Here it Goes

Papa now has 2 infected heart valves. Surgery will provide a cure, but there will be a 60% / 40% mortality, meaning, 60% chance that he will not survive the surgery. He will also require a longer recovery period due to his current health condition.

Without surgery, Papa will continue to remain susceptitable and prone to the airborne bacteria that is putting him through these episodes of breathlessness, with his poor immunity. With the current antibiotics, the strongest so far, Papa will recover from the infection, but it may not be a full recovery. He may be discharged. He may catch something again, and than gets admitted again. It will be a vicious cycle, until the bacteria gets him.

Its a tough call, a huge gamble, with a human life at stake. I am grateful for the fact that Papa is lucid, and when we lay down the cards, he was very sure that he does not want to go ahead with the surgery. I guess it is a really tough call, but he seems certain of his decision.

Having said that, there has been some improvement in Papa's current health condition over the last 2 -3 days. He is now breathing through an oxygen tube, instead of being intubated. He is also having light meals now, instead of getting his meals through a feeding tube. Despite these improvements, he turns a little blue in the face when sitting up, and his BP is still a little unstable.

The docs, on the other hand, thinks that he is "fit enough" for the General Ward. On the contrary, the issue is more likely to free up bed space in the ICU. Just when Papa is making marginal improvements, the docs want to sent him back to back to the battleground to fight a battle not visible to the human eye, a battle that may eventually get him.

Papa is still in ICU now, but they are looking to transfer him to the General Ward sometime these few days. We are holding our breath now, and hoping that he does not catch anything while he is in General Ward.

But what are the chances? Its a hospital, afterall

Meeting the Docs

The Docs have scheduled a meeting with Mum, me and my aunt (Papa's sister) tomorrow morning. I am not sure what the docs are going to discuss with us. Perhaps, its about the heart valve surgery. The surgery has its risks, but with the complication of Papa's health condition, there is even greater risk. Sigh...will see what the docs says.

Papa is less sedated these days. He is responsive, and as usual quite restless. I noticed too that 2 of his toes have turned black. I asked the nurse if his toes are gangrene, but she did not give an affirmative answer. Papa is not diabetic so the sight took me aback. She said that the toes turned black because of the poor blood circulation due to Papa being bedbound, and also the lack of oxygen circulating in his body.

Sigh...I hope that there will not be further complications. will see what the Docs say tomorrow

Wishing Well (?)

Nic has been pretty thrifty with her allowance. She doesn't spend much of her allowance, and would prefer to spend her recess playing with her friends, rather than waiting in line to buy food. This is so unlike her when she was in Primary one.

While in primary one, she was embracing the novelty of her new-found financial freedom by going "shopping" with her buddies at the Bookshop and coming home with new erasers and pencils every other day. This came to a complete halt when we told her that we will not be giving her anymore allowance if she continues to shop in this manner. I could totally relate to the joy of having new stationery, but I guess we need to teach her right values, right?

Save for one or two new eraser and pencil, Nic has since been pretty careful with her money, probably spending a dollar out of her daily $3.00 allowance. Anyway, Nic came home today telling me that she had spent "a lot" of money today. Hmm... as I was just going to start on my lecture on the virtues of thriftiness, blah blah blah...she told me she spent her allowance at the Wishing Well.

There is this little pond in St Nicks which the school calls the Wishing Well, and the kids (maybe adults too) have been throwing coins in the pond to make wishes.

On hearing that, the sceptic in me told her not to throw money into the pond anymore. But i just have to find out what she has wished for.

She had wished for Grandpa to recover, and come home soon...

Well,I hope her $2.00 wish will come true...

Heres the pic of the Wishing well

One Month

Its been exactly one month since we started on this rollercoaster ride which we are wondering when it could end. We did have a short reprieve when Papa was sent to the General Ward, but the joy was momentous and he was sent back to the ICU not long after, after catching an infection.

One of the doctors, Dr Chong spoke to us yesterday. They have been treating Papa with antibiotics for the blood infection, and it has come to a point where most of the antibiotics has been used with little improvement to Papa's condition. Papa has always made it known to us and the treatment team that he has a drug allegy to penicillin. We do not know what sort of reaction he will get if he takes this form of antibiotics. Nobody asked, I guess.

The treatment team thinks that Penicillin may be THE antibiotic that will do the trick. So being in the position we are in, we signed the consent form for the Docs to administer Penicillin on Papa. Dr Chong assure us that they will administer a small dosage initially to see if there is any form of side effects, and if there is no serious side effect, they will proceed with the treatment.

Papa however came down with a fever today, so the plan is put on hold. Right now, he is being intubated and sedated, and is drifting in and out of sleep. I know that Papa has been a really determined person, and he is fighting really hard. I just hope he can make it out of the ICU in time for his heart surgery.

What really broke my heart is when I saw the tears trickling down his face when we visited him this afternoon. Its really painful seeing him in this state.

Back on the Roller Coaster

Papa wasn't fit for surgery. While in the Isolation Room, his condition took a turn for the worse, and he was sent back to the ICU again. He may have caught an infection while he was in the general ward for that one day. He is back in the ICU again with pneumonia, low BP and water in the lungs. He has difficulty breathing and has to use an oxygen mask.

The docs had mentioned that Papa needs to do the surgery to repair / replace the heart valve quite urgently. Given Papa's condition, they are defitely not be able to go thru' the high risk surgery.

So what do we do now?

Pray hard and Hope for the Best

Meeting the Cut

Papa is in the Isolation Room now. The docs have been keeping him there for the last 3 days or so, to prep him for surgery. The blood infection he had previously have apparently damaged one of the heart valves. Papa is still pretty weak physically, and the docs didn't want him to catch any infection that will delay the surgery or cause further complications to his already fragile condition. He is scheduled for surgery tomorrow afternoon. Guess its gonna be a long long day tomorrow

2nd Chance

Thanks Everyone for your prayers and concern over the last two weeks or so, and Thanks for leaving kind words of encouragement in my blog :)

I guess Papa has been given a second shot at life. He was transferred to the General Ward yesterday. He does not need any breathing aid now. His legs are still weak, and he is practically immobile. I guess its a small miracle in itself as some people do not make it out of the ICU.

I guess after spending 15 days or so drifting in and out of sleep, he is a little confused at the moment, and probably not able to differentiate his dreams from reality. I believed he had pleasant dreams during that period, cos' right now, he thinks that he is a multi-millionaire, chairman of 2 companies and that he and mum will be shifting to their new home at the Caribbean after he leaves the hospital. And also for a while, he thought that he was actually being kidnapped, and held at ransom at the ICU. We have spoken to the Docs, and they say that it is ok, and he will probably "snap" out of it.

Other than these quirky thoughts, Papa is pretty much aware of what is happening, like the price he paid for certain shares he has in his portfolio, his stamps and coin collection, etc. He recognises all of us, and actually holds sensible conversation with us, though most of the time, he complains about boredom.

Its pretty funny at first. I have tried "bringing him down to earth", but he kept saying that he will settle his affairs when he is out of the hospital, and thats when I will believe him. I just hope that he will not be too disappointed when he realises that we are humble HDB dwellers. clinche as it may sound, though we are not multi-millionaires, we are comfortable, we are healthy, and we have each other.

And all that virtual millions that he apparently has does not mean anything to us...literally

1-866-RING-CAM Breast Exam video

I thought this is hilarious :)

Enjoy!