Welcome friends and family. We are so glad to have you visit Dad's page (hosted again by his son, Chris). Though this is yet another challenging season, we are thankful and joyful to all be together in North Carolina and be able to see and be with Dad regularly.
In short, this is a post COVID complications health issue he is struggling with.
Around the week of October 10th, Mom and Dad got COVID. Mom recovered within about 10-12 days, but Dad had a bit more of a struggle. He came down with a pretty serious cough and was really struggling to sleep. After several days of this, Mom took him into the ER at Veteran's Hospital in Durham, NC. He was admitted as they said he was struggling with Bacterial Pneumonia. After about a week's time, Dad had recovered enough to return home. He was sent home with some oxygen as he was still having some difficulty keeping his O2 saturation up.
Dad was home for a bit over a week in this environment. Resting and using the O2.
Then all of a sudden last Tuesday (November 9th), Dad's O2 saturation tanked...and we don't know why. After some time of trying to get his numbers back up without great success, Mom took him back to the ER at Veterans at which time they admitted him to the ICU. He was put on COVID precaution and they started working hard to get his numbers back up.
The good thing was they were having some success. The downside was since they put him on COVID precaution, we couldn't see him for the first 2 days...it was awful. Poor Dad was in there without any visitors and it was extremely difficult to find a way to communicate with him as there are no phone in the room and--as luck would have it--his cell phone broke the week before.
Thankfully on day 3, my sister Michelle was able to get him an iPad (so we could text and FaceTime with him) and they lifted the COVID precaution so we were able to visit him immediately (which Mom and Michelle did).
Since that time, the struggles have continued: 1. O2 Saturation fluctuates. He was doing better for a couple days and they were able to lower the O2 requirements, but for the past 2 days it's been back up. 2. They are unable to figure out exactly what is going on but are currently treating him for a pulmonary embolism (blood clot). 3. Sleep has been really rough for Dad. He's had at least 3 nights of very limited sleep, which, for a healthy person can leave you feeling awful. So of course, for Dad who is battling...it's just been so tough to fight what's going on with such low sleep. He's just wiped out.
This brings us up to date to today (November 15, 2021).
At this point we are unsure of exactly why Dad is struggling to keep his O2 up (could be the blood clot, could be lung tissue scarring...could be something else we are unsure of at this point).
It's an emotional time for Dad.
Prayer requests he has asked me to share are primarily for patience as the process is difficult and unknown. Yet, he also needs prayer for sleep.
Prayer requests we are asking for are: 1. A complete healing of his lungs by the Holy Spirit (or the infection that is causing this) 2. Joy and an encouraged heart through this process 3. Sleep 4. The opportunity to walk closely with his Savior, hear His voice and experience His presence through this time 5. Rest/sleep, peace, comfort and wisdom for Mom
Thank you all! We love you and appreciate your encouragements that you'd like to share on this page as well as all of you prayer warriors lifting Dad up through this time.
Last week Dad started Respiratory Therapy at Duke Health Care facility. In Dad's assessment the therapist wanted to see how low on O2 he could go before Dad started having problems.
Welp...Dad took it to the limit. 😛 Because that's the kind of guy he is.
They went all the way down to zero (which means no extra oxygen and Dad was just breathing ambient air).
So!...they said he should start getting off the O2 as much as possible at home except when exercising or when physically working hard (such as with them doing strength and cardio therapy).
Crazy.
He's going to Respiratory Therapy 2 days per week as of last week. And, other than that...back to his old tricks.
He's got a check up with Pulmonologist this Tuesday so we will see what updates he has to say. But all signs are pointing to continued healing.
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Harry Stay Connected to Family and Friends
A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Harry's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?
3 generations of goodness.
Back at the ol' crosswords.