Things have not progressed in the right direction. Phil has a complete bowel obstruction and his kidneys have taken another hit over the past week.Please continue to keep my family in your prayers (as I know many of you do). My mom does have her laptop at the hospital, so she can receive emails and will also be notified of comments left here on the blog. My mom's sister Mary is going to the hospital soon. My cousin Melissa and I are going to run an errand for my mom.
We are at Froedtert Hospital. Came here at 7:30 this morning. Phil is not in a condition that will allow surgery.
The obstruction is in his lower intestines. The stint is clear and not a problem. The obstruction could be caused by two things either the cancer or adhesions from an old surgery. Most likely it is the cancer that is causing the obstruction.
We could make a better guess as to what is causing the obstruction if we could do a cat scan. However, he cannot do the cat scan until his kidneys are good enough to get rid of the cat scan dye. He also needs to get premedicated for the cat scan because he is allergic to the dye. The plan right now is to do the cat scan tomorrow if his kidneys are ok. Doing a cat scan without the dye would not give us a real answer.
No matter what the cause of the obstruction, two things can happen. It can resolve by itself which it has not done yet. He has probably been blocked since Monday night. I have been giving him IV's at home since Tue. Or he will only be with us for a very short time because you cannot live with an obstruction.
Obstructions that are going to resolve usually do that in 3-5 days per the surgeon. Right now he has an nasal gastric tube from his nose to his stomach and IV running. They will put a cath in his bladder to measure his intake and output. Oxygen to help his shortness of breath. He is comfortable.
He is watching the packers lose right now. We are taking him to room 4NE-25.
If it does not resolve in a few days, we will take him home.
Michael, do not come rushing home. If you get snowed in up in Green Bay and have to stay in Egg Harbor, give us a call from Egg Harbor. I am doing OK right now and will be happier when we know the results of the scan.
Phil and Judy Ortiz
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2 comments:
Dear Ortiz family,
I have been wanting to write to all of you for a very long time. I have been scared and sad about Mr.O being so sick. I wasn't sure exactly what to say or how to say it. I have been checking the blog every day, hoping for good news. Many of us have been checking the blog and not commenting. We are all here praying.
The Ortizs were a huge part of my family growing up. You know the Seb's family. The Ortizs, Millers, Arndorfers, Georges, Bunyans, Lloyds, and Taglientis. These Sebs families took care of me. They were all working families. All had a sense of values. Do nothing get nothing! I looked up to them as a kid and respect them now as an adult.
These are the things I remember. Michelle being a good friend to me. We would talk on the phone for hours, pretty much about nothing. I would say " in the back round" but it was said loud enough so I could hear. Mr. Ortiz would strongly encourage Michelle to GET OFF THE PHONE! Michelle would keep talking. This scared me. Michelle wasn't scared, she felt this was the first warning and assured me a stronger request would be comming shortly. Then she would really have to hang up. Other times Mr. Ortiz would mimic us with a high pitched girls voice. I would hear him say, " No way! Oh my gosh are you kidding me? She did what? Like really? For sure, no way. " Michelle would say something to this affect. " Thats just my Dad! DAD get out of here!!! Like, Oh my gosh! I just got on." We would all laugh. Doesn't seem like so long ago.
Mrs.Ortiz was one of my girl scout leaders. Oh what a headache we were to her. I know this because she would tell all twenty of us in her basement that we gave her a headache. Headache or not I knew she really loved us. She stuck with us for eight or ten years. Now who would stick with us for that long if she really didn't love us. I remember Mrs. Ortiz always smiling, kind, and full of patience for us. She would give us another chance to shape up or ship out!!! She meant it!
Troop meetings, camp outs, girl scout cookies, sleep overs, walking over the bridge from Brownies to Girl Scouts, running our own meetings, cooking our own food, how to spend our money, who would bring snack. She motivated us to think beyond ourselves and put others first. At some point in our Girl Scout careers we had a substantial amount of money. We all thought it would be a perfect time to splurge on ourselves. WRONG ANSWER! You know what came next. The whole speech about people needing money more than us, how fortunate we all were, and how lucky we were to have homes, food and schooling. She LET us decide. Well, after that talk a trip to Mayfair Mall just didn't seem right.
Our camp trips were always fun. Mr. Ortiz was always there loading the cars. All of us were always late. He did not like that at all!! He was always grumbling about all the crap we packed. He would say " Are you sure you need all this stuff? You may have forgottten something at home!!!" He was right did I forget some very important Bonnie Bell lip gloss! Should I run home and get it? I don't think he fully understood how important a curling iron is on a camp out. How could he know, he came from Boy Scout world.
All these experiences were getting us ready for life. I obviously didn't realize it at the time, but i know now.
I thought the Ortiz family was the greatest. They took me on camp trips as a family. One time Michelle and I thought it would be a good idea to walk to the bathrooms in a huge rain storm. Of course I wore the only shoes I brought, they were soaked and I was shoeless. I then thought it would be a good idea to put my shoes on the camp fire ring. Mrs. Ortiz advised against it, but I did it anyway. It was only when Mr. Ortiz said " What the heck are you doing?" I realized I had made a big mistake, my shoes were burnt. Remembering this is making me laugh so hard I am about to pee my pants! So there I was wearing burnt shoes for the rest of the trip and the rest of the year. My mom said I should have listened to Mrs.Ortiz in the first place and Why did I always have to learn things the hard way? Also there was no cash is the budget for new shoes.
My love for hiking and camping and the outdoors came from them. Mrs.Ortiz taught us how to cop a sqwatt. You know, go to the bathroom outside. This tool has come in handy many times. I have passed this lesson on to many people. Its just not something they teach in school.
Every time I set up my tent I think about the Ortiz family. Michelle was an expert at setting up her tent. Me not so much. Thats why I now am the proud owner of a pop up camper. When we were deciding on the bathroom/shower feature, I could hear Phil and Judy in my head. This is what they said. Why do you want to take a shower on a toilet? Futher more why do you want to take a crap by your bed? You already know how to cop a sqwatt outside! They were right and this time I decide to listen.
As a young adult the Ortizs bailed me out again. I had agreed to drive a stick shift car to Colorado. I had no idea how I was going to acopmlish this task, since I could not drive a stick. Michelle said, "No problem. I will ask ask my parents to teach you." Sure enough Phil and Judy were up for the job. I attempted to learn using their car. Sorry about that.
It was rough! Judy kept saying keep trying you will get it. They were always there for me.
I saw the Ortiz family at Sebs church. We were all there for a wedding. I clearly remember Mr. Ortiz saying,"Have you seen my grandchildren?" He was pulling out his wallet to show me a picture. It was the first thing on his mind. His family. Thats how it always was and still is. This I will remember.
Phil and Judy you have given me so much. I will never be able to repay you or express to you in words how very thankful I am to you both. All these memories and more I have because of your family. I am so blessed to have had you in my childhood. I hope to teach my children everything you taught me. Be strong, be your own person, speak up for yourself,take pride in what you do, be honest, do the right thing, and be faithful. I do not know how you managed it all. Working, raising a family and being so generous volunteering your time. I am thankful to have learned from you. I will pass all these gifts you gave me to my sons. Maxwell, Benjamin, and Samuel
with love
Karen Orellana
Troop 1158
p.s. This is pretty much my first blogg or email. I have managed to avoid all this blogging, email, facebook, facepage, and my space stuff. I am not very good at writing and I can not spell worth a crap. Please do not dock for spelling and grammar.
Beautifully written Karen...and very funny. I can actually picture it.
Judy, Michelle, Mike and families. Thoughts and prayers are being sent your way. I hope that you are all together surrounding Phil with your love, helping to ease his pain.
Kathy Pfannerstill Birk
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