Doug Dennett

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Doug had been in a lot of pain and not sleeping so he skipped Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's and stayed home to try to get some rest.  Friday morning followed another sleepless night so he decided to follow his doctor's suggestion and take an over the counter sleep aid and go back to bed. By 10 he was sleeping soundly, so we kept the house quiet and let him sleep the day away, thinking that the sleep  was therapeutic . At 8:30 I went in to give him his night medicine and could not rouse him. The ambulance took Doug to Lawrence Memorial and, after packing an emergency room bag, I followed.
 In the emergency room Doug's temperature was 105 degrees.  They  applied ice and transferred him to ICU. By midnight his temperature was headed in the right direction and they were running tests to find the cause. The scary news was that Doug was septic. His kidneys had shut down following a urinary tract infection and "in cases like this, things  can go south very quickly."   The doctor  advised me to  call family for support. He stayed in ICU for 7 days, improved to floor care and finally was moved to a long term acute care hospital in KCKS. A place where he can still recieve I V  antibiotics and therapy (speech, PT, OT).
It has been a long two week ride that saw small improvements most days. Although  Doug still is not able to swallow well enough to be allowed food or drink,  he is close to getting his fluid diet approved.  He was able to sit in a chair for a  couple of hours and stand for just a minute or two with support.