Back to the Hospital: A Little Tune-Up

Night before last, the nurse and Mom had noticed that Dad had spiked a low-grade fever.  When Mom helped him shower, she noticed his right leg was slightly warm.  Mom reassessed the situation yesterday morning and in addition to low-grade fever, his right leg was hot and "clammy."

Mom insisted that something wasn't right, and had the nurse call Accolade (our home-health agency).  Mom had the gut feeling that Dad was trying to throw a clot and stood by her gut feeling, despite the naysayers, who insisted it was just because of his fibula fracture.  One persistant wife and a couple of phone calls later, and Mr. Randy came by.  Accolade sent Randy over--with his handy, handheld doppler/ultrasound machine--and they were able to see that indeed there was a clot.  Actually, three clots.  (Randy also comes highly endorsed by Chuck, which doesn't hurt a bit either!)

One call to the orthopaedic surgeon and they were instructed to head to the UMC Emergency Room where they would admit him.  Chuck and Maria went with Mom and Dad and stayed with Mom while everything got settled.  He has been admitted into UMC and will stay there while they dissolve said clots with anti-coagulants.  Fortunately, Mom was right on top of the situation, therefore, the bloodflow had not been completely restricted. 

A bright note, when they entered last night, they asked Mom who she wanted Dad admitted to.  Chuck was standing nearby and without hesitation, responded, "Dr. Rice."  Since they are only temporarily residing in Lubbock, Dad doesn't have a primary care provider.  Dr. Rice is an internal medicine physician, and therefore, since they admitted him to Dr. Rice, Dr. Rice will be able to act as his 'PCP' while they are in Lubbock.  Dr. Rice also has priveledges over at Trustpoint, which will make things a bit more smooth when it comes time to transition over to the Rehab hospital. 

We'll keep you posted!
Dan's Dozen