Monday was a good day. Nana got moved from ICU to PCU in the morning. She had another (and much shorter) dialysis session sometime before Laura went to see her. Some of Nana's friends visited for about an hour, which is always a good thing. The biggest good news yesterday was when Nana called around 9pm to say that one of her doctors confirmed that her heart went into a normal heartbeat rhythm (not a-fib)!
Tuesday was good then turned kind of so-so. Nana had a busy day--some more friends visited. She's able to get up and out of bed when she needs. She had a really good lunch today and ate just about everything.
Dr. C came by and said that Nana's kidneys are doing much better. Nana's heart doctor came by and listened to her heartbeat, and everything seemed to be in order. Her heart is still in normal heartbeat rhythm. Dr. M - thinks she might get out in 2-3 days.
This afternoon, they took out Nana's PICC line. The area on her arm was starting to turn red and puffy, and an infection is suspected. If she didn't pick up this infection, she might have been released tomorrow.
The IV to dialysis catheter connection is leaking, which is a bit concerning. Laura said the nurses were going to change the bandages and see if that helps. They are trying to avoid putting in an IV line in her arm since they just took the PICC line out (and her left arm is sort of reserved for a more permanent dialysis connection).
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
A good day for Nana
Nana had a good day today. Laura spoke with her this morning, and she'd lost 15 pounds of fluid! This is very good news, as her body will now have an easier time recovering.
Laura spent the afternoon with Nana. One of Nana's friends was there visiting when Laura arrived. Nana was a little bit sleepy, but nothing like yesterday.
The hospital staff also performed another dialysis session this afternoon, and got another 3.5 liters (about a gallon) of fluid off of her. Nana took a nap towards the end of the dialysis session, so it was Laura, Nana, Nana's friend and the dialysis machine operator in the room for several hours -- a full house in that small ICU room.
She's doing well enough that they're moving her out of the ICU into a PCU room sometime tonight.
Laura spent the afternoon with Nana. One of Nana's friends was there visiting when Laura arrived. Nana was a little bit sleepy, but nothing like yesterday.
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| The dialysis machine & operator |
She's doing well enough that they're moving her out of the ICU into a PCU room sometime tonight.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Recovery Day
Nana had a good day today. Laura found out that the dialysis they did last night got three liters of fluid off of her. There's still plenty of fluid left, and they'll be performing another dialysis on her tomorrow. One of the things they need to do is fix the electrolytes. Laura was trying to find out if it was too high or too low, but it's something they need to keep an eye on while doing her dialysis.
Nana's breathing was much easier today, but her blood pressure is still low. We went to visit her around 3:30 this afternoon. Since only two people can visit at any one time in the ICU, Laura and our youngest son went in first. I waited in a nearby waiting room with our other son. We were in there for 30 minutes or so when Laura came out, and we went in.
Nana was awake when we went in, but fell asleep seemingly mid sentence. She woke up a few minutes later, and apologized for falling asleep. We spoke a little more, and then she was out like a light. After we left, Nana was telling Laura that she's very tired of being in the hospital.
The graphic here is a cell-phone photo of Nana's monitor. The number in green is her pulse, the number in light blue is oxygen, and the number in white is breaths per minute. Her blood pressure is at the bottom left with her pulse in ( ). Laura says that the 107 is pretty good for her, but the 57 is low.
Nana's breathing was much easier today, but her blood pressure is still low. We went to visit her around 3:30 this afternoon. Since only two people can visit at any one time in the ICU, Laura and our youngest son went in first. I waited in a nearby waiting room with our other son. We were in there for 30 minutes or so when Laura came out, and we went in.
Nana was awake when we went in, but fell asleep seemingly mid sentence. She woke up a few minutes later, and apologized for falling asleep. We spoke a little more, and then she was out like a light. After we left, Nana was telling Laura that she's very tired of being in the hospital.
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| Nana's monitor in the ICU |
Friday, March 25, 2011
Another rough day for Nana
After a bad night and having a breathing tube installed and removed, Nana had a pretty rough day. Let's see...she had some visitors, which is a good thing. Our pastor stopped by for a visit, as well as some of her friends. Nana was in and out of sleep today, and it seemed that she was waking up with fresh memories of her dream as she would say things like she was falling out of the chair, or that the cough drop was on the bed.
She had a PICC line installed this afternoon. It's a lot more invasive than a port, but it should make it easier for the nurses to draw blood or administer needed drugs without having to jab her with another needle.
Laura said that the high doses of diuretic that she'd been given wasn't getting the extra fluids off of her like they should. Nana's kidneys aren't getting enough blood to remove the fluid. Nana decided that she wanted to go through dialysis to help her kidneys out. When Laura left tonight, they had come to install the catheters to hook Nana up to the dialysis machine. They did start the dialysis sometime tonight. Aunt D was there and stayed with Nana until 10:45pm. She said that Nana was doing okay with the dialysis and that it didn't hurt her.
Laura came home just before 7pm, and pretty much crashed. She'd been at the hospital with Nana since around 10am. Hopefully tonight will be better and tomorrow will be better still.
She had a PICC line installed this afternoon. It's a lot more invasive than a port, but it should make it easier for the nurses to draw blood or administer needed drugs without having to jab her with another needle.
Laura said that the high doses of diuretic that she'd been given wasn't getting the extra fluids off of her like they should. Nana's kidneys aren't getting enough blood to remove the fluid. Nana decided that she wanted to go through dialysis to help her kidneys out. When Laura left tonight, they had come to install the catheters to hook Nana up to the dialysis machine. They did start the dialysis sometime tonight. Aunt D was there and stayed with Nana until 10:45pm. She said that Nana was doing okay with the dialysis and that it didn't hurt her.
Laura came home just before 7pm, and pretty much crashed. She'd been at the hospital with Nana since around 10am. Hopefully tonight will be better and tomorrow will be better still.
Bad day turns into bad night
* * * U P D A T E * * *
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Nana did not have a good night last night. One of the nurses at the hospital called and said that Nana was having a hard time breathing, and was getting confused on some things (but not all, thank goodness). They inserted a breathing tube in Nana to help. Laura is on her way over to the hospital.
As you might imagine, we're pretty concerned over this new development. Prayers are always appreciated, especially right now.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Bad day in the hospital...
Nana had a bad day in the hospital today... When Laura went over to visit her this afternoon, she found out that Nana's swelling had gone down a little bit. Nana went to sit up, and move her legs to sit on the side of her bed. When she did this, she stopped and was having difficulty. Laura said that Nana's heart rate dropped to 40, and she started having a very hard time breathing.
They summoned nurses, and Nana was soon surrounded by people trying to figure out what was wrong. I'm kind of running from memory here, but she was administered calcium, glucose, a chest xray, an EKG and probably some other stuff. The nurses also wheeled in the emergency cart so if something more happened, they'd have what they'd need.
Laura told me that Nana was given cardizem, and it was probably too much for her. The hospital staff was giving her calcium to absorb the cardizem, and glucose (I think) to help thin it. But they have to be careful with the glucose, as too much fluid isn't a good thing for someone with failing heart valves.
The hospital has moved Nana to the ICU, and Laura came home because they were in the middle of their shift change. Fortunately, the hospital is less than 10 minutes away.
Laura also told me that Dr. M came by and he, Dr. W as well as the head cardiologist for the hospital are trying to locate a surgeon who's willing to perform Nana's heart surgery. He indicated that it might be hard to find someone because of the high risk involved. Age, heart rhythm, kidney function and breathing difficulties are all factoring in to the level of risk.
I really hope that someone will be willing to do this surgery, otherwise, we're likely to have to keep bringing Nana back to the hospital seemingly every 10 to 14 days.
Laura left about 20 minutes ago to see how things are going, and to make sure that Nana's all settled. She just now got home..around 10:30pm. Nana's all settled in the ICU as much as possible. A doctor should be by sometime in the morning and hopefully she'll be returned to her normal room.
They summoned nurses, and Nana was soon surrounded by people trying to figure out what was wrong. I'm kind of running from memory here, but she was administered calcium, glucose, a chest xray, an EKG and probably some other stuff. The nurses also wheeled in the emergency cart so if something more happened, they'd have what they'd need.
Laura told me that Nana was given cardizem, and it was probably too much for her. The hospital staff was giving her calcium to absorb the cardizem, and glucose (I think) to help thin it. But they have to be careful with the glucose, as too much fluid isn't a good thing for someone with failing heart valves.
The hospital has moved Nana to the ICU, and Laura came home because they were in the middle of their shift change. Fortunately, the hospital is less than 10 minutes away.
Laura also told me that Dr. M came by and he, Dr. W as well as the head cardiologist for the hospital are trying to locate a surgeon who's willing to perform Nana's heart surgery. He indicated that it might be hard to find someone because of the high risk involved. Age, heart rhythm, kidney function and breathing difficulties are all factoring in to the level of risk.
I really hope that someone will be willing to do this surgery, otherwise, we're likely to have to keep bringing Nana back to the hospital seemingly every 10 to 14 days.
Laura left about 20 minutes ago to see how things are going, and to make sure that Nana's all settled. She just now got home..around 10:30pm. Nana's all settled in the ICU as much as possible. A doctor should be by sometime in the morning and hopefully she'll be returned to her normal room.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
And here we go again...
Well, Nana's back in the hospital again. She had been having difficulty breathing, and her body hasn't been flushing fluids efficiently. Laura took her to see Dr. M today, and during the appointment Dr. M called the hospital and arranged for a regular hospital room. At least Laura and Nana didn't have to wait for hours in the ER, just hours for the hospital to have a room available.To add to the confusion, the admitting department has moved to a different building and the faxed admitting papers kept going to the wrong place.
One challenge was Nana's oxygen tank. Laura took one tank with her, and the tank ran out during the admitting process. The hospital employee handling the admission called over to have some nurses come and get Nana moved into her room. Since the hospital is in the midst of opening a new building, the nurses initially got lost which added to the time.
Right now the plan is to get the excess fluid off of her, and then they'll probably schedule open heart surgery to replace her defective heart valves. Both her mitral valve and her aortic valve are leaky. This most likely means that Nana will have to go on dialysis afterwards due to her reduced kidney function. There are so many variables right now, it's difficult to wrap our heads around it all.
When did this all start?
Let's see where this blog takes us...
I'm starting this blog in the middle of our odyssey..lots of ground has already been covered this year. Nana has congestive heart failure, brought on mainly by a faulty heart valve--which we found out about this year. Because of this, her heart is not strong enough to flush the fluids that our bodies naturally make, and it just collects. Her legs swell and feel wooden. She has a difficult time breathing. I'm going to try documenting some of the things we've been through to hopefully provide an outlet for the stress and turmoil on our family and hopefully provide something for others in a similar situation to read and commiserate with. :-)
Most of the posts before today will read more like a blow-by-blow description, and really will be more to document what's gone on before. It will either be interesting or dry as toast, depending on your perspective.
Here's the cast of characters in this real life drama:
Real People:
The Physicians:
Other characters:
I'm starting this blog in the middle of our odyssey..lots of ground has already been covered this year. Nana has congestive heart failure, brought on mainly by a faulty heart valve--which we found out about this year. Because of this, her heart is not strong enough to flush the fluids that our bodies naturally make, and it just collects. Her legs swell and feel wooden. She has a difficult time breathing. I'm going to try documenting some of the things we've been through to hopefully provide an outlet for the stress and turmoil on our family and hopefully provide something for others in a similar situation to read and commiserate with. :-)
Most of the posts before today will read more like a blow-by-blow description, and really will be more to document what's gone on before. It will either be interesting or dry as toast, depending on your perspective.
Here's the cast of characters in this real life drama:
Real People:
- Nana: My 81-year old mother in law. She's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.
- Laura: My lovely bride. She's also one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. She's a stay at home mom, home educator, digital scrapbooker, and of late, Nana's health advocate. Watch out, my wife can go from sweet to mama bear in about .02 seconds.
- Aunt D: One of Laura's two aunts and Nana's sister
- Cousin D: One of Laura's cousins, and daughter to Aunt D
- Aunt M: Laura's other aunt and Nana's sister
- Uncle A: Aunt M's husband
The Physicians:
- Dr. M: Nana's primary health physician
- Dr. W: Nana's cardiologist
- Dr. Y: Nana's cardiac electrophysiologist
- Dr. C: Nana's kidney physician
- Dr. L: Nana's lung physican
- The Pharmacy: This one should also be obvious. The Pharmacy is located in a large store that prides itself on saving money and living better. All in all, the people working at the Pharmacy have been incredibly helpful.
Other characters:
- The Oxygen Supply Company
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Duel of the Doctors
Dr. M & Dr. W met on the green at dawn with flintlocks to see who would win. Not really, but there has been a lot of back-and-forth discussion on what's the appropriate treatment for Nana.
As it stands currently, Nana would need to have a heart valve or two replaced. This means open heart surgery, which is not to be taken lightly.
Nana has another appointment with Dr. W in a couple of weeks, so we'll see how things are then.
As it stands currently, Nana would need to have a heart valve or two replaced. This means open heart surgery, which is not to be taken lightly.
Nana has another appointment with Dr. W in a couple of weeks, so we'll see how things are then.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Pharmacy wrestling match
She went to pick up all of the prescriptions later that day. On a Sunday. Don't mess with Mama Bear. :-)
Apparently there's slightly more to this story: When the pharmacist called to the hospital to verify with Dr. W, all the pharmacist wanted was Dr. W's FAX number. The hospital was unwilling to provide that information, but they did provide Dr. W's personal cell number. Which the pharmacist called and spoke with Dr. W. on a Sunday. Twice.
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