Adonis Diaries

Dehydration? Resulting from catching a most resilient bacteria in the hospital?

Diary. Sunday, April 21, 2013

I woke up at 8 am. Mother (85 year-old) is already working since 6 am: doing dishes, cooking, sweeping, vacuuming in order to wake me up…

Yesterday was a hectic day: We sent dad to the hospital, and he ended in the intensive care by 5 pm.

Last night, I watched the old TV movie Boxcart Bertha, set during the US great depression of 1930.  The syndicates of workers are virulent and the institutions are disseminating the notion that the syndicates are Communist inspired plot, and sold out to Stalin Soviet Union.

Initially, the confrontations are physical and no live ammunitions are used against the demonstrators and strikers.

The situation deteriorates and companies start hiring armed private security, militias and mercenaries to tame the demonstrators.

The syndicated Shelly is nailed on a boxcart as Jesus was nailed on the cross…

My father is back to the intensive care unit, after residing at home for a month and slowly improving and walking on his own.

Last month, father got afflicted with pneumonia and bronchitis and his lungs have shriveled and are shot: He was a heavy smoker for over 70 years.

Father was making good progress and occasionally walking without the walker, and getting up 5 times in the night to fix himself sandwiches of jam, labneh… And emptying a bagful of candies (bonbons).

We were unable to sleep at night, fearing that he might fall as he did previously and get injured.

Mother refused to sleep in another room, just to have an eye on him.

Suddenly, at 5 am on Saturday, father started terrible and very frequent bouts of vomiting and diarrhea for over 5 hours. I changed his diapers and pajamas 4 times within half a hour, while he was in the restroom and I was completely exhausted and dejected.

I could not fathom how he accumulated so much water in his stomach. It was very warm, but father was shivering in his bed.

I called up the Red Cross of Kornet Chehwan: I initially thought it was merely a matter of dehydration and some plasma in the hospital would do by the end of the day.

We were lucky: The Red Cross sent us a team from the town of Bolonia very quickly, and we dispatched father to the hospital of Bhaness. The  Red Cross volunteers at the branch in Cornet Chehwan (mostly of university students) does not open during the day: It opens at 5:30 pm till 6 am. This branch already knows our address and mother visited the center for 2 months to change the wrapping of her 3rd degree burned arm…

It turned out that father has caught a most resilient bacteria that nested in the lungs during his last stay at the hospital last month. Does such a bacteria needs 30 days of gestation (incubation) before it hits full-blown and so suddenly?

After 3 hours in the emergency section for blood testing and other kinds of tests, a duration that any patient might die before receiving any kinds of prevention cure, father was sent to a room and plasma attached to his arm.

Initially father received a powerful antibiotics as during his last stay: His white blood counts was over 2,300, way above the normal 1,000.

By 5 pm, father was asphyxiating and barely could breath. Luckily, I was by his bed and noticed that he tried to sit in order to breath and his face darkened. I buzzed the emergency red button and began slapping his face and initiating chest-press technique, and was about to take out his tongue when the nurse emerged and looked dazzled and horrified.

The neighboring patient and his daughter were horrified and feeling helpless. The next patient had his urinary tract removed after 6 hours of surgery and a bag attached on his side in order to empty urine. This patient told me stoically that this was for the better: he had to go to the restroom every 10 minutes…

The physician reanimated father and ordered that he be sent to intensive unit.

The physician told me that father caught a most resilient bacteria from his previous 3-week stay in the hospital and that the most “powerful set” of antibiotics were injected, the most powerful arsenal available in the hospital…

Resilient bacteria are most likely inherited from residing in hospital: They accumulate and adhere to equipment, tubes and tools in the hospitals.

On this Sunday, the day after father was sent to hospital, I exercised, fed the chicken under the rain, cooked whatever mother has already started, shaved and dressed up. The odds that I might receive visits is very dim: The frequency of occurrences of guests paying me visit tells a long story.

Mother drove with my sister to church and would visit dad on her way back.

The visiting hours for patients in intensive care are from 11 to noon, and from 4 to 5 pm.

I was relieved that father is intensive care: Mother would have decided to sleep in the same room if he were not in intensive care unit.

Last evening, many came to visit father: Jihad and his wife Nada, Jean and his wife Joelle, Nassif…

My sister told me that all these cousins will meet for lunch somewhere on Sunday. Patrick is to arrive from France at night.

My niece Joanna called from London around 11 am and I told her to chat with mother around 7 pm as she might be back from the hospital.

Mother feels depressed, particularly in the evening: She is worried of what to do with dad when he returns from the hospital…

We had a bad month and this time around is going to be even a worse case of caring for dad.

Most patients who die after surgery is the consequence of catching resilient infection from the hospital.  Million die every year due to hospital infected environment.

Note: Dad stayed a week in intensive care without any anesthetic, and a week in a room. For an entire week, the nurses didn’t try to take dad for a short walk, fearing shortness of oxygen…

On Monday at 1 pm, the hospital called me and informed me that dad should be removed from the hospital. That was a very quick decision and took us all by surprise… I told the nurse that dad should at least be taken for a walk in order to check on his condition.  Two hours later, the nurse calls me and said that they took dad for a short walk and removed the mill… and that they didn’t administer him any antibiotics in the last three days (he is covered from infection), and that his blood test is good… And that dad cannot remain in the hospital. The nurse said  “It is better for him not to catch any infection while overstaying in the hospital“, but this was not convincing.

I later learned that my brother Ghassan (a dentist) visited dad at noon and got pretty upset because the nurses never attempted to walk my dad. I guess the physician got upset also from this outburst and signed on the exit papers…