Clinical details

Dad has a serious infection in his kidneys. He also has a kidney stone; initially, the doctor said it would be the least of their worries, but that wasn’t true, since the urologist found that the stone is causing blockage from the kidneys and preventing the infection from being successfully treated by his antibiotics. After he’s had more fluids by IV, and when a spot in radiology opens, he’ll have an ultrasound to determine the best treatment for removing the blockage. The urologist is hoping to go in from the side and manipulate the stone back up into the kidney, to be removed later, since apparently the current location of the stone would make it riskier to go in the urethra and try to pulverize it that way.

But the hospital is slammed with patients, so we have to wait our turn, and in the meantime, Dad is in bad shape. His heart rate is up, his blood pressure drops when he’s moved, and he’s in a lot of pain. He’s in Critical Care right now, and there’s not a lot to be done to speed things up. Complicating matters, Mom has her own doctor appointment this afternoon, an important one she’s been awaiting for more than a month.

I talked to Eric’s brother last night, and he reassured me that despite the scary-sounding words (and despite the doctor’s urging my mom to establish a Living Will for my dad; apparently, those are standard cautions for everybody in the ER), it should be a resolvable situation. He said he wouldn’t rush to travel unless things took a turn for the worse; right now, so long as things stay like this, it’s better to sit tight. Better, maybe, but not easier. If you pray, please send some in our family’s direction – that treatment would move quickly, that the meds would improve Dad’s level of pain, that everyone’s minds could be put at ease.

In the meantime, Alysia’s coming to visit me tomorrow on the spur of the moment, which…I can’t begin to say how much that’s going to make me feel better right now.