Possible Move

As mentioned in the previous blog post, with Oscar being pretty much in a stable condition, the time has come where the doctors are discussing his discharge and his move to another level of care. There is a possibility that he could be moved as early as tomorrow (4/1/11). There were two options on the table that are close by. One which was Guilford Health Care, but there aren't any available beds at Guilford. The other option is at Heritage Health Center, located in High Point. More than likely, this is where he will be moved and Tarsha has had some time to view Heritage Center this week. Although she's a little nervous about the move, and the fact that the facility itself is much older, there are some plus sides to this move. One thing is that it's closer to Tarsha and Griffin, which cuts down the travel time some, and the other thing is that Griffin will now be able to start back visiting his Dad. Kids were not allowed to go to the rooms at Kindred, especially during flu season. Please pray that the whole transition with this move goes smoothly, and that Tarsha would be at peace as she continues to trust God through this all.       

Staff at Kindred Hospital have been doing a good job weening Oscar off the ventilator. He is completely off now and they have moved it out of the room. Last week was good for the most part, but he did have some of the same challenges come back up again concerning his temperature, heart rate and kidneys. The doctors will continue to keep an eye on that. It has been explained that these type of events will often happen due to his low immune system. Coming off the ventilator completely is a blessing all in itself and we thank God for that, but the flip side is that once he's back in what the doctors refer to as "custodial care", they begin wanting to discuss options of other facilities for him to go to. We ask that you pray with us so that when that time comes, he is placed where he can get the best care available. Thank you all so much for continuing to keep Oscar, Tarsha & Griffin in the forefront of your minds. It's a blessing that they are around so many loved ones who really care.      

Back at Kindred Hospital

Approximately three weeks ago, Oscar was moved back to Kindred Hospital. Thank the Lord, all the concerns we had when he was at Wesley Long are better now. His vitals are all pretty stable right now and it looks like the pneumonia has cleared up. There was an issue with his kidneys, and now even that has clear up. The doctor's have been slowly weening him form the ventilator, and he has spent several hours off the vent over the weekend. Soon, we believe he will be completely off. Oscar does have some type of infection in his left eye, so the doctors will continue checking on that as well. We continue to solicit your prayers for Oscar, as we all know the main issue is the damage that was done to his brain stem from the stroke. We will continue to stand and believe God because we know that He is more than able. Much love to you all!          

Update

Hello all,

We just wanted to give a brief update on Oscar. He is currently still at Wesley Long, but was moved last week to ICU. Due to the fact that he does have pneumonia, his breathing has been restricted and had to be put back on the ventilator. He is stable now, but they are considering moving him back to Kindred Hospital. Kindred does have a pretty good rate of weening patients from the ventilator, so we are hoping this will be the case once again. We had a family consultation with the doctor last week as we often learn of different changes going on from day to day, so please continue to keep Oscar and the family in your prayers. Much love to you all.  

Follow-up

Oscar remains at Wesley Long Hospital, but has been moved to the fourth floor. We did find out that he has MRSA. This is a bacteria that lives on the surface of people's skin and inside the nose. It is easily spread from person to person, but most healthy people are able to fight it off and often times are not even aware that they have it. For those like Oscar, who have a weakened immune system, it is more difficult for this to happen. As much as we love Oscar having visitors, we now have to urge everyone to take extra precautions when visiting. It is already required that visitors cover up with robe & gloves provided at the hospital, but we also ask that you wait a while before visiting if you yourself are ill. It's that time of year when common illnesses are going around, such as colds, the flu, and viruses, so all visitors, including the hospital staff, have to make sure that we don't compromise the health of the patients.

Thank God Oscar's vitals are stable, and are now just about where they were before he was admitted last week. His new room number is 1416, and thank you so much for keeping him in your prayers. God bless!

Long Night

Hello all,

Yesterday Oscar wasn't doing so well. His temperature went up to around 103 and his heart rate was around 122. Normal heart rate should be about 60 to 80. Family and friends quickly rushed to be with Tarsha as they worked on him for a while trying to get things regulated. Soon they realized they needed to get him to the hospital. He was taken to Wesley Long around 6:30pm, about an hour later, the doctors said they believed Oscar has pneumonia.Throughout the night it was mostly praying and waiting. A few hours later all his vitals were stabilized, but the doctors now think it may possibly be some type of infection, and not pneumonia. Around 1:00am, everyone went home to try and get some rest. Today they will continue to do testing as they try to rule things out. They will then be able to make a better diagnosis of whats going on. He also has some type of skin irritation going on round his scalp area that they will be looking at as well. Please keep Oscar in your prayers   

New Location

We wanted to let you know, as mentioned before, we've been experiencing some restrictions with Oscar's health insurance. The insurance company will no longer cover his care at Kindred Hospital, so we've had to consider other options. At one point the few nursing home options that were available to take him were out of town, which would limit his visits from family and friends. Now that Oscar is breathing on his own, and is no longer on the ventilator, another option opened up right here in Greensboro.

Oscar has now been moved to Guilford Health Care Center, located at 2041 Willow Road. and he is in room 128. Visiting hours are from 10:00am until 8:00pm. Two great things about the location of this facility, is Griffin now is not limited on how often he can visit his Dad, plus the location is right next to Mt. Zion Baptist Church where Oscar and his family worships. This most likely will make things even easier for member's of his church home to drop by for visits.

We learned the other day that Oscar had his eyes opened for about 5 minutes. He wasn't blinking, it was more of a blank stare, but we thank God for any activity he shows. There was another EEG done last week, so we should get test results in sometime soon. Monday was Tarsha's first day back to work, and things went pretty well. The kids were very happy to see Mrs. Williams back, and she had lots of hugs to pass out : )