upset.  Is there some kind of disciplinary board at the hospital that you can talk to about this issue?  While it's a good thing that the doctors and nurses have admitted responsibility for the incident, it somehow just doesn't seem like enough.

I am so sorry for all that your father - and you and your family - have gone through.  I will keep all of you in my prayers.

Please do keep us updated.

Jan

[Ronan]

The doctors had initiated blamed the hematoma on the dislocated shoulder, and blamed the dislocated shoulder on a sudden severe fits. However, after we asked for answers, they got a Orthopedic specialist to come see the fracture. He was able to confirm that the hematoma was not caused by the dislocated shoulder.

While they are still unable to explain the dislocated shoulder, the new theory they are going by now for the hametoma is that while doing the shunt, the location of the shunt is very close to a major artery on the chest. Over time (one week to be exact, since the shunting operation), the rubbing of the shunt with the artery caused the artery to burst. Blood leaked from the burst artery at a very fast speed and at a certain level, the huge hametoma exert enough force on the artery to stop it from bleeding. As the hametoma has not gone down significantly yet (after almost 2 weeks), they have to "wait and see". They are not ruling out surgery if the hematoma doesn't go down.

The doctor has, however, indicated that it is highly unlikely that he would suffer a major fit attack, dislocate a shoulder and have a huge hematoma, all on the same night. He did not have any major fit attack before this incident.

We have complaint to the nurse clinician (head nurse) and the doctors of the ward and have long talks with them and they did mention that they will impose some disciplinary action on those involved. We chose not to pursue the incident anymore, at least not at this time. Instead we set them the more difficult and important task of making sure my dad is well taken care of and that they make sure they do everything they can to get him well. They have since been extra attentive to him.

Steve, I think he was conscious throughout the whole ordeal. I can't bear to imagine when his shoulder was dislocated and how many time they have turned him the night not knowing he had a dislocated shoulder. He looked really miserable when we visited him in the morning. The saddest part of the whole incident is that we were the ones (and not the nurses on duty) who discovered the hematoma which ultimately led to the doc telling us he had a dislocation.

He was unresponsive for two days this week, when the infections set in. His mental state seemed unaffected, but we do not really know at this point as he is still very weak.

Ronan

[Kaybo]

Ronan~

Oh My Goodness!  Y'all have been thru the ringer - I am so sorry about this new development.  All I can say is that I will pray...for everyone involved, but mainly for your father's healing.

K

[cmp]

ronan--

I'm so sorry to hear about what your father has been through recently. How absolutely horrible! I really hope the hematoma goes down without surgery being required, and also that some explanation for the coincidence of the seizure, dislocated shoulder and hematoma emerges so that any further developments like this can be avoided.

Thank goodness the hospital is being extra attentive to your father now, though of course their earlier lapse was disgraceful. You, your father, and your family will be in my thoughts for peace and continued healing...

Carrie

[4cm in Pacific Northwest]

Ronan,

My heart goes out to you and your family. I will put your family, especially your father, in my prayers tonight.

Hugs.

Daisy-Head Mayzie

[Ronan]

Hi

Just to update everyone. After months and months of perseverance and tons of hard work, my dad is now finally able to walk with a walking frame. He has been undergoing intensive rehabilitation for the past 2 months (and still going on). The improvement is amazing. He went into rehab with muscles feeling like jelly. Now, he actually has real hard muscles in his legs and hands. He still has a lot of rehabilitation to do, but we are very happy with his progress. The only major problem we have now is that he still cannot eat (tube feeding now). His swallow is still quite weak, though improving and it seems one of the muscles controlling food entering his throat is not opening well. He is undergoing speech and swallowing therapy everyday and it seems to be helping. We have an appointment with an ENT specialist this Friday and they are considering botoxing the affected muscle and hope it will help.

Thank you very much for all the love and prayers everyone has showed us.

Ronan

[jazzfunkanne]

Hi ronan, i have been following your story , am so happy your dad  is doing well all your prayers are getting answered, send him my love xxx

[sgerrard]

Oh my goodness, Ronan, you have updated again! I thought about you a while ago, and frankly I was afraid to ask what had happened.

I am delighted that your dad is up and about. My dad has been using a walking frame as well, he is recovering from a hip replacement surgery.  Your dad has a longer road ahead, but it sounds like he is making great progress. The ability of the mind and body to recover from this kind of trauma is truly amazing. I hope they are able to find some way to get the swallowing muscle to work.

I hope you are holding up as well, this must have been a very stressful time for you. Please remember to take care of yourself through all this. It is a little bit early, but I am going to wish you and your dad a happy new year now. There are better days ahead.

Steve

[leapyrtwins]

Yeah, Ronan!!!

Glad to hear your dad is doing so well.

Thanks for returning and updating us.  I think I speak for many when I say, we really appreciate it.

Please give your dad our best.

Jan