The Funny Farm

Once again . . . my sweet Daddy is back in the hospital. We are baffled by the constant trouble he has had from the "simple . . . I can fix you" (quote from Doctor Barry Davis) open heart surgery that occurred on November 12th. He had just stayed home for the longest time since this all began - a whopping 10 days (from Jan. 6th to Jan. 16). He woke up last Friday morning feeling different and told my mother “There’s a problem, Houston". All around the lower half of his 33 chest sutures was swollen and red. Mother calls it "angry looking". I call it down right ridiculous.
Poor Daddy went back to the plastic surgeon's office on Friday and they took one look at him and agreed that he needed to be back in the hospital for IV antibiotics (vancomycin?). His leg is healing together, but will not quit building up lymph fluid. Daddy has to literally help the nurses (when he can find one who is willing to help!) drain his leg from a small opening and it looks just like urine pouring out in a straight stream into a collection container. Last night he got out over 700 cc's. His leg is definitely going to have to be operated on tomorrow morning and opened back up so it can heal properly.
Then on top of all of that, his chest is infected. Doctor Fowler said that it looked a little bit better today, (praise the Lord) but he would give it until tomorrow morning to do some more healing if it is going to. He is scared Daddy could become septic and that is where the infection gets into your blood stream (not a good thing at all). We just hope and pray (know) he is healing and WILL NOT have to have his chest opened for a fourth time. If the decision is made to proceed because he is not responding to the antibiotics as needed, they will remove the three titanium plates that are screwed into his sternum, remove all of the infection they can, and leave him open to heal from the inside out. UNREAL and YUCK! This will require the wet to dry dressings and eventually another wound vac.
I don't know how living that way is possible, but I keep telling Daddy, that if that is what it comes to then he just has to face it head on just like he has done in the past and have faith that this is necessary. We so want this all to be avoided! All we can do now is pray. He needs a miracle! He needs to be healed! Please pray for my Daddy!