Jan 26th - mini update

Hgb 8.9  WBC 13.  Drain still working. Wound care is pleased. May stop antibiotics tomorrow. 

All GOOD things! ;)

Mini update

Hgb 8.4 at midnight last night.  WBC is 15. No fever for last 24 hours.

Jan 21

The drain was placed in the hematoma yesterday with good results. The drain should not hamper his PT/OT efforts. It will remain in place until it stops producing. It could take weeks (months?) for this hematoma to fully resolve. 

Dad's Hgb was up to 7.9 (still low but the rise shows that at least the last two units didn't follow into the hematoma as well) 

Dad developed left arm redness and pain. His blood cultures came back + for staph. From what I can decipher from Becky's emailed notes it looks like the PICC was removed and another placed while he was having the drain placed. He has been started on antibiotics. Wbc 24- down from 34 the day prior.


2:30 pm Update...
WBC 21- No fever ;)
HGB 6.9- receiving 2 more units of blood today ;(
On full vent support ;(

Stupid hematoma! Stupid fever!

The hematoma drama continues. Dad is still in pain and requiring pain meds. A follow-up CT scan yesterday showed that the hematoma is stable and the filter is in the correct place. The vascular Dr has assessed him and will place a drain tomorrow and has wrapped his leg with an ACE bandage. His Hgb was low again today (6.7) so he is receiving a 3rd and 4th unit of blood.

Dad has been running a fever (99-101) since yesterday afternoon. Causes of infection are being examined- he has had a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia (results not back), urine cultures, and blood cultures.

Oh my hematoma!

The past 24 hours has been a bit rough for Dad. He started having severe leg pain at 3am on Saturday morning. It was untouched by Dilaudid or Oxycontin. Initially the fear was a blood clot but testing ruled that out. Instead, it was discovered that he had a 23 cm hematoma from his groin to his knee from the combination of blood thinners and some recent manipulation of his legs. Since it is an active bleed, they decided to thicken his blood (he received 2 units of blood this morning) and to place an IVC filter (inferior vena cava) to capture any potential traveling blood clots (embolism) to prevent them from going to his heart or lungs. The Drs needed for this procedure were called into the hospital on Saturday night for an emergency procedure on another patient so they added Dad onto their schedule that night.

It is easy to tell when Dad's hemoglobin gets low- he gets ice frantic. It is not always "transfusable low" but it is definitely symptomatic low. Any pregnant woman who has had pica knows the feeling. Hopefully the 2 units of blood he received this morning will help ease this hunger, lower his heart rate, slow his bleeding and give him more oxygen carrying components and thus an overall "pick-me-up".

Mom stayed overnight last night and is very grateful to Sue and Dave Geigler who came by this afternoon with some Chinese food for her. Becky has Monday off from school so she is heading down to Cincinnati for a few days. Updates to follow as they are texted in...

January 12

Steve has had a good week.  He is tested every day on how much he can breathe in and out and has been doing great, steadily improving.  With this objective measure, Dr. Krause and pulmonologists decided to give him opportunity to try the trach collar once again.  It has been since mid October that he was on it, before he got the pneumonia and had to spend time in ICU.  Today he was on the trach collar 2 hours when I was there and was still on it when I left.

Steve also has done very well in his PT/OT sessions this last week, hitting 30 minutes sitting on the side of the bed and doing modified “pushups” where he leans back against the therapists hands and then pulls himself upright while sitting on the side of the bed.

Today I was shown two exercises to help Steve with his legs.  He is able to fire up enough hip/thigh muscle for me to be able to help him bend his legs and move them a short distance side to side.  I hold them, but the movement is him. 

He practices trying to fire up muscles in his forearms and hands and sometimes we see small movements.  Praying for more!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and continuing to follow on the blog.  The visits are also so welcome.  I’ve needed to cut back on visiting every day and now take two days per week to “take care of myself.”  

Love,

Nancy and Steve