BUN in the oven

Just a note to start off with. In the past I have been sorting these posts in chronological order, meaning to see the latest post you have to go to the bottom. I did that so that when dad read it the story would unfold in order. However, i've been informed that this is a pain in the butt for people who are reading it now So I am now going to do this in the typical blog fashion where the latest post will always be on top. I figure when dad gets to the point he can read it, I can rearrange it appropriately. So here is the latest update. Dad has now been on Dialysis about 18 hours. The doctor said his BUN level (which is a measure of toxicity in his blood) was at over 80 when he started. Now its in the 70's. And probably its lower than that because they test his levels every 6 hours and I'm not sure when that test was from. Still, its a slow dialysis so as to be easier on his system so things are not happening very fast. As I mentioned before, a nurse told me he'd need to be below 50 before we had any hope of getting a response out of him. So its a waiting game, with little excitement expected until tomorrow and perhaps the next day. For me then the doctor has told me I should leave. I have been thinking about taking a red-eye back to N.C. tonight. I think they are encouraged that the BUN levels are declining, the dialysis is working. They had some concern that what they were seeing was infection setting in, if that was the case the BUN levels would not have changed. Infection is the top reason most VAD patients die, and those that do, do so in the hospital after their operation. But with the BUN levels going down that does not seem to be the case. And so now its a question of whether there is higher brain damage. But again this will not be apparent for a couple of days at least, and perhaps longer. As I was driving here I dreaded what I would find. But no big bang awaited me, rather a slow drip but in the right direction. So the wait is on.