Friday, July 24, 2009

are you sure it's the dts?

yesterday morning i got a call from one of the staffers at the nursing home - dad was taken back to the hospital via ambulance. he talked all night long and was hallucinating something terrible. i talked to the doctor and she said she believes it is alcohol withdrawal - the 'd' of the dts. i questioned that it had been 7 days since he went into surgery - i thought the dts started within 48-72 hours. she said it can take longer. i asked where are the tremors of the dts if indeed it is alcohol withdrawal. no answer.

i talked with a niece and she described some of the things he was doing the night before when she visited him. it reminded me very much of the time when mom had the blood clot on her brain in 1970. several of the family members are not convinced that this is an alcohol issue. the people that check in on him do not believe he was drinking that much a month prior to his surgery.

i think i'll be making the 8-hour drive up there, by myself, on saturday. i know there is nothing i can do to help him - but at least if he comes out of it, he'll have a familiar face there.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

just hugs, bren...nuthin but hugs.

the mouse

Michelle said...

You know, Mom was talking all night and hallucinating a lot at home in the beginning of her problems too. I would recommend you checking what meds they have him on. Many of Mom's were really having adverse reactions. Some of her sleep meds were making her more anxious. We had a few weeks there that Mom did not sleep. She became sleep deprived.

When she was put on the right combination of meds, she has done much better.

Email or message me hon, if you have any questions about what meds Mom was on.

Love,
Michelle