David's Journey Back to Health
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January 25, 2017 will forever be burned into our memories. That's when an endoscopy procedure changed David's life.
He was having trouble swallowing, so an endoscopy was recommended. But during the procedure, the doctor found that the esophagus was very narrow. So narrow that he was shocked and wondered how David got any nourishment at all. A balloon catheter was used to widen the esophagus.
By the time I got him home, he was in severe pain. I called the doctor and had to take him to emergency. By that time, he was in so much pain that dilaudid every hour didn't touch the pain.
Testing showed that the esophagus had ruptured. He was literally being burned from the inside!
Emergency surgery was performed the next day. We hoped that the rupture would be corrected, but that was not the case. The tissue was so weak that sutures didn't hold. A biopsy was done and we prayed for everything to heal and the biopsy to be benign.
They had a rough time balancing his vitals, as David had suffered 2 heart attacks in the past. I received a call during the recovery time that he might have suffered a stroke. Oh God, no. When I arrived, he was unresponsive. It took about 10 minutes and he slowly came to. It was a transient ischemic attack.
One week passed and I got the bad news about the biopsy. Cancer. Another surgery and this time they removed the weak, diseased part of the esophagus and re-routed the stomach. They felt that they got the cancer out, but the fact that it was found in one lymph node means that after he recovers, a body scan and possible chemo is in the near future.
Recovery from the second surgery was a nightmare. His heart was stressed, he was constantly running a fever, he was on stroke watch and they had to keep him under sedation due to the respiratory tube. He had 4 chest tubes, ventilation, a gi tube in his stomach, more IV's than I could count, and a wire that went into the right carotid to the top of his heart.
After a while, they tried several times to wean him off the ventilation, but his body was so stressed that his blood pressure would go up. After trying for almost 2 weeks, they had to remove it and do a tracheostomy. I was so afraid that his vocal chords would be damaged!
After 5 weeks in ICU and 2 major surgeries, he was released to a sub-acute care facility. He has been there for 2 months now, but back twice to the hospital; once for a ruptured gi tube in his stomach and is back again as I write this because the gi tube was pulled out by one of the CNAs pulling him up too fast.
With all of this, there is hope in getting David home soon, but with my full time job, plus my responsibility of being the agent for myfather with dementia, we will need some help with the mounting bills and home care that is not covered by insurance.
I just want to make sure that we can have some care while I'm at work and be able to take care of these bills.
My beloved has a lot more music left in him to share witht he world. His friends are in the process of trying to put together a benefit concert, so I will keep everyone posted on Facebook.
He has always given of himself to others. I hope that karma and kindness will shine on him.
Thank you and Bright Blessings to all.
He was having trouble swallowing, so an endoscopy was recommended. But during the procedure, the doctor found that the esophagus was very narrow. So narrow that he was shocked and wondered how David got any nourishment at all. A balloon catheter was used to widen the esophagus.
By the time I got him home, he was in severe pain. I called the doctor and had to take him to emergency. By that time, he was in so much pain that dilaudid every hour didn't touch the pain.
Testing showed that the esophagus had ruptured. He was literally being burned from the inside!
Emergency surgery was performed the next day. We hoped that the rupture would be corrected, but that was not the case. The tissue was so weak that sutures didn't hold. A biopsy was done and we prayed for everything to heal and the biopsy to be benign.
They had a rough time balancing his vitals, as David had suffered 2 heart attacks in the past. I received a call during the recovery time that he might have suffered a stroke. Oh God, no. When I arrived, he was unresponsive. It took about 10 minutes and he slowly came to. It was a transient ischemic attack.
One week passed and I got the bad news about the biopsy. Cancer. Another surgery and this time they removed the weak, diseased part of the esophagus and re-routed the stomach. They felt that they got the cancer out, but the fact that it was found in one lymph node means that after he recovers, a body scan and possible chemo is in the near future.
Recovery from the second surgery was a nightmare. His heart was stressed, he was constantly running a fever, he was on stroke watch and they had to keep him under sedation due to the respiratory tube. He had 4 chest tubes, ventilation, a gi tube in his stomach, more IV's than I could count, and a wire that went into the right carotid to the top of his heart.
After a while, they tried several times to wean him off the ventilation, but his body was so stressed that his blood pressure would go up. After trying for almost 2 weeks, they had to remove it and do a tracheostomy. I was so afraid that his vocal chords would be damaged!
After 5 weeks in ICU and 2 major surgeries, he was released to a sub-acute care facility. He has been there for 2 months now, but back twice to the hospital; once for a ruptured gi tube in his stomach and is back again as I write this because the gi tube was pulled out by one of the CNAs pulling him up too fast.
With all of this, there is hope in getting David home soon, but with my full time job, plus my responsibility of being the agent for myfather with dementia, we will need some help with the mounting bills and home care that is not covered by insurance.
I just want to make sure that we can have some care while I'm at work and be able to take care of these bills.
My beloved has a lot more music left in him to share witht he world. His friends are in the process of trying to put together a benefit concert, so I will keep everyone posted on Facebook.
He has always given of himself to others. I hope that karma and kindness will shine on him.
Thank you and Bright Blessings to all.
Organizer
David Castle
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA