Z

knothead wrote:

RealLindaL wrote:

ppaca wrote:Thank you, daughter of Z.

Ditto!  Am snowed  under with house guests but will definitely check in daily, hoping for the best.  Latest news sounds very encouraging indeed.

Everyone came for Mardi Gras?

Nope, Mardi Gras is next Sunday and these folks have to go back to Arizona tomorrow, unfortunately.

I hope Z can post soon and tell us about his journey. Pneumonia is a bitch.

Oh no, not Z! Hold on man and get out of there! Sending my special positive vibes for speedy recovery. They work!

Vikingwoman wrote:Oh no, not Z! Hold on man and get out of there! Sending my special positive vibes for speedy recovery. They work!

Then you need to bottle those vibes, Viking! We can all use them from time to time, some more than others.

I've got bacterial bronchitis... there're some bad bugs floating around this year.

PkrBum wrote:I've got bacterial bronchitis... there're some bad bugs floating around this year.

Take care. I had bilateral pneumonia several years ago.....not fun at all.

I am hoping we can get some good news. I worry when I do not hear anything.

Feel lost without an update. Please daughter Z let us know what is happening.

Hi, everyone. My apologies for the delay in updates. My mother and I spent the weekend trying to continue on with our plans to attend Pensacon in light of the circumstances. It is hard to go "have fun" when a family member is ill and stuck in the hospital, but sometimes you have to force yourself just for the mental/emotional break. Plus, it is what my dad would want us to do.

Anyway, I don't have much to report. He is stable, but he still needs to make significant improvements before he can leave the ICU. It honestly is just a day-to-day thing. His condition hasn't worsened or improved in the last few days, and we haven't received any solid information on his prognosis. He's just resting all the time, basically. I'm sure he is bored, as he is too weak to do anything but lay in bed all day.

Thank you all for your thoughts and concern!

PkrBum wrote:I've got bacterial bronchitis... there're some bad bugs floating around this year.

Get better man.

ZVUGKTUBM wrote:Hi, everyone. My apologies for the delay in updates. My mother and I spent the weekend trying to continue on with our plans to attend Pensacon in light of the circumstances. It is hard to go "have fun" when a family member is ill and stuck in the hospital, but sometimes you have to force yourself just for the mental/emotional break. Plus, it is what my dad would want us to do.

Anyway, I don't have much to report. He is stable, but he still needs to make significant improvements before he can leave the ICU. It honestly is just a day-to-day thing. His condition hasn't worsened or improved in the last few days, and we haven't received any solid information on his prognosis. He's just resting all the time, basically. I'm sure he is bored, as he is too weak to do anything but lay in bed all day.

Thank you all for your thoughts and concern!

Thanks for the update.

Yes... thanks for the update. That sounds awful being stuck there while not improving.

Take care bud... God speed healing.

ppaca wrote:

PkrBum wrote:I've got bacterial bronchitis... there're some bad bugs floating around this year.

Get better man.

Thanks... I got better for awhile after antibiotics and steroids... but now it's coming back. Frustrating... going back to Dr if not better tomorrow. Btw... I love steroids. Those things made me feel great. My neck, arms, lumbar... etc felt like new. I'm going to report this to my Dr. I want to take them all of the time... lol.

PkrBum wrote:

ppaca wrote:

PkrBum wrote:I've got bacterial bronchitis... there're some bad bugs floating around this year.

Get better man.

Thanks... I got better for awhile after antibiotics and steroids... but now it's coming back. Frustrating... going back to Dr if not better tomorrow. Btw... I love steroids. Those things made me feel great. My neck,  arms,  lumbar... etc felt like new. I'm going to report this to my Dr. I want to take them all of the time... lol.

Feel better.....but get off the steroids.

Still praying for Zman....waiting for a report showing improvement.

What about Depo-medrol ? I've heard of people taking it for various reasons. What are the counter indications? All I know is that it alleviated nearly all of the pain I deal with 24/7. It sure would be nice to feel like that every day... or even a week or two out of a month. Constant pain is a tough road.

PkrBum wrote:What about Depo-medrol ? I've heard of people taking it for various reasons. What are the counter indications? All I know is that it alleviated nearly all of the pain I deal with 24/7. It sure would be nice to feel like that every day... or even a week or two out of a month. Constant pain is a tough road.

Short term use is fine....long term or frequent use can cause a host of promblems. Look up corticosteroid side effects. Also you can develop autoimmune disorders.

BTW....I never felt great....steroids gave me very vivid nightmares.

Z...a song for you:

Floridatexan wrote:
Z...a song for you:

Wow. Good choice FT.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the song. Dad loves music, and I've inherited his old Cream 45" from when he was a teenager, so this fits.

I wish I had more to update. In a nutshell, he's got a long road ahead of him, as he's dealing with a lot of concurrent issues at once. He is being transferred to a long-term acute care hospital sometime today. There, he can receive the care he needs that the ICU isn't really equipped to do for an extended period of time. The main thing that they have been trying to do is stabilize his blood pressure and breathing, and we are hoping that this other facility will be able to help with that.

I wish I could tell you all more. I apologize for being vague, but I'm trying to maintain some privacy for my dad since this is a public forum. Those of you who know my dad on a more personal level will probably understand what I mean.

Thank you all for the thoughts. He considers you all his friends, even though you have never met.

I wish him the best.

I should add however that I've never known a skilled/acute longterm care facility that comes close to the worst icu. Please try to have someone with him nearly all of the time... even if you have to hire an aide.

I totally understand, as I was worried about the same thing. Luckily, this facility is actually a hospital with an ICU itself. He will have the same doctors and the critical care nurse to patient ratio in the ICU is 2:1. I have heard very good things about this other hospital, and I have done my research, so I feel confident that he will get good care.

Thank you for your concerns, PkrBum. I appreciate you watching out for my dad.

By the way, I've been referring to you as "Peekerbum," but my dad corrected me yesterday that it is pronounced "Poker Bum." Is that correct?

EDIT: Also, my apologies if I'm not following the forum rules for replies and such. I'm 31, so this is a little "old fashioned" to me

Lol... that's correct. We've been friends (and arguing politics... lol) for so long that we've developed some very close ties. Although you'd never know it if you checked out the politics section... lol. I'm so glad that y'all found a very good place from the sound of it. I was reluctant to mention what I did... but you've put me at ease. More best wishes for Zman..!! Thank you again for the updates..!!

Thank you so much for the update. Your dad confided in some and his privacy has never been compromised. 

I am still praying for him....even more when I go to the store and see all the chocolate and Cadbury Eggs....it reminds me of Z-man.

Thank you for the updates. Been traveling two days back to Illinois and got my cancer shots at Northwestern this afternoon. Got good news that they are approved through October. The bad news is that I go in for surgery on Monday and they can only radiate one of two new fast growing tumors on my liver. I am so happy to hear that Z is leaving intensive care, but we have shared health info by PM for about three years and I understand his challenges. We all argue like cats and dogs, but in some ways we have spent more time with people on this forum than we have with classmates from kindergarten through senior year in high school. We have shared more conversations that we probably did with 99% of our grade school and high school friends. Yes, we are mean and sarcastic about politics, but most of us understand it is just not personal, but just fun and playing in the sandbox. Z has been important with his input because he is well read and introduces us to lots of books and science. Without his input the last couple of weeks we have dumbed down.......well at least I have. The updates even if nothing new gives all of us much relief. We have lost too many good friends on this forum in the last three years, and it is hard sometimes to get updates. Your efforts are appreciated.