Things I've learned at Shock Trauma

[phorsenuf]

Barb- I'll keep you and your family in my prayers.

Thanks for the reminder too about ID bracelets. That's something I keep putting off. I think I will make it my priority this weekend.

 

[MsDisney23]

Sending your Dad, you and your family many Prayer's. UMMC is Great, that is where I had my transplant done and stayed three months! He is in good hands!

 

[FF/MEDIC MEL]

Shock Trauma in Baltimore is considered by many to be the best in the country, the doctor who started the Shock Trauma/Life Flight system went to University of Maryland Med School. My understanding is that it's modeled on MASH units from the Korean War. He's getting the best possible care and I hope he pulls out of this soon.

Prayers for you & yours.
agnes!

His name is R. Adams Cowley and his name is on the side of the building. He was definitely a pioneer in trauma and emergency medicine. Many years ago before the new building we used to take patients in a service entrance next to the dumpsters. Can you imagine rolling into the hospital and passing dumpsters? I always wondered what went through the patients mind at that point. He is in good hands. Dont worry.

 

[Barb D]

He was doing much better today. He wasn't nearly as agitated. He still doesn't know where he is; he is hallucinating about writing computer code (he's a programmer) and kept asking my mom where the "source" was. When I was holding his hand he was moving his fingers like he was typing. I know he's in there somewhere!

Physically he's doing well enough that they're moving him out of ICU in the next day or so, and then to a rehab hospital soon after that. The swelling on his face has gone way down. I hope the swelling on his brain has too.

Mel, thanks for the work you do!

 

[bumbershoot]

He was doing much better today. He wasn't nearly as agitated. He still doesn't know where he is; he is hallucinating about writing computer code (he's a programmer) and kept asking my mom where the "source" was. When I was holding his hand he was moving his fingers like he was typing. I know he's in there somewhere!

Is the hallucination b/c of the brain trauma?

I ask and mention this *just in case* it proves helpful. It's probably not this at all, it's most definitely the trauma, but I can't just not mention it.

After I'd had surgery, I was put on something like 600 or 800 mg ibuprofen and a percocet-like pill as well. The percocet-like pill made it impossible for me to speak; I thought it was just something going on with me, something strange, but then within a year hubby had a weird sudden onset glaucoma and was put on the same drug, and it caused the same problem in him. It was like the worst cotton mouth ever so the words that came out were difficult to pronounce, and getting words to the mouth was very very hard.

That's beside the point. The main point is that the ibuprofen caused heavy hallucinations. The problem with me is that I was hallucination with a newborn next to me, and the other drug kept me from communicating. When DS was 5 days old and we'd been home for 3 days, I had had 3 mornings of weird hallucinations, and I was finally able to tell hubby that I thought I was one of Charlie's Angels, that DS was a robot, and I had to change the robot's batteries b/c its alarm was going off. He was so freaked out he promised to not sleep as heavily as he had been (by the way I had DS in a sleep positioner so there were big wedges between me and DS).

A normal ibuprofen dose makes me a bit loopy, high if you will, but with the HIGH dose after that, I was having hallucinations sort of like your dad is.

It might be something worth just checking on "is my dad on ibu?", just in case.


OK, "just in case" mention of my experience is done. Hope your dad gets all healed up soon!

 

[crazyforgoofy]

He was doing much better today. He wasn't nearly as agitated. He still doesn't know where he is; he is hallucinating about writing computer code (he's a programmer) and kept asking my mom where the "source" was. When I was holding his hand he was moving his fingers like he was typing. I know he's in there somewhere!

Physically he's doing well enough that they're moving him out of ICU in the next day or so, and then to a rehab hospital soon after that. The swelling on his face has gone way down. I hope the swelling on his brain has too.

Mel, thanks for the work you do!

I'm glad he's doing better. I'll keep you all in my thoughts.