Friday July 24th, 2009
As of today, Daniel continues to have storming episodes. The nurse mentioned he usually has one or two a day, one at night and or one during the day. The storming causes Daniel's heart rate to accelerate, which then causes him to sweat profusely and he then begins to shiver. Dr. Clark reiterates there is no need to panic, although it is not easy to experience this process, it is part of Daniel's healing process and it should be monitored and addressed accordingly. Cooling him down with ice, cold wet cloth towels and if need be a milligram of morphine usually stabilizes him.
Daniel now finds himself completely off any type of breathing assistance and his tracheostomy has been manually plugged. On Monday, Daniel is scheduled to have a tracheostomy decannulation. In other words, they are taking the tube in his neck out and closing him up. Once that hurdle is cleared and all the tests go well, he will also have surgery possibly on Thursday to insert some type of monitoring system, which will automatically release medicine to his body when he has bouts with tension. This mechanism will be inserted somewhere in his lower torso and will help his limbs remain relaxed. The decannulation procedure will be conducted at Kindred, while the second procedure will be done at whichever site Daniel ends up at next week.
It is unfortunate, but due to the desires of Daniel's insurance provider (you guessed it an HMO), Cathy will have to find another facility where Daniel can continue his road to recovery. His time at Kindred Hospital has seen Daniel experience excellent quality of care, but it is obviously not cost efficient enough, so now Cathy has three nursing homes in Escondido to choose from, that is, if all of them have a bed available. If not, then he will go to whichever site has a bed available, thus leaving Cathy without any say in the matter. Dr. Clark has done what he can to have Daniel remain at Kindred, but in the end he said it was the insurance who wants to relocate him by next week. Well, what do we expect when we have a system that prioritizes profit over human lives. I will not take up any more of your time bashing the HMO system, I gladly leave that to all of you.
Regardless of where Daniel is headed, he will have the second procedure conducted by Dr. Clark, possibly some time later in the next week. Best case scenario, Daniel gets to stay at Kindred for another week, but I doubt it. Right now it looks like Tuesday or Wednesday he might be relocated.
We will keep you posted on which of the Nursing homes Daniel is relocated to.
Take care of one another,
Peace!
Chuy
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Chuy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the very informative update on Daniel and Cathy. We have been in the dark for about a week. Your summary of what has transpired was clear and concise about the medical procedures and the dilemma confronting Daniel, Cathy, Margarita, and Victor.
This blog is not a forum for the politics of health care reform, but witnessing the anguish and frustration of family members dealing with decisions made by a system which is profit driven prompts me to vent my rage. First of all, it is not only the HMO's, but primarily insurance companies, pharmaceutical giants, and a congress that has acquiesced to lobbyists paying to maintain the status quo.
Don't be fooled about the negative campaign against the SinglePayer option. Be informed, use alternate news sources on the internet. A good place to start is:
www.singlepayeraction.org
Health care, like education, is a human right!
The time has never been better to reform the system!
Take care, stay healthy
Sal
He was looking good and ready for mimi at 8:45 p.m Tonight. On the way home I stopped by La WALMAR. I went to get some chocolate milk powder. Yes chocomeel is sold at La Walmar. I had to go for the Carlos V powdered chocolate. I know Carlos V represents slavery and colonialism and he isnt as cool as Pancho Pantera but for $1.66 it cannot be beat, especially with that dark chocolate flavor. I can not wait until Daniel can have some Xiocolotl with all of us. It is the drink of Kings, Queens and nobles. Daniel is a noble King that will one day be a solar lord. I am sure of it. He has always exceeded all expectations. Daniel and I once drove from Michaocan to San Diego. We stopped at some ruins form the Perhepeche or tarascan dynasty. We found ourselves alone in the middle of two pyramids and a BOl court. I found an ilama fruit about the size of a base ball. We played catch. The butterflys's were everywhere as we ran around the ruins like tarascan Bol players. He was a natural Bol player and he was in his element. I imagined Daniel as being that warrior hero he is in our time. He is a true Scholar, Athelete and Warrior. He is our true Hero.
ReplyDeleteEl Nando
Hey Chuy:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update. I was able to spend some one on one time with Daniel today. I tried doing some PT on him until my back ached. He is so strong! He was chillin' when I left.
Take Care. Irene
Well said Sal!
ReplyDelete~ Sarah Vega
Thanks for helping me out Irene, I know dong pt is back breaking work and your back does take toll. I hope that God saves my back!!!!Nando I really enjoyed your comments, people constantly reminding about how Daniel is or was, I have to keep on having FAITH and continue to stay STRONG in the midst of my Chaotic life.
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