Whittington to be moved out of intensive care

[Ilsa]

http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4463078,00.html

Whittington to be moved out of intensive care

He will remain hospitalized for several more days

By Neal Falgoust/Caller-Times
February 13, 2006

The 78-year-old man Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot Saturday will be moved out of the intensive care unit this afternoon, Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial officials said.

"He's in stable condition doing extremely well," hospital administrator Peter Banko said of Harry Whittington's condition. "There's no need for him to stay in Intensive care."

Whittington will be moved to a step-down trauma room and he likely will remain in the hospital for several days, Banko said.

SNIP

"When he leaves the hospital he will leave with most of the pellets in him," Blanchard said, adding that the number of pellets is uncertain. "I don't think anyone has sat down and counted."

SNIP

The article also said that he's on a liquid diet.

[Avalux]

1. That's the problem.....

the pellets sprayed his head/neck/chest area - there's a lot of delicate stuff in there that could be damaged with consequences. The poor man is gonna have to live with them in his body because they can't go digging for them.

[Justitia]

2. Gee, doesn't sound like a little harmless "pepper" does it? Liars! -eom

[spuddonna]

3. "When he leaves the hospital he will leave with most of the pellets in him

wtf?! WHY?! Is it really better to leave them in?!
holy crap...

[Garbo 2004]

Sometimes they do leave bullets in if taking them out is more of a hazard

than leaving them in. Sounds like he got a direct concentrated blast of pellets and not just a glancing peripheral spray and that the wounds were not just superficial. Had to be in Cheney's line of sight one would think.

[physioex]

17. I will give this a "shot"......

Cuz the pellets were sterile when they left the gun. Removing them would be mean additional sugery. Sometimes leaving them in is a better option to prevent a nosocomial (hospital induced) infection...

[spuddonna]

26. lol Ok, I see your point...

Very punny... :)

[Solly Mack]

4. You think he had a stroke or some kind of heart episode?

I mean, getting shot would be stressful - and he wasn't exactly young.

[MADem]

5. Geez, if a woman has a baby, she gets booted out of the hospital

much faster than that...and she never gets a stay in an ICU, unless something goes terribly wrong.

There's WAY more to this than meets the eye...liquid diet?? Hmmmmmm.......

[Ilsa]

12. Liquid diet and 48 hours in ICU = trouble or health problem, IMO.

The only reason I can think of to keep someone in ICU that long is to keep them away from media and screen any visitors. If he were in a VIP suite in the hospital, he would have some privacy, but they would have to post a guard.

They must have been keeping him on liquids incase he needed surgery or because he has other health issues.

[bklyncowgirl]

21. Guy got shot in the face. Maybe he's in no shape to chew. nt

[louis-t]

6. Airport security may be a problem for him from now on.

[Justitia]

7. I'm thinking "heavy metal poisoning" might be a problem for him too. -eom

[bunkerbuster1]

14. Steel pellets in that birdshot, not lead

pretty sure I read that somewhere.

[Justitia]

19. Ahhhh...after posting, I did wonder how you would eat a lead shot bird!

[Garbo 2004]

8. Doesn't sound like a mere superficial "peppering." n/t

[Double T]

9. I don't think scars and retaining bird shot in your body..........

is what I would call harmless. Cheney is trying to downplay another one of his destructive disasters.

[Mind_your_head]

10. Liquid Diet? Hmmmm......

If he got shot in the face, neck, and chest....Can a liquid diet mean he got hit in the mouth (teeth broken, etc.)?

Any medical folks here better able to guess at why Whittington would be on a liquid diet?

[Ilsa]

13. Good try. Dental problems, torn up mouth, paralyzed facial

nerves could all come into play.

[Mind_your_head]

20. Yikes.

My dad was struck in the knee by an auto some years ago while walking by an elderly hit-and-run driver (someone did get the plate #, btw). Anyway, after a surgery to place some pin/rods in the knee, physical therapy, etc., my dad was never really ever the same again after that incident. It just all really 'took-its-toll' on him, and started a 'chain-of-events', that might have taken years longer to 'begin'. My dad passed away last year.

I sorta feel sorry for Whittington. I hope he recovers fully, but looking through the lense of my own family's experience, sounds like he's been though an awfully big trauma for a 78 year old to 'recover fully' from.

[Benbow]

11. Liquid diet? Too much birdshot in/around his oesophagus? n/t

[Ilsa]

15. I'm having 2 hour breast reduction surgery this week -- OUTPATIENT

surgery is what they plan for. They fully intend to send me home after I've had several pounds of flesh cut off my body and I've been on general anesthesia for 2 hours and pain meds afterwards. Yeah, it's going to be done in the Day Surgery unit.

Problem is, I can't go home. I have little kids and one of them is autistic, so I need to either stay at the hospital or go to a hotel (where I won't have anyone to keep an eye on me).

[linazelle]

16. "I don't think anyone has sat down and counted.."

:eyes:

They count when they want to.

"It was only 16 words..."

[sattahipdeep]

18. "A Double"

78-year-old Harry Whittington pulled off
"a double" bringing down two quails
with two successive blasts from his shotgun. :puke:

The Dick----Cheney, wasn't as accurate.... :eyes:

Saddam Hussein's chief Iraqi--lawyer--said the
defence team will continue its--refusal--to participate
in his trial and--denounced--the court for forcing the
former--president--to attend....

:think:

[BringEmOn]

22. Reminds me of the old cartoon....can't remember which

where the cartoon character gets shot with a shotgun...takes a drink...and water leaks out of a hundred holes in his body.

[daleo]

23. I am thinking Daffy Duck.

I recall the cartoon too.

[spuddonna]

27. I was thinking of the Daffy Duck one...

... where he gets shot in the head by Elmer, his bill is filled with little holes, and he says something like "Blanks? Get a load of these blanks!" and spits a pile of shot into his hand, and pours them on the ground.

(hee!) It's very bad to laugh at others' suffering...

(heehee!) I'm going to hell...

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

24. Gee I thought the word yesterday was that he was going home today! I

guess maybe it was a little more serious than they indicated! Imagine that! Maybe if you still have a sucking chest wound and still have a chest tube in you, you can't go home! Go figure!

[Geek_Girl]

25. This story

Just keeps getting weirder.