"My father"

My father has been suffering from a range of conditions over many years and a recent deterioration in his heart condition meant he had been retaining a large amount of fluid which was restricting his mobility, his kidney function and more recently his lung function. He was advised to admit himself to the hospital immediately as there was no longer an option to treat him at home. His blood pressure went immediately over 200 at the news and he was pretty much resigned to his fate, which he believed was a one-way journey.

After a number of frantic phone calls we found out that an acute care team at home was a potential option. We thought it was a pretty unlikely option given my parents live out in the country, but amazingly the Dungannon team arrived in little over an hour, with a doctor and nurse arriving to immediately get to work and the consultant following later in the day. They gave diuretic IV, took bloods, and provided my father with the reassurance he needed and a high duty of care. That continued every day over the next two weeks whilst the fluid slowly drained out of my father’s chest, lungs and legs.

He is now back at his fighting weight, his breathing has returned to normal and he is back close to his old self. But more importantly, he now knows that when things are not as they should be there is an alternative option to hospital admission. I have no way of knowing what the outcome of my father being admitted to hospital would have been.

Thankfully, the Dungannon acute care at team home meant that I didn’t have to think about that scenario for too long. But I do have tears in my eyes as I write it. Thank you to everyone who provided such a high level of care to my father over the past few weeks, you are all legends and a credit to your profession. Thank you, thank you.