My dad arrived in St. Louis around midnight (Fri night/Sat morn). Some doctors took a look at him right away and did another CT scan. They decided to put in a tube to drain the fluid that was collecting around his bladder, and did that around 10 a.m. Saturday. They also got him started on the anti-coagulants for the blood clots on Saturday and elevated his leg. Now that the treatments have begun, I think it is just a waiting game now. The clots may take 2 weeks to dissolve. From what I understand, the anti-coagulants just keep the clots from growing and from dislodging. The body has to dissolve the clots on its own. It sounds like he probably could have been treated here, but the doctors may have wanted to get it off their hands since he had the surgery in St. Louis. That's kind of frustrating since that resulted in a 2 day delay in his treatment. I realized this more after reading about the appropriate treatments on the Internet... "Wait and see" is usually not one that is used in either problem that he has. My mom was able to ride up in the ambulance with him, so she is the only one there. My brother or I may go up later this week or wait until it's time for him to come home... We're not sure. My mom needs prayer since she is doing it all alone. Also, my dad is really depressed. He is the type that is always working and always busy so lying in bed for 2 weeks is bad in itself. Add pain medications that bring you up and crash you down, and thinking you're going to die every other day... He's not doing too well mentally. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. :love:
