Dad had surgery to reconnect his esophagus to small intestines in hope to finally get him on the road to healing. The surgery started yesterday around 1:15 and lasted over 3 hours. His doctor told us that the part of his small intestines that was to be joined to his esophagus was necrotic so he had to cut part of it out and attach the healthy part to the esophagus. His esophagus did look good though. There was more necrotic tissue around his liver and pancreas which was cleaned. Part of his large intestines had to be removed because of necrotic tissue so he ended up with a bowel resection also. Less than an hour later he was taken back to surgery because he was bleeding and it was uncontrollable. His doctor told my family around 7 pm last night that he would probably not make it beyond an hour or so. He said that the area where his spleen had been removed (10 years ago) was the main problem because of a messentary artery which has been the bleeding problem the whole time. And his liver function is a concern. So they started infusing him with plasma, platelets, blood and different medicines to help his BP and to help him clot. So we all went to see my Daddy to be with him as he made his journey out of this world. Most of us got to seem him around 9 pm last night (which according to his doctor he should have been dead). Two of my sisters were traveling and had not made it back in town yet. At this point my dad’s kidney function was still great and he was bleeding less but his head was really swollen and he is back on a ventilator. He was actually alert and trying to talk to us. His doctor then told us that we should still probably expect the worse and pretty much all life saving measures were being taken. My mom signed DNR papers. My two sisters arrived around the same time and we got to go back to see him again. At this time the swelling had gone down slightly in his head and he was holding his own for the most part. He was off most medications and relatively stable considering all things.
This morning when I saw him again, he was still awake and alert and all vitals are stable and the bleeding has slowed down considerably. He was trying to talk to me and I’m pretty sure he told me he was feeling well. His doctor was amazed that he made it through the night and honestly doesn’t know what to tell us. He said tomorrow if things are the same, he will have to go back in and remove some of the things he packed in his abdomen to put pressure on the area. Basically at this point, we are taking it hour by hour. We really don’t know if he has much more time with us. He does not appear to be suffering as he is smiling at us when he visits and trying to talk to us. The fact he has lived through any of this is amazing and we just aren’t sure if our family is going to get anymore miracles. So for those of you keeping up with his journey and praying for him please keep us in your prayers. I am praying for God’s will to be done and for us to have peace and comfort no matter what that means and for it to be abundantly clear.
