Friday, April 10

Charlie & his Dad in February 2009

Thursday night was the first of seven nights that we spent at the hospital. Friday began at 5:45am, the first time that "the door" opened for the day. For 7 days we ate, slept, and plain lived by the opening and closing of "the door". This was my first time to see Loyd since the accident. For me to tell this story accurately I need to tell you that Loyd was dropped as an infant, and his back was broken. He lived his entire life with a hunchback. I had never seen him laying on his back until that morning. I was immediately concerned because I knew that this was causing him considerable pain on top of the pain he was in from his injuries. He was having trouble breathing, and with each exhale he would say "Oh Lord". I couldn't keep from crying. Charlie was able to hold him up a little and that would relieve some of the pain. It was so sad to see Charlie holding his daddy like a little baby. He would wrap his arms around him and then just pull him up to him. It was like he was giving him a big bear hug. The first time that Charlie did this Loyd looked at him and said "I Love You." Of course, this had us all crying. At 6:30 we had to leave the room to return at 8:30. When we returned the nurse told us that Loyd was having considerable trouble breathing. The respiratory nurse said that every breath was hurting him because of the pressure from his back and from the fractured ribs. He was breathing very shallow, and couldn't get a deep breath. They were concerned about pneumonia setting up in his lungs. They recommended that he be put on a ventilator. Charlie explained to the nurses that he wouldn't do anything until all his brothers & his sister arrived at the hospital because they needed Loyd as alert as possible so they could tell him about Lethia's passing. The nurses then placed Loyd on a CPAP to assist his breathing. Within minutes he seemed to be breathing easier.

When the siblings arrived Charlie explained the situation. Charlie also explained a conversation that we had with Loyd the first of February when Charlie's uncle was placed on life support. Loyd was adamant that he never be placed on life support. He told us, Lethia, and Charlie's sister, Tiny. Of course we never thought that we would placed in this situation. At 11:00 they let us back in to see Loyd. All the siblings gathered around his bedside and told him about Lethia's passing. We weren't sure if he understood or not. He was on morphine for the pain, and that caused him to be very sleepy. He was able to talk, and he said "Oh Lord, Thank You Lord, I Love You Lord" He didn't stop between statements.

The nurses left him on the CPAP machine until later that afternoon. Then around 5:00pm they came out and said he was still having considerable trouble breathing. They again recommended the ventilator. Charlie was adamant about following his father's wishes, but his other brother's didn't hear Loyd say it so they wanted to go ahead and place him on the ventilator. The respiratory nurse said it could help him breath, and that would give him a better chance of recovery. So, at 5:30 they placed him on the ventilator.

We visited with Loyd at the opening of "the door" throughout the rest of day but he was no longer able to communicate with us. We were told that it was because of the morphine that they were giving him for the pain, and the fact that without enough oxygen he was becoming very lethargic.

**I am still having problems with my home computer so my daily entries won't be daily but as I have access to a computer.