Sunday evening
Lynn seems to be doing better - the little device that Dr. Conaway got for her has helped out a lot. She got a good night's sleep last night, the first in several days. The cough is still there, but it is not nearly so scary. One side effect was that she has almost completely lost her voice now. She literally cannot talk on the phone. Our friend and neighbor, Cynthia Cassidy, had what must be the exact same illness a few days ago, and she was without her voice for quite a few days. Lynn has two or three under her belt, so we should start seeing some improvement soon.
Had yet another issue come up, but it is not nearly so serious. Lynn hurt her hand on Thanksgiving, playing, of all things, Twister! A tendon in her left wrist hurts to the touch. It doesn't hurt her when she moves it, but it hurts like crazy when someone touches it. Carlee brushed her hand against it today, and when Lynn yelped, she really freaked out. Lynn is pretty sure that it is a tendon. If it does not get better soon, we will have to have it looked at.
I got the Christmas lights up, so that cheered everyone up...at least until we get the electricity bill! Mac and I also made a couple of trips up to my Mom's house and started working on the yard. It is too bad that Lynn is ill - she would really like to jump in and get to work on that! Possibly in the spring
Kathy Allen will be coming to stay with us next Saturday night, before Lynn gets started on round 4. The one after that will be a real bear - it falls between Christmas and New Years. Things wrap up March 1st if all goes well...definitely looking forward to Spring this year!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday Evening
Lynn had a follow-up a few days ago with Dr. Jordan. He was quite pleased with the status of her heart. Her blood pressure was very low, but he said that it was exactly where he wanted it. At that point, Lynn was concerned that she was picking up a bit of a cold. His response was "I don't do colds!" I think he was kidding, but you can never tell. Anyway, a few days went by, and she started picking up a non-productive cough that got worse and worse. It got to the point that she was unable to lie down in bed and had to sleep on the recliner sofa. She said that she felt she had to cough, and that there was stuff down there that she wanted to get out, but that it would not work for her. She didn't have a fever or anything like that, but she definitely felt that something was not quite right.
Things came to a head last night - she simply could not stop coughing, and was up most of the night. I managed to convince her to call her personal doctor, Dr. Conaway, and ask him if he could come up with something to help her out. He called back, heard what she had to say, and was convinced that she has some sort of infection. He arranged to get an inhaler for her that would help get the congestion broken up, so she could get her lungs clear. I also went out and got her an old-fashioned vapo-rub steam machine, which we'll run all night long for her. Hopefully that will help as well.
Lynn had a follow-up a few days ago with Dr. Jordan. He was quite pleased with the status of her heart. Her blood pressure was very low, but he said that it was exactly where he wanted it. At that point, Lynn was concerned that she was picking up a bit of a cold. His response was "I don't do colds!" I think he was kidding, but you can never tell. Anyway, a few days went by, and she started picking up a non-productive cough that got worse and worse. It got to the point that she was unable to lie down in bed and had to sleep on the recliner sofa. She said that she felt she had to cough, and that there was stuff down there that she wanted to get out, but that it would not work for her. She didn't have a fever or anything like that, but she definitely felt that something was not quite right.
Things came to a head last night - she simply could not stop coughing, and was up most of the night. I managed to convince her to call her personal doctor, Dr. Conaway, and ask him if he could come up with something to help her out. He called back, heard what she had to say, and was convinced that she has some sort of infection. He arranged to get an inhaler for her that would help get the congestion broken up, so she could get her lungs clear. I also went out and got her an old-fashioned vapo-rub steam machine, which we'll run all night long for her. Hopefully that will help as well.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
November 19, 2009
Thursday Evening
November 19, 2009
Lynn has just wrapped up the third round of chemotherapy. Things went pretty well. She was able, once again, to avoid the confusion brought about by one of the chemo ingredients. And, she did not have any of the nausea sometimes common for people taking those chemicals. However, she has had some issues with her IVs. It is getting increasingly difficult to find good veins for her IV. This time, she had some problems with the first one that was put in. It got a clot in it, and the flow of her IV had to be slowed down. They took that one out, and put in a new one. Fortunately for her, she had higher blood pressure than she usually did, and it was much easier to get a good stick. Never-the-less, for the first time, there was talk about a shunt, a permanent inlet into her blood stream. It would be in place for the rest of her treatment. Maybe it would make things easier to get the drugs in her, but it sometimes has a habit of getting infected.
Lynn's heart seems to be doing pretty well, although she still has the persistent cough. Dr. Jordan still is tweaking the Lasic, as she gains and loses lots of weight, all fluid, during short periods of time. The cough, interestingly enough, goes away when she is in the hospital. Only when she leaves does it return. She thought at first that we had mold in the house or something, but it is probably due to a combination of her moving around more and of getting away from the relatively dry air found in medical facilities.
Barb and Bob came by with dinner tonight - It was great seeing the two of them - they go to our church and are in our small group. They brought pot roast: Lynn's favorite. She has lost some of her ability to taste, so having something really good was a big help. Over the week-end, we had lots of visitors, and have had all kinds of people drop by to see if they could help us out. It has really been terrific. The first week after the chemo is always the hardest, as Lynn is the weakest. We try to stay away from public places where she can pick up germs and bugs, so she cannot get out. Having visitors boosts her spirits.
The next round of chemo begins in December. After that, there will be one in between Christmas and New Years. We wrap things up in March...just about the time this whole saga got started. Hope I won't have anything to write about after that!
November 19, 2009
Lynn has just wrapped up the third round of chemotherapy. Things went pretty well. She was able, once again, to avoid the confusion brought about by one of the chemo ingredients. And, she did not have any of the nausea sometimes common for people taking those chemicals. However, she has had some issues with her IVs. It is getting increasingly difficult to find good veins for her IV. This time, she had some problems with the first one that was put in. It got a clot in it, and the flow of her IV had to be slowed down. They took that one out, and put in a new one. Fortunately for her, she had higher blood pressure than she usually did, and it was much easier to get a good stick. Never-the-less, for the first time, there was talk about a shunt, a permanent inlet into her blood stream. It would be in place for the rest of her treatment. Maybe it would make things easier to get the drugs in her, but it sometimes has a habit of getting infected.
Lynn's heart seems to be doing pretty well, although she still has the persistent cough. Dr. Jordan still is tweaking the Lasic, as she gains and loses lots of weight, all fluid, during short periods of time. The cough, interestingly enough, goes away when she is in the hospital. Only when she leaves does it return. She thought at first that we had mold in the house or something, but it is probably due to a combination of her moving around more and of getting away from the relatively dry air found in medical facilities.
Barb and Bob came by with dinner tonight - It was great seeing the two of them - they go to our church and are in our small group. They brought pot roast: Lynn's favorite. She has lost some of her ability to taste, so having something really good was a big help. Over the week-end, we had lots of visitors, and have had all kinds of people drop by to see if they could help us out. It has really been terrific. The first week after the chemo is always the hardest, as Lynn is the weakest. We try to stay away from public places where she can pick up germs and bugs, so she cannot get out. Having visitors boosts her spirits.
The next round of chemo begins in December. After that, there will be one in between Christmas and New Years. We wrap things up in March...just about the time this whole saga got started. Hope I won't have anything to write about after that!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
November 15, 2009
Sunday 11/15/09
Boy, does the title of this blog, "Lynn's Memorable Spring" seem inappropriate now! Here we are, speeding into Winter, and yet the saga lives on! If everything goes according to plan, it will indeed be Spring when we wrap things up...only, just a year later!
Good news, however. Lynn had a cat scan done...one of the things that you look at to see if the cancer is regressing when dealing with lymphoma is the size if the lymph nodes throughout that body. When the nodes are swollen, thus larger, it is a sign that the body is attempting to fight the cancer, and, basically, that it is losing the battle. Lynn's earlier catscan showed that her lymph nodes were much larger than usual, and that the cancer was really taking hold. Well, the last series of cat-scans showed that the lymph nodes have decreased in size dramatically. In other words, the chemo is working just like it should. The cancer cells are taking a major hit, and are retreating exactly like we would have hoped. More good news: her blood counts, including red blood cells and white blood cells, are actually better after this round of chemo than the one before. Chemo has the effect of damaging her blood cells, and so her doctors try to manage the chemo so that they do not do something that will hurt her ability to basically get oxygen to her body. Her blood counts are great right now - she is handling the chemo very well, and her basic "life functions" are not significantly impaired.
In addition, she is not loony! If you recall, one of the components of her chemo, Ifex, the "I" in RICE, was breaking down into a chemical that was causing her to have some severe confusion and disorientation. That was from the first round. Well, Dr. Blair, her oncologist, decided to start massive dosages of methylyene blue to be injected into her periodically throughout the chemo process. This chemical, usually used as a stain, per my Mom, has the effect of "soaking up" the by-products of the Ifex. Bottom line - it worked perfectly, Lynn had none of the confusion or other problems, and she was able to handle things perfectly. Really great to see that happen.
We start round 3 on Monday. She goes into the hospital that morning. Hopefully, things will progress along the same route as we have seen so far at that time.
One major issue, that has nothing to do with Lynn, but that affects me. My Mom passed away on November 5th. This was totally unexpected, but I guess that you have to be ready for something like this when a relative is 80 years old. She had all kinds of input to give me regarding Lynn's treatment, plus lots of positive encouragement...she was, after all, planning on going to Med school. I just wish that she had been able to stick around long enough to see Lynn make it through this latest series of medical problems.
Boy, does the title of this blog, "Lynn's Memorable Spring" seem inappropriate now! Here we are, speeding into Winter, and yet the saga lives on! If everything goes according to plan, it will indeed be Spring when we wrap things up...only, just a year later!
Good news, however. Lynn had a cat scan done...one of the things that you look at to see if the cancer is regressing when dealing with lymphoma is the size if the lymph nodes throughout that body. When the nodes are swollen, thus larger, it is a sign that the body is attempting to fight the cancer, and, basically, that it is losing the battle. Lynn's earlier catscan showed that her lymph nodes were much larger than usual, and that the cancer was really taking hold. Well, the last series of cat-scans showed that the lymph nodes have decreased in size dramatically. In other words, the chemo is working just like it should. The cancer cells are taking a major hit, and are retreating exactly like we would have hoped. More good news: her blood counts, including red blood cells and white blood cells, are actually better after this round of chemo than the one before. Chemo has the effect of damaging her blood cells, and so her doctors try to manage the chemo so that they do not do something that will hurt her ability to basically get oxygen to her body. Her blood counts are great right now - she is handling the chemo very well, and her basic "life functions" are not significantly impaired.
In addition, she is not loony! If you recall, one of the components of her chemo, Ifex, the "I" in RICE, was breaking down into a chemical that was causing her to have some severe confusion and disorientation. That was from the first round. Well, Dr. Blair, her oncologist, decided to start massive dosages of methylyene blue to be injected into her periodically throughout the chemo process. This chemical, usually used as a stain, per my Mom, has the effect of "soaking up" the by-products of the Ifex. Bottom line - it worked perfectly, Lynn had none of the confusion or other problems, and she was able to handle things perfectly. Really great to see that happen.
We start round 3 on Monday. She goes into the hospital that morning. Hopefully, things will progress along the same route as we have seen so far at that time.
One major issue, that has nothing to do with Lynn, but that affects me. My Mom passed away on November 5th. This was totally unexpected, but I guess that you have to be ready for something like this when a relative is 80 years old. She had all kinds of input to give me regarding Lynn's treatment, plus lots of positive encouragement...she was, after all, planning on going to Med school. I just wish that she had been able to stick around long enough to see Lynn make it through this latest series of medical problems.
Monday, November 2, 2009
November 2, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
You know, the name of this blog is "Lynn's Memorable Spring" - well, I'd guess that no one could imagine that we would be looking at the first part of November at this point. Quite a trip from early spring to late Autumn. The leaves that were just busting out on the trees when this thing started are now being raked up by my 8 year-old...and we're still not done.
Things are going pretty well, however, bearing in mind that we are talking stage four lymphoma. The confusion Lynn got from the first round was definitely not repeated in round 2...no doubt that the oncologist figured out what to do to handle that issue. Although that cuts way back on funny stories we can tell about her, the overall situation has definitely improved. And, Lynn is feeling quite good. Her recovery from the heart surgery had been pretty much on hold until a few months ago. Now, since the lymphoma cells are getting blasted by the chemotherapy and do not have the chance to mess with her, she is seeing some real recovery. No, not quite ready for three games of sand volley-ball, but definitely getting better...well, maybe ready for the BEERS involved in three games of volleyball, now that I think about it. Dr. Blair wants to check out how she is doing in a few weeks. He wants her to have a cat scan to see if the lymphoma is being reduced as much as it appears. I do not know for sure, but I suspect that, the better the cat scan turns out, the better chance she has of having fewer rounds of chemo. The original goal was to have 8 rounds. That puts her wrapping things up March 1st to March 4th. If they can cut it back to 6, we'll be done around January.
We have been getting all kinds of help from our friends and neighbors. Just about every other day, we get someone swinging by and dropping off a meal for us. From our experiences, we can tell two things: 1. we have a lot of really wonderful, caring friends, and 2. we have a lot of wonderful caring friends that REALLY know how to cook. The downside of this is the added expense that will now be incurred as I gorge myself on all the great food, and then have to start shopping at the "Big and Tall" Mens clothing store to get new pants. (Yes, maybe there is a stock tip there!) Seriously, it is really great to have this kind of help. There is a lot of inherent, underlying stress involved in the whole lymphoma situation. And, often times, not having to plan out and prepare something as simple as a meal really takes the pressure off, and makes things so much easier at the end of the day. Frankly, if it wasn't for all the great food we have been getting, I swear that I would have been feeding the kids a steady diet of Ramen Noodles and Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee by now. Now, that would probably not be an issue for THEM, but I would have felt terribly guilty.
You know, the name of this blog is "Lynn's Memorable Spring" - well, I'd guess that no one could imagine that we would be looking at the first part of November at this point. Quite a trip from early spring to late Autumn. The leaves that were just busting out on the trees when this thing started are now being raked up by my 8 year-old...and we're still not done.
Things are going pretty well, however, bearing in mind that we are talking stage four lymphoma. The confusion Lynn got from the first round was definitely not repeated in round 2...no doubt that the oncologist figured out what to do to handle that issue. Although that cuts way back on funny stories we can tell about her, the overall situation has definitely improved. And, Lynn is feeling quite good. Her recovery from the heart surgery had been pretty much on hold until a few months ago. Now, since the lymphoma cells are getting blasted by the chemotherapy and do not have the chance to mess with her, she is seeing some real recovery. No, not quite ready for three games of sand volley-ball, but definitely getting better...well, maybe ready for the BEERS involved in three games of volleyball, now that I think about it. Dr. Blair wants to check out how she is doing in a few weeks. He wants her to have a cat scan to see if the lymphoma is being reduced as much as it appears. I do not know for sure, but I suspect that, the better the cat scan turns out, the better chance she has of having fewer rounds of chemo. The original goal was to have 8 rounds. That puts her wrapping things up March 1st to March 4th. If they can cut it back to 6, we'll be done around January.
We have been getting all kinds of help from our friends and neighbors. Just about every other day, we get someone swinging by and dropping off a meal for us. From our experiences, we can tell two things: 1. we have a lot of really wonderful, caring friends, and 2. we have a lot of wonderful caring friends that REALLY know how to cook. The downside of this is the added expense that will now be incurred as I gorge myself on all the great food, and then have to start shopping at the "Big and Tall" Mens clothing store to get new pants. (Yes, maybe there is a stock tip there!) Seriously, it is really great to have this kind of help. There is a lot of inherent, underlying stress involved in the whole lymphoma situation. And, often times, not having to plan out and prepare something as simple as a meal really takes the pressure off, and makes things so much easier at the end of the day. Frankly, if it wasn't for all the great food we have been getting, I swear that I would have been feeding the kids a steady diet of Ramen Noodles and Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee by now. Now, that would probably not be an issue for THEM, but I would have felt terribly guilty.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009We've had quite a bit happen the last week. Lynn went in for round 2 of her chemotherapy on Monday. Up to that point, things were going pretty well, and there wasn't much exciting happening. Her appetite came back when her taste buds recovered, and she gained back some of the weight that she had lost earlier. Normally, losing weight is a good thing, but in this case, she had lost so much that it was somewhat alarming. Gaining it back was definitely something her doctors wanted to see. Her breathing is also much better. The coughing has almost completely disappeared, and she has much more endurance than this time a month ago.
I also was able to make a splash. After getting tired of Lynn having all the attention, I sulked a bit, and gave it some thought, then decided to go out and get a haircut...a really short one. Basically, I had all my hair cut off. Basically, I have had five o'clock shadow longer than my hair. I did not tell Lynn about this, so it was a big surprise. Carlee and Mac were also surprised. Heck, I was surprised every time I went past a mirror!
On Monday, she got in early for the chemo. They got started right away, which was something we wanted to see. Her goal was to get done in time for trick or treat on Thursday. Based on experiences from the last round, Dr. Blair had her receive a number of doses of Methyl Blue, six in all, throughout the chemo. That chemical, you may recall, binds with the byproduct of the Ifex that caused all the confusion and weird behavior she experienced last time. He also tweaked the dosages of her other chemo ingredients. The bottom line was, it all went extremely well. The Ifex did not mess with her at all, and everything else went off exactly as planned. In fact, Dr. Blair was able to increase the dosage on one of the drugs, since she was able to handle it, meaning that it will be more effective killing off the lymphoma cells. Bottom line was she got done ahead of schedule, and wrapped things up on Wednesdayevening. It was late enough in the day that she was unable to go home that night, but she got home Thursday morning, well ahead of trick or treating at 6PM.
One thing that was of some concern was that she has appeared to gain some of her weight because of fluid gain. Her heart doctor, Dr. Jordan, was pretty irritated that Lynn had not told him that she had gained as much weight as she did during the course of her recovery time, after the conclusion of the first chemo, and the beginning of the second round. To be fair, he had established a target number for Lynn, and she had not exceeded that value, so Lynn did think that she had to call. However, it was very close to that threshold, so Dr. Jordan had wanted to know anyway. He has adjusted her Lasik as a result, increasing it two-fold, and has instructed her to take it twice a day. That will mean that she will have to camp out a lot more around the bathroom after she takes each dose!
One other news item - Sharon Allen cut her hair for her when she was in the hospital. It has been falling out at a very quick rate now, so there was not much left to cut. In a couple of days, it will probably be all gone, and she will look just like me.
The next step will be a number of doctor visits, and we will be looking towards round 3 of the chemo. That is coming up in mid November. Another round will be in early December, followed by one during the week between Christmas and New Years. Lynn was able to take her laptop to the hospital and could actually get some work done. This is actually a good thing for her - there is only so much TV you can watch before you go crazy, and she likes to keep busy.
I also was able to make a splash. After getting tired of Lynn having all the attention, I sulked a bit, and gave it some thought, then decided to go out and get a haircut...a really short one. Basically, I had all my hair cut off. Basically, I have had five o'clock shadow longer than my hair. I did not tell Lynn about this, so it was a big surprise. Carlee and Mac were also surprised. Heck, I was surprised every time I went past a mirror!
On Monday, she got in early for the chemo. They got started right away, which was something we wanted to see. Her goal was to get done in time for trick or treat on Thursday. Based on experiences from the last round, Dr. Blair had her receive a number of doses of Methyl Blue, six in all, throughout the chemo. That chemical, you may recall, binds with the byproduct of the Ifex that caused all the confusion and weird behavior she experienced last time. He also tweaked the dosages of her other chemo ingredients. The bottom line was, it all went extremely well. The Ifex did not mess with her at all, and everything else went off exactly as planned. In fact, Dr. Blair was able to increase the dosage on one of the drugs, since she was able to handle it, meaning that it will be more effective killing off the lymphoma cells. Bottom line was she got done ahead of schedule, and wrapped things up on Wednesdayevening. It was late enough in the day that she was unable to go home that night, but she got home Thursday morning, well ahead of trick or treating at 6PM.
One thing that was of some concern was that she has appeared to gain some of her weight because of fluid gain. Her heart doctor, Dr. Jordan, was pretty irritated that Lynn had not told him that she had gained as much weight as she did during the course of her recovery time, after the conclusion of the first chemo, and the beginning of the second round. To be fair, he had established a target number for Lynn, and she had not exceeded that value, so Lynn did think that she had to call. However, it was very close to that threshold, so Dr. Jordan had wanted to know anyway. He has adjusted her Lasik as a result, increasing it two-fold, and has instructed her to take it twice a day. That will mean that she will have to camp out a lot more around the bathroom after she takes each dose!
One other news item - Sharon Allen cut her hair for her when she was in the hospital. It has been falling out at a very quick rate now, so there was not much left to cut. In a couple of days, it will probably be all gone, and she will look just like me.
The next step will be a number of doctor visits, and we will be looking towards round 3 of the chemo. That is coming up in mid November. Another round will be in early December, followed by one during the week between Christmas and New Years. Lynn was able to take her laptop to the hospital and could actually get some work done. This is actually a good thing for her - there is only so much TV you can watch before you go crazy, and she likes to keep busy.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
October 20, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Things are settling down around here. Carlee, of course, had experienced the H1N1 virus, and we were worried that she was going to spread it to the rest of us. Of course, Lynn is the one we worry about the most, so we were on pins and needles for a few days. Carlee got over the flu amazingly fast - she was up and around almost immediately. In fact, she even went to school today. Plus, no one in our house got a case either. I am amazed that I did not pick it up, but somehow we all dodged a bullet. From what I could tell, the way the disease spreads most readily through sneezing. Fortunately, that was one of the symptoms that Carlee didn't have. She had the sore throat, the temperature, and the coughing. Of course, she also did not have the loss of appetite either, but that goes without saying. Anyway, we are past the time that we would have been infected, so now we can start looking at the next step in the process - second round of chemotherapy.
That's starts again on Monday, October 26th. We want to get to the hospital as soon as possible that day. The sooner they start the chemo, the sooner they can get done, and the sooner she can go home on Thursday. For now, she will have the entire sequence while hospitalized. There was some talk about trying to do some of it out-patient, but her doctors want to monitor things closely this time, especially since she had such a dramatic response to the Ifex the last time around. They want to try to tweak the dosage, and get her protein levels up, so that she will be able to answer questions with something other than "Duh" next time.
Lynn's also eating better, and her stamina is better than it was before the chemo, She has been working steadily, and even complained that she did not have enough to do. Not back to pre-heart surgery levels, but definitely the first sign of improvement we have seen in months.
Everyone else is hanging in there too. Carlee, like I said, is all better (grumpy today, but that's probably due to the fact that she was feeling a bit of cabin fever.) Mac went to his first Cub Scout Pack meeting last night, and had a blast. He got to be a volunteer for a magic show, and was able to get his Bobcat badge. He is already starting on getting Bear squared away. Many thanks to everyone that has been asking about Lynn and who have helped out. It's good to hear that she has so many friends out there looking out for her and for us.
Things are settling down around here. Carlee, of course, had experienced the H1N1 virus, and we were worried that she was going to spread it to the rest of us. Of course, Lynn is the one we worry about the most, so we were on pins and needles for a few days. Carlee got over the flu amazingly fast - she was up and around almost immediately. In fact, she even went to school today. Plus, no one in our house got a case either. I am amazed that I did not pick it up, but somehow we all dodged a bullet. From what I could tell, the way the disease spreads most readily through sneezing. Fortunately, that was one of the symptoms that Carlee didn't have. She had the sore throat, the temperature, and the coughing. Of course, she also did not have the loss of appetite either, but that goes without saying. Anyway, we are past the time that we would have been infected, so now we can start looking at the next step in the process - second round of chemotherapy.
That's starts again on Monday, October 26th. We want to get to the hospital as soon as possible that day. The sooner they start the chemo, the sooner they can get done, and the sooner she can go home on Thursday. For now, she will have the entire sequence while hospitalized. There was some talk about trying to do some of it out-patient, but her doctors want to monitor things closely this time, especially since she had such a dramatic response to the Ifex the last time around. They want to try to tweak the dosage, and get her protein levels up, so that she will be able to answer questions with something other than "Duh" next time.
Lynn's also eating better, and her stamina is better than it was before the chemo, She has been working steadily, and even complained that she did not have enough to do. Not back to pre-heart surgery levels, but definitely the first sign of improvement we have seen in months.
Everyone else is hanging in there too. Carlee, like I said, is all better (grumpy today, but that's probably due to the fact that she was feeling a bit of cabin fever.) Mac went to his first Cub Scout Pack meeting last night, and had a blast. He got to be a volunteer for a magic show, and was able to get his Bobcat badge. He is already starting on getting Bear squared away. Many thanks to everyone that has been asking about Lynn and who have helped out. It's good to hear that she has so many friends out there looking out for her and for us.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
October 17, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Now to get everyone up to speed. We got Lynn home last Friday evening. From the time she got home, she steadily improved. I'd have to say that she was pretty much back to normal by Sunday. She was still taking the Lasik, so she was getting up during the night, but the length of time she spent sleeping got longer and longer as the week went on. We even managed to make it to church on Sunday, which lent an air of normalcy to our otherwise abnormal lives! Gary and Sharon dropped by during the day and helped out with getting the kids to school, some housework, and made some meals. I was also confident enough to take Mac to his first Cub Scout meeting on Monday night.
In general, she has been getting better and better. The persistent cough that she had that kept her up at night is now completely gone. Her endurance has also improved...before, she had to take the stairs to the second floor in two phases, resting at the landing. Well, not now. She makes it in one single trip. Her attitude is much better too - generally very positive, which is really important when it comes to overcoming cancer. We know for sure that she is going to lose her hair, so she decided to get it trimmed up now, before it all falls out. When Heidi trimmed it, it really looked good. She said that she might want to stay with that style when the whole cancer thing has run its course, and her hair comes back. This whole hair loss situation has been a lot less traumatic than last time - after all, we have already been down this road before!
Well, things were going swimmingly up until last night, that is, Friday night. It was then that Carlee developed a high fever, and could not gt back to sleep. I ran out and got some children's Tylenol, along with a thermometer (all ours were AWOL or non-working), and checked her out. It was at 102.9. However, the Tylenol managed to knock it down. Next morning, when the Tylenol ran out, the temperature started climbing again. Lynn arranged to line up an appointment at the pediatrician to see what the problem was. Susan and Amy dropped by, and Susan went with her to the doctor's.
I guess that 2009 still has some surprises in store for us, despite the fact that we thought we had seen it all. Turns out, Carlee has H1N1...yes, swine flu. And Lynn, with her severely depleted immune system, had been exposed to her continually since she got it.
On the plus side, Carlee does not seem to have a terrible case of the flu. She has the high temperature, and she has the sore throat, but the body aches, nausea, runny nose, sneezing and so on do not appear to be a problem. Also, I am here at home and can take care of her today and tomorrow, the days she is most likely to be the most ill. On the negative side, there is a really good chance that Lynn will develop a case of the flu. There is really nothing we can do about it. She had been in line to get one of the first vials of the vaccine, but if she has it already, there isn't much she can do about it. I just hope that it doesn't affect the next phase of the chemo. H1N1 runs in a 7 day cycle, and I cannot imagine that her doctors will allow her to start part 2 if she is still suffering from the flu.
If things turn out OK, the next phase of chemo will begin on Monday, October 26th. Her oncologist has set up a four day hospital stay for her for that phase. He also is working on handling the Ifex issue, and it looks like it will not be as severe next time.
Now to get everyone up to speed. We got Lynn home last Friday evening. From the time she got home, she steadily improved. I'd have to say that she was pretty much back to normal by Sunday. She was still taking the Lasik, so she was getting up during the night, but the length of time she spent sleeping got longer and longer as the week went on. We even managed to make it to church on Sunday, which lent an air of normalcy to our otherwise abnormal lives! Gary and Sharon dropped by during the day and helped out with getting the kids to school, some housework, and made some meals. I was also confident enough to take Mac to his first Cub Scout meeting on Monday night.
In general, she has been getting better and better. The persistent cough that she had that kept her up at night is now completely gone. Her endurance has also improved...before, she had to take the stairs to the second floor in two phases, resting at the landing. Well, not now. She makes it in one single trip. Her attitude is much better too - generally very positive, which is really important when it comes to overcoming cancer. We know for sure that she is going to lose her hair, so she decided to get it trimmed up now, before it all falls out. When Heidi trimmed it, it really looked good. She said that she might want to stay with that style when the whole cancer thing has run its course, and her hair comes back. This whole hair loss situation has been a lot less traumatic than last time - after all, we have already been down this road before!
Well, things were going swimmingly up until last night, that is, Friday night. It was then that Carlee developed a high fever, and could not gt back to sleep. I ran out and got some children's Tylenol, along with a thermometer (all ours were AWOL or non-working), and checked her out. It was at 102.9. However, the Tylenol managed to knock it down. Next morning, when the Tylenol ran out, the temperature started climbing again. Lynn arranged to line up an appointment at the pediatrician to see what the problem was. Susan and Amy dropped by, and Susan went with her to the doctor's.
I guess that 2009 still has some surprises in store for us, despite the fact that we thought we had seen it all. Turns out, Carlee has H1N1...yes, swine flu. And Lynn, with her severely depleted immune system, had been exposed to her continually since she got it.
On the plus side, Carlee does not seem to have a terrible case of the flu. She has the high temperature, and she has the sore throat, but the body aches, nausea, runny nose, sneezing and so on do not appear to be a problem. Also, I am here at home and can take care of her today and tomorrow, the days she is most likely to be the most ill. On the negative side, there is a really good chance that Lynn will develop a case of the flu. There is really nothing we can do about it. She had been in line to get one of the first vials of the vaccine, but if she has it already, there isn't much she can do about it. I just hope that it doesn't affect the next phase of the chemo. H1N1 runs in a 7 day cycle, and I cannot imagine that her doctors will allow her to start part 2 if she is still suffering from the flu.
If things turn out OK, the next phase of chemo will begin on Monday, October 26th. Her oncologist has set up a four day hospital stay for her for that phase. He also is working on handling the Ifex issue, and it looks like it will not be as severe next time.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sunday, October 11th, 2009
Sunday Morning
Looks like another big gap - sorry all. It has been quite busy around here. The last time I wrote down something in the blog, Lynn was about half way through the chemo, and things were going well. As far as the impact on the heart is concerned, that is still the case. So far, the RICE combination has not done anything to her heart. All her vitals are good. Unfortunately, she had a side effect that was the result of the "I" in RICE. Basically, she suffered from a condition called "Neuro-toxicity". It sounds pretty bad, and it is while it lasts, but it does not cause permanent damage. Basically, as the "I" chemical breaks down (the chemotherapy chemical is called "Ifosmaide" or "Ifex"), it creates a toxic substance. If there is not enough protein in the body, specifically albumin, which binds to the chemical and allows the body to flush it out, it works its way into the nervous system. The toxic substance, chloral hydrate, incidentally, was used as a sedative years ago during surgery or as a pain blocker. The result is confusion, disorientation, and, in some cases dizziness. It has the effect of alcohol on the body. In Lynn's case, the effect was profound....I'd have to say that it was pretty much as if she had consumed about a fifth of tequila.
Yes, you can say that it hit her very hard. As the Ifex dosage continued, she got more and more confused. Eventually, she was able to tell the doctors what her name was, but that was just about it. They pointed to me, and asked her who I was, and she just gave a goofy smile. I guess it could have been worse - she could have spit at me. Sometimes, a patient's motor skills also get affected. Fortunately, that was not the case here. However, she was extremely confused and disoriented mentally. One problem associated with this was that her heart doctor, Dr. Jordan, prescribed Lasix late in the day. Lasix is a powerful fluid reduction chemical, and it makes her body flush out lots and lots of fluid...in the form of urine. That meant that she had to go to the bathroom just about every 15 minutes. And, since she really had no idea on where she was or where the bathroom was, it was quite a challenge getting her lined up properly. I got there around 2:30 PM on Wednesday, and my time from then until midnight was pretty much taken up with steering her towards the right door (she made a couple of bee-lines for the hall), making sure that she didn't bolt up and dash for the bathroom without taking her IV stand with her, or just basically giving her the proper navigational assistance needed to find the right part of the room. To her credit, she did great until right around 11PM. At that point, she made it to the bathroom, but mistook the trash can for the toilet. Not good, and here is why. As the chemotherapy chemicals work their way out of the body, they exit via, well, the urine. These chemicals are considered to be toxic substances for 48 hours after the last chemotherapy infusion...that means that the URINE is considered to be a toxic substance. Therefore, if there is a "spill", there are all kinds of strict rules in place governing how they will be cleaned up. As soon as Lynn had her difficulties, four nurses and nurse's aids descended on her room. They immediately donned haz mat style gowns, and got to work cleaning up the spill as if it was the worst nerve agent known to man. I decided, at that point, to go out and see what the night life was like near Riverside. No, actually, I stayed in the room, but retreated to the other side...no sense in getting in the way as the people who get PAID to handle this stuff went to work!
One other interesting observation - at one point, Lynn had just gone to the bathroom. However, when she was done, she made no move towards heading back to bed. She just stood in the middle of the bathroom. I said "Lynn, time to go back to bed!". She said, "I know." And, she, again, just stood there, staring at me. I waited a minute, and said, "Lynn, time to go back to sleep". She said "I KNOW!". And, yet again, stood there staring at me. Well, we went through this cycle a couple of times...she acknowledging that, indeed, it WAS time to go to bed, but that the motor activity required to make this happen was not, at that point, not an option. Finally, I grabbed her arm and said, "C'mon! Let's get to bed!" She shook herself loose and said "Get your hands off me! I KNOW!" I gather that something about the physical contact broke the spell. She gave me a look like I had just eaten the last chocolate chip cookie in the house, snarled once, and got back in bed
Around 12:00 AM, staff at the hospital told me that the worst was over, that, with the Lasix out of her system, she would probably sleep the rest of the night. I got her to go to the bathroom one last time, and then headed home. I went to work the next morning really early, then called the nurse's station. Turns out that things did NOT go as smoothly as I thought after I left...she had continued to sit up on the side of her bed, refusing to lay down. I scurried over that morning and stayed with her. She settled down some, and we managed to get her to rest. Susan, along with Gary and Sharon also came by and visited for a bit, which also helped out a lot. As the day went on, Lynn got better and better. Finally, around 4 PM, Dr. Blair told her that she could go home that night. It was a day later than we wanted, but we jumped on it. After we got done with all the details. we ended up being able to get her home by around 6:30 PM. She was still a little groggy and all, but was much better than 24 hours before.
Lynn slept OK that night, but was still restless...same story the next night. Even though she is home, she still has to deal with the periodic times she has to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Of course, it is much better than the hospital...after all, I do not try to clean the floor at 3AM with a motorized, and very loud, floor sweeper, like they do at Riverside. However, she is still prone to getting up, at least till the Lasix is done. All in all, things are much better. Of course, we still have the prospect of having to deal with the next round of Ifex, which is scary. On the positive side, Dr. Blair has said that he will take steps to keep her albumin levels up before she gets the next hit of Ifex, and he might back off on the level of the Ifex a bit. However, we'll still want to keep it as high as possible - even though the Ifex is hard to deal with from a side effect basis, it really does a number on the nasty Lymphoma cells. The harder we can nail those guys, the better chance she has of recovering.
Looks like another big gap - sorry all. It has been quite busy around here. The last time I wrote down something in the blog, Lynn was about half way through the chemo, and things were going well. As far as the impact on the heart is concerned, that is still the case. So far, the RICE combination has not done anything to her heart. All her vitals are good. Unfortunately, she had a side effect that was the result of the "I" in RICE. Basically, she suffered from a condition called "Neuro-toxicity". It sounds pretty bad, and it is while it lasts, but it does not cause permanent damage. Basically, as the "I" chemical breaks down (the chemotherapy chemical is called "Ifosmaide" or "Ifex"), it creates a toxic substance. If there is not enough protein in the body, specifically albumin, which binds to the chemical and allows the body to flush it out, it works its way into the nervous system. The toxic substance, chloral hydrate, incidentally, was used as a sedative years ago during surgery or as a pain blocker. The result is confusion, disorientation, and, in some cases dizziness. It has the effect of alcohol on the body. In Lynn's case, the effect was profound....I'd have to say that it was pretty much as if she had consumed about a fifth of tequila.
Yes, you can say that it hit her very hard. As the Ifex dosage continued, she got more and more confused. Eventually, she was able to tell the doctors what her name was, but that was just about it. They pointed to me, and asked her who I was, and she just gave a goofy smile. I guess it could have been worse - she could have spit at me. Sometimes, a patient's motor skills also get affected. Fortunately, that was not the case here. However, she was extremely confused and disoriented mentally. One problem associated with this was that her heart doctor, Dr. Jordan, prescribed Lasix late in the day. Lasix is a powerful fluid reduction chemical, and it makes her body flush out lots and lots of fluid...in the form of urine. That meant that she had to go to the bathroom just about every 15 minutes. And, since she really had no idea on where she was or where the bathroom was, it was quite a challenge getting her lined up properly. I got there around 2:30 PM on Wednesday, and my time from then until midnight was pretty much taken up with steering her towards the right door (she made a couple of bee-lines for the hall), making sure that she didn't bolt up and dash for the bathroom without taking her IV stand with her, or just basically giving her the proper navigational assistance needed to find the right part of the room. To her credit, she did great until right around 11PM. At that point, she made it to the bathroom, but mistook the trash can for the toilet. Not good, and here is why. As the chemotherapy chemicals work their way out of the body, they exit via, well, the urine. These chemicals are considered to be toxic substances for 48 hours after the last chemotherapy infusion...that means that the URINE is considered to be a toxic substance. Therefore, if there is a "spill", there are all kinds of strict rules in place governing how they will be cleaned up. As soon as Lynn had her difficulties, four nurses and nurse's aids descended on her room. They immediately donned haz mat style gowns, and got to work cleaning up the spill as if it was the worst nerve agent known to man. I decided, at that point, to go out and see what the night life was like near Riverside. No, actually, I stayed in the room, but retreated to the other side...no sense in getting in the way as the people who get PAID to handle this stuff went to work!
One other interesting observation - at one point, Lynn had just gone to the bathroom. However, when she was done, she made no move towards heading back to bed. She just stood in the middle of the bathroom. I said "Lynn, time to go back to bed!". She said, "I know." And, she, again, just stood there, staring at me. I waited a minute, and said, "Lynn, time to go back to sleep". She said "I KNOW!". And, yet again, stood there staring at me. Well, we went through this cycle a couple of times...she acknowledging that, indeed, it WAS time to go to bed, but that the motor activity required to make this happen was not, at that point, not an option. Finally, I grabbed her arm and said, "C'mon! Let's get to bed!" She shook herself loose and said "Get your hands off me! I KNOW!" I gather that something about the physical contact broke the spell. She gave me a look like I had just eaten the last chocolate chip cookie in the house, snarled once, and got back in bed
Around 12:00 AM, staff at the hospital told me that the worst was over, that, with the Lasix out of her system, she would probably sleep the rest of the night. I got her to go to the bathroom one last time, and then headed home. I went to work the next morning really early, then called the nurse's station. Turns out that things did NOT go as smoothly as I thought after I left...she had continued to sit up on the side of her bed, refusing to lay down. I scurried over that morning and stayed with her. She settled down some, and we managed to get her to rest. Susan, along with Gary and Sharon also came by and visited for a bit, which also helped out a lot. As the day went on, Lynn got better and better. Finally, around 4 PM, Dr. Blair told her that she could go home that night. It was a day later than we wanted, but we jumped on it. After we got done with all the details. we ended up being able to get her home by around 6:30 PM. She was still a little groggy and all, but was much better than 24 hours before.
Lynn slept OK that night, but was still restless...same story the next night. Even though she is home, she still has to deal with the periodic times she has to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Of course, it is much better than the hospital...after all, I do not try to clean the floor at 3AM with a motorized, and very loud, floor sweeper, like they do at Riverside. However, she is still prone to getting up, at least till the Lasix is done. All in all, things are much better. Of course, we still have the prospect of having to deal with the next round of Ifex, which is scary. On the positive side, Dr. Blair has said that he will take steps to keep her albumin levels up before she gets the next hit of Ifex, and he might back off on the level of the Ifex a bit. However, we'll still want to keep it as high as possible - even though the Ifex is hard to deal with from a side effect basis, it really does a number on the nasty Lymphoma cells. The harder we can nail those guys, the better chance she has of recovering.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
October 7, 2009
Wednesday, October 7
Looks like I am procrastinating again! Sorry about the delay. Lots has been happening.
Lynn got admitted to the hospital on Monday. A room was available pretty early on, so she was there shortly after noon. Gary and Sharon took her in. She got settled in, and then the staff got started with prepping her for the first batch of chemotherapy. This one is for Ritoxin, I believe. From what I can tell, this was one that could have an effect on her heart more than the rest, so as soon as she got the drip started, the nurses monitored her vitals every 15 minutes. She was NOT on a heart monitor, however. The reason, I guess, was that the blood pressure was the biggest concern, and it could be easily checked by the staff.
Both of Lynn's doctors also came in. I got to meet her cardiac specialist, Dr. Jordan. He is a really nice guy, and has an excellent reputation. In two cases, Lynn heard from other people that he was the best in the area, so we are really glad to have him. He also has two things going for him. First, he is a Buckeyes fan...nuff said there. And, second, I am WAY cuter than he is...that means that Lynn won't get one of these dopey "Grey's Anatomy" or "Young and the Restless" things going, where she falls in love with her doctor, and jets off with him to Tortuga or the Bahamas or something.
Dr. Blair, her oncologist from the 8 years ago and who is now involved in the Lynn's sequel, also showed up. This was in spite of the fact that he had arranged for another person working his practice to come in earlier. It looks like he wanted to see how things were going for himself, which was really nice of him. He also told Lynn that she was not allowed to be sick during the first series of chemo that night...the Packers were playing the Vikings, and he did not want to be disturbed.
Getting the IV in was very difficult...the nurse could not get it right, and the tech that came in later had to try twice. To give you an idea on how screwed up her veins are, the technician said that it had been 8 months since she had to do that twice, and she puts in a LOT of IVs. Just to clarify things...that is due to the fact that her blood pressure is low, and due to the fact that earlier chemo damages veins in that way. It does NOT mean that she has been a habitual heroin user!
Well, that was around dinner time...when 7PM rolled around, they started the drip. It was going to take 4 hours...by the time 11PM rolled around, nothing noteworthy had happened - very good news indeed. That meant that her heart was handling at least the first round of the chemo like a champion.
Lynn did not get a great deal of sleep that night, though. For one thing, the staff still wanted to keep an eye on her vitals, so they were waking her up every hour or so. Then, they also wanted blood at 4:30AM (Guess they are like vampires...have to get the work done before the sun comes up!) And, she had an awful case of cold sweating all night long. That is a sign of the cancer, supposedly, but it was much more severe than usual for her, and we have got to think that the chemo had something to do with it.
Next day, things got rolling again with another couple of shots of chemo. Different ones, of course, but she got one early in the day, then another one around noon that was scheduled to last 22 hours. Again, nothing bad happened...also, exactly what we wanted to hear. It all went like clockwork. She had no side effects, other than fatigue, and that was because she could not get any sleep for all the interruptions.
Today, AGAIN, no major problems. Dr. Blair, her oncologist, has established a schedule for the chemo regimen, and she is right on target. Her heart does not appear to be having any difficulty handling the drugs, and we hope it stays that way. Two more IVs today...one went in around noon. That is a major one. She will have a 24 hour drip on that one. If that is the case, she will have had everything by early afternoon, and we can take her home.
All in all, and keeping in mind the overall situation, things are going about as good as possible. No bad side effects, no undue pain, good attitude...hope this is the way things stay. Things are definitely going ot get harder...we both remember that each round of chemo takes more and more out of you, and gets a person more and more tired. But, just seeing how well this one went, with no major side effects, is really cause for optimism. The stronger dose she can take without her heart being affected, the better it will do against the cancer cells, and the better chance she has of knocking the buggers out and getting cured.
Looks like I am procrastinating again! Sorry about the delay. Lots has been happening.
Lynn got admitted to the hospital on Monday. A room was available pretty early on, so she was there shortly after noon. Gary and Sharon took her in. She got settled in, and then the staff got started with prepping her for the first batch of chemotherapy. This one is for Ritoxin, I believe. From what I can tell, this was one that could have an effect on her heart more than the rest, so as soon as she got the drip started, the nurses monitored her vitals every 15 minutes. She was NOT on a heart monitor, however. The reason, I guess, was that the blood pressure was the biggest concern, and it could be easily checked by the staff.
Both of Lynn's doctors also came in. I got to meet her cardiac specialist, Dr. Jordan. He is a really nice guy, and has an excellent reputation. In two cases, Lynn heard from other people that he was the best in the area, so we are really glad to have him. He also has two things going for him. First, he is a Buckeyes fan...nuff said there. And, second, I am WAY cuter than he is...that means that Lynn won't get one of these dopey "Grey's Anatomy" or "Young and the Restless" things going, where she falls in love with her doctor, and jets off with him to Tortuga or the Bahamas or something.
Dr. Blair, her oncologist from the 8 years ago and who is now involved in the Lynn's sequel, also showed up. This was in spite of the fact that he had arranged for another person working his practice to come in earlier. It looks like he wanted to see how things were going for himself, which was really nice of him. He also told Lynn that she was not allowed to be sick during the first series of chemo that night...the Packers were playing the Vikings, and he did not want to be disturbed.
Getting the IV in was very difficult...the nurse could not get it right, and the tech that came in later had to try twice. To give you an idea on how screwed up her veins are, the technician said that it had been 8 months since she had to do that twice, and she puts in a LOT of IVs. Just to clarify things...that is due to the fact that her blood pressure is low, and due to the fact that earlier chemo damages veins in that way. It does NOT mean that she has been a habitual heroin user!
Well, that was around dinner time...when 7PM rolled around, they started the drip. It was going to take 4 hours...by the time 11PM rolled around, nothing noteworthy had happened - very good news indeed. That meant that her heart was handling at least the first round of the chemo like a champion.
Lynn did not get a great deal of sleep that night, though. For one thing, the staff still wanted to keep an eye on her vitals, so they were waking her up every hour or so. Then, they also wanted blood at 4:30AM (Guess they are like vampires...have to get the work done before the sun comes up!) And, she had an awful case of cold sweating all night long. That is a sign of the cancer, supposedly, but it was much more severe than usual for her, and we have got to think that the chemo had something to do with it.
Next day, things got rolling again with another couple of shots of chemo. Different ones, of course, but she got one early in the day, then another one around noon that was scheduled to last 22 hours. Again, nothing bad happened...also, exactly what we wanted to hear. It all went like clockwork. She had no side effects, other than fatigue, and that was because she could not get any sleep for all the interruptions.
Today, AGAIN, no major problems. Dr. Blair, her oncologist, has established a schedule for the chemo regimen, and she is right on target. Her heart does not appear to be having any difficulty handling the drugs, and we hope it stays that way. Two more IVs today...one went in around noon. That is a major one. She will have a 24 hour drip on that one. If that is the case, she will have had everything by early afternoon, and we can take her home.
All in all, and keeping in mind the overall situation, things are going about as good as possible. No bad side effects, no undue pain, good attitude...hope this is the way things stay. Things are definitely going ot get harder...we both remember that each round of chemo takes more and more out of you, and gets a person more and more tired. But, just seeing how well this one went, with no major side effects, is really cause for optimism. The stronger dose she can take without her heart being affected, the better it will do against the cancer cells, and the better chance she has of knocking the buggers out and getting cured.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
October 3, 2009
As anyone can see by the date, I have, again, been missing log entries. Lots has happened in the last two weeks, most of it bad. Procrastination has always been a problem for me, and it is even worse when you have to write about things you'd rather not talk about.
Lynn got out of the hospital last week. The Lasik worked well, and they were able to get the swelling in her ankles under control, once it was administered intravenously. She got a new doctor (sorry, can't recall his name) for her heart condition, and she really likes him. He was very positive about trying to get the heart failure situation resolved, and had some ideas on how they could get her heart healing again. The main problem, he thought, was that she went off one of the meds too soon, and she need to go on it again. It had taken her blood pressure way down, and that was why she went off it.
One thing that was also done was a cat scan while she was there to check out the condition of the heart and to see what else might be going on. Unfortunately, they did not like what they saw...it looked like the lymphoma might be making a come back. At first, the idea was to take a biopsy of some of the lymph nodes, and see what came back. However, instead, they drained fluid that was building up around her lungs, about a pint, and then set up a pet scan for last Monday. The pet scan involves injecting radioactive dye into the blood stream, and then doing a cat scan. Cancer cells react differently and show up on the scan.
Since the pet scan was going to be done out-patient, Lynn got to go home early. And, the pet scan was done Monday, the 28th. Her oncologist set up a follow-up for the following Thursday, October 1st. Well, Dr. Blair had bad news for us. Her lymphoma is definitely back. Large B cell type II. It is similar to the one she had when she had cancer when she was carrying Mac, but not exactly the same. And, it is far more progressed than before. She was stage I when she had it when she was pregnant. This time, it is stage 4.
Last time she was treated with a chemotherapy mixture called "CHOP". This time, that is not an option. CHOP is too hard on the heart. This time, they will use one called "RICE" - it is easier on the heart and is still very effective. Unfortunately, there will still be a very delicate balancing act between what strength of mixture will kill the cancer, and what will adversely affect her heart. She must be int he hospital this time for at least the first batch of chemotherapy. She heads in sometime on Monday, and will be at least until Thursday. More later - Gary and Sharon are here along with Kelly.
As anyone can see by the date, I have, again, been missing log entries. Lots has happened in the last two weeks, most of it bad. Procrastination has always been a problem for me, and it is even worse when you have to write about things you'd rather not talk about.
Lynn got out of the hospital last week. The Lasik worked well, and they were able to get the swelling in her ankles under control, once it was administered intravenously. She got a new doctor (sorry, can't recall his name) for her heart condition, and she really likes him. He was very positive about trying to get the heart failure situation resolved, and had some ideas on how they could get her heart healing again. The main problem, he thought, was that she went off one of the meds too soon, and she need to go on it again. It had taken her blood pressure way down, and that was why she went off it.
One thing that was also done was a cat scan while she was there to check out the condition of the heart and to see what else might be going on. Unfortunately, they did not like what they saw...it looked like the lymphoma might be making a come back. At first, the idea was to take a biopsy of some of the lymph nodes, and see what came back. However, instead, they drained fluid that was building up around her lungs, about a pint, and then set up a pet scan for last Monday. The pet scan involves injecting radioactive dye into the blood stream, and then doing a cat scan. Cancer cells react differently and show up on the scan.
Since the pet scan was going to be done out-patient, Lynn got to go home early. And, the pet scan was done Monday, the 28th. Her oncologist set up a follow-up for the following Thursday, October 1st. Well, Dr. Blair had bad news for us. Her lymphoma is definitely back. Large B cell type II. It is similar to the one she had when she had cancer when she was carrying Mac, but not exactly the same. And, it is far more progressed than before. She was stage I when she had it when she was pregnant. This time, it is stage 4.
Last time she was treated with a chemotherapy mixture called "CHOP". This time, that is not an option. CHOP is too hard on the heart. This time, they will use one called "RICE" - it is easier on the heart and is still very effective. Unfortunately, there will still be a very delicate balancing act between what strength of mixture will kill the cancer, and what will adversely affect her heart. She must be int he hospital this time for at least the first batch of chemotherapy. She heads in sometime on Monday, and will be at least until Thursday. More later - Gary and Sharon are here along with Kelly.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
September 19, 2009
Lynn is back in the hospital...things have not been going well for her when it came to the fluid build-up. Her ankles continued to stay swollen, even after she took the Lasix, which is supposed to draw off fluids. She went ot see her family doctor, Dr. Conaway, and he decided that, due to this and some other symptoms, she needed to get admitted to Riverside. That was yesterday. She will be there for a few more days, as she has to wait until Monday to see a heart specialist. Fortunately, the increased dosage of the Lasix she has been getting has really helped out. The swelling in her ankles is all gone now. Of course, we still don't know why she has no stamina and doesn't appear to be getting better. In fact, she has actually gotten worse the last few weeks when it comes to stamina. It has become noticeable to her, and she is getting pretty tired of the situation, to say the least. The thing that makes this so frustrating is that no one can figure out what the problem is. It seems to defy description or analysis. What could be happening that will make her heart condition get worse? There doesn't seem to be any explanation for it, and all her doctors are equally baffled.
She is in room 5012 at Riverside. If anyone would like to visit, she really would enjoy the company. She will be there for another day or two, so feel free to drop by. Her cell phone number is 614-507-0653.
She is in room 5012 at Riverside. If anyone would like to visit, she really would enjoy the company. She will be there for another day or two, so feel free to drop by. Her cell phone number is 614-507-0653.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Cleveland Clinic and Other Events
September 8, 2009
Things continue to be interesting around here for Lynn. She continues to have difficulties catching her breath, and her stamina not only hasn't improved, it had seemed to be getting worse. Well, we found out why...her heart function, measured by the "EF" number, is now down to around 20. That means that her heart is about at 20% efficiency, roughly speaking. For most people, it's above 50. Here's how we found that out.
She had been undergoing a number of tests throughout her recovery. Unfortunately, she was not able to see her heart doctor very often, so they were kind of strung out over time. Well, she finally decided that what she needed was a good solid second opinion. Based on recovery rates of her fellow McConnell Heart Center rehab patients, she just was not getting any better. Of course, the Cleveland Clinic has an excellent reputation, so she lined up a consultation with one of their cardiac doctors. Her name is Dr. James. I took a day off and we headed up to the clinic on the 4th. The ride up was uneventful, and we had very little difficulty figuring out where to go. The campus was beautiful, and we enjoyed the place in spite of the reason why we were there.
We spent all day up there, and she got a number of tests. We met with Dr. James in the morning. She went over Lynn's medical records (all 10 lbs of them), and Lynn told her about her loss of appetite and about her high heart rate. At first, she felt that the problem might be in her lungs. So, she wanted Lynn to do a pulmonary test in addition to the other tests scheduled. She also wanted her to have another of the ultrasound tests, despite the fact that Lynn had had one not too long before. She wanted to do her own interpretation of it. We finally wrapped things up around 5PM.
We had quite a bit of company visiting over the week-end, and by the time everyone left, Lynn was pretty wiped out. We thought it was just because of all the people, but that turned out not to be the case. Today, Lynn got a call from Dr. James. It turns out that her heart function was down to 20...it had been at 30-35 in mid-August. Obviously, something is wrong, for her to have such a drop in efficiency over such a short period of time. She also told us that Lynn had developed some kind of infection somewhere in her system. This was undoubtedly picked up by some of the blood work that had been done up there. She recommended that Lynn set up an appointment with her family doctor right away, and cancel the stress test that had been scheduled for today. She also wanted to do two more testing procedures...one will be another angioplasty, this one less intrusive, which will check out part of her heart. Can't recall what the other one will be. However, we think that these can be done down here in Columbus. Then the results can be sent up to Cleveland. That way, we will not have to go up there and spend the better part of a day just getting the tests done. With the consultation, it would take two days to get through it.
One thing that is troubling about the 20 EF number is that it is at the threshold where cardiologists recommend that a pacemaker be installed. Lynn's heart rate is way too high, at 103 to 106 beats per minute, so it will not step up her rate. Rather, the way I understand it, it will activate if her heart stops beating. Yes, it is that serious. She went to see Dr. Conaway, her family physician, today, and he got her on more Lasik, to help out with the coughing. He also ran a couple of special blood tests, presumably to get some more information on whatever infection she has. Still hoping that things get better soon...the hardest part of this situation is the fact that we still don't really know why this is all happening, what exactly is wrong with her heart. Hopefully, we;ll at least get the answer to that soon, and then can proceed on some kind of strategy that will get her back up to where she was BEFORE her surgery.
Things continue to be interesting around here for Lynn. She continues to have difficulties catching her breath, and her stamina not only hasn't improved, it had seemed to be getting worse. Well, we found out why...her heart function, measured by the "EF" number, is now down to around 20. That means that her heart is about at 20% efficiency, roughly speaking. For most people, it's above 50. Here's how we found that out.
She had been undergoing a number of tests throughout her recovery. Unfortunately, she was not able to see her heart doctor very often, so they were kind of strung out over time. Well, she finally decided that what she needed was a good solid second opinion. Based on recovery rates of her fellow McConnell Heart Center rehab patients, she just was not getting any better. Of course, the Cleveland Clinic has an excellent reputation, so she lined up a consultation with one of their cardiac doctors. Her name is Dr. James. I took a day off and we headed up to the clinic on the 4th. The ride up was uneventful, and we had very little difficulty figuring out where to go. The campus was beautiful, and we enjoyed the place in spite of the reason why we were there.
We spent all day up there, and she got a number of tests. We met with Dr. James in the morning. She went over Lynn's medical records (all 10 lbs of them), and Lynn told her about her loss of appetite and about her high heart rate. At first, she felt that the problem might be in her lungs. So, she wanted Lynn to do a pulmonary test in addition to the other tests scheduled. She also wanted her to have another of the ultrasound tests, despite the fact that Lynn had had one not too long before. She wanted to do her own interpretation of it. We finally wrapped things up around 5PM.
We had quite a bit of company visiting over the week-end, and by the time everyone left, Lynn was pretty wiped out. We thought it was just because of all the people, but that turned out not to be the case. Today, Lynn got a call from Dr. James. It turns out that her heart function was down to 20...it had been at 30-35 in mid-August. Obviously, something is wrong, for her to have such a drop in efficiency over such a short period of time. She also told us that Lynn had developed some kind of infection somewhere in her system. This was undoubtedly picked up by some of the blood work that had been done up there. She recommended that Lynn set up an appointment with her family doctor right away, and cancel the stress test that had been scheduled for today. She also wanted to do two more testing procedures...one will be another angioplasty, this one less intrusive, which will check out part of her heart. Can't recall what the other one will be. However, we think that these can be done down here in Columbus. Then the results can be sent up to Cleveland. That way, we will not have to go up there and spend the better part of a day just getting the tests done. With the consultation, it would take two days to get through it.
One thing that is troubling about the 20 EF number is that it is at the threshold where cardiologists recommend that a pacemaker be installed. Lynn's heart rate is way too high, at 103 to 106 beats per minute, so it will not step up her rate. Rather, the way I understand it, it will activate if her heart stops beating. Yes, it is that serious. She went to see Dr. Conaway, her family physician, today, and he got her on more Lasik, to help out with the coughing. He also ran a couple of special blood tests, presumably to get some more information on whatever infection she has. Still hoping that things get better soon...the hardest part of this situation is the fact that we still don't really know why this is all happening, what exactly is wrong with her heart. Hopefully, we;ll at least get the answer to that soon, and then can proceed on some kind of strategy that will get her back up to where she was BEFORE her surgery.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
August 13, 2009
August 13, 2009
It's been a while since I last wrote in this blog...since Lynn looked like she was pretty much all fixed up, and since it looked at the time that she had pretty well recovered, it looked like the main reason I had been keeping the thing up and running had been done. Well, unfortunately, it just isn't the case. Lynn's arrhythmia has disappeared, for good we hope, but she's still not back to where she had been. The big issue is still the heart circulation. She has nowhere near the endurance she had previously, and has all kinds of trouble with coughing. This is due to the fact that fluids build up in her lungs, mainly because her heart cannot pump them out sufficiently. It also means that her body does not get enough blood flow, and the minute she exerts herself, she gets all out of breath and has to rest. Any kind of exertion is difficult for her. The biggest problem, though, is the coughing. It gets much worse when she lays down, and that means that when she tries to sleep, the coughing keeps her awake.
We've been going through her doctors lately...her regular doctor has been helpful, but getting in to see the specialists has been very difficult. For example, they tell her to come in for a monthly follow-up, and then cannot schedule her for 2 to 3 months. I think that this is really ironic...all the right wingers out there are slamming Obama's health care program because it will lead to rationing and will put limits to how much you can see a doctor, while Lynn is experiencing that very situation right now. Today, she got fresh Doppler done on her heart. On Monday, she will discuss the results of the test with a pulmonary specialist, one, incidentally, she should have seen weeks ago. Hopefully, they'll have some ideas on what can be done to get her felling better. The overall theme, of course, is that this is all due to the radiation she had years ago. Of course, this defies logic...if the radiation is causing all the fatigue, how come she never had that problem BEFORE the open heart procedure? How come all this started AFTER they did all the bypass plumbing work? It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or an engineer!) to know that something that was done in the operation is causing the pulmonary failure situation, not some damage from radiation applied to her back during the Reagan administration.
it
It's been a while since I last wrote in this blog...since Lynn looked like she was pretty much all fixed up, and since it looked at the time that she had pretty well recovered, it looked like the main reason I had been keeping the thing up and running had been done. Well, unfortunately, it just isn't the case. Lynn's arrhythmia has disappeared, for good we hope, but she's still not back to where she had been. The big issue is still the heart circulation. She has nowhere near the endurance she had previously, and has all kinds of trouble with coughing. This is due to the fact that fluids build up in her lungs, mainly because her heart cannot pump them out sufficiently. It also means that her body does not get enough blood flow, and the minute she exerts herself, she gets all out of breath and has to rest. Any kind of exertion is difficult for her. The biggest problem, though, is the coughing. It gets much worse when she lays down, and that means that when she tries to sleep, the coughing keeps her awake.
We've been going through her doctors lately...her regular doctor has been helpful, but getting in to see the specialists has been very difficult. For example, they tell her to come in for a monthly follow-up, and then cannot schedule her for 2 to 3 months. I think that this is really ironic...all the right wingers out there are slamming Obama's health care program because it will lead to rationing and will put limits to how much you can see a doctor, while Lynn is experiencing that very situation right now. Today, she got fresh Doppler done on her heart. On Monday, she will discuss the results of the test with a pulmonary specialist, one, incidentally, she should have seen weeks ago. Hopefully, they'll have some ideas on what can be done to get her felling better. The overall theme, of course, is that this is all due to the radiation she had years ago. Of course, this defies logic...if the radiation is causing all the fatigue, how come she never had that problem BEFORE the open heart procedure? How come all this started AFTER they did all the bypass plumbing work? It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or an engineer!) to know that something that was done in the operation is causing the pulmonary failure situation, not some damage from radiation applied to her back during the Reagan administration.
it
Sunday, June 14, 2009
June 14, 2009
June 14, 2009 - Sunday
I've been a bit remiss in keeping up with this - big reason is that not much is happening, so that is pretty good news. The afib seems to have gone by the wayside. Not one example of it since she left the hospital for the second (third?) time. The only issue has been that she has been holding on to some fluid weight, which gets her bloated and tired. Her surgeon told her that this is fairly common for people that have had open heart surgery. The heart just doesn't like to be handled, and it sometimes isn't able to keep up the way that it should. She has to take Lasik, which pulls water out of her...one night, she took it before bed...the next morning, she weighed herself, and she had lost 7 lbs. of fluids. (Guess what SHE was up doing all night???) Other than that, things are going fairly well. She still cannot sleep on her left side, without it being uncomfortable. That is unfortunate because that is the side the she sleeps best on. However, the sternum has knitted itself well, and all of the incisions are helaing nicely. In fact, the incision on her neck, where the carotid artery was repaired is almost invisible.
We did have some action on another front, however. Carlee has had some problems sleeping...after a sleep test, and after some investigations, it turned out that her tonsils were enlarged enough that they were blocking her airway. And so, the classic tonsillectomy was scheduled. That was Friday morning. Things went very well. She was in and out in 20 minutes. However, due to the fact that the tonsils had been interfering with her breathing, the surgeon decided to have her stay the night in PICU - pediatric intensive care unit. She was the healthiest kid in that place by far. All kinds of very sick kids in that place. It was very depressing. However, the nurses really made over her, and she had a pretty good time. I guess most of the staff there doesn't get much of an opportunity to interact with relatively healthy kids, so she was a special treat for them. It was obvious that she was going to do just fine shortly after she came out of recovery. About an hour later, Lynn ordered some lunch for her. It consisted of eggs and chicken with stars soup. She almost inhaled the eggs, and I had to feed her the soup, because she couldn't handle the spoon fast enough to satisfy herself. Obviously, the throat was not even remotely sore. Her voice sounds much better as well - lots cuter, if that is possible!
Carlee and Lynn will both be home all next week-if anyone gets bored, give her a call. Both parties are feeling much better, enough to start getting cabin fever. Lynn started therapy week before last, and is trying to build herself up. She has an appointment with her doctor next week, and may get to stop taking some of the mounds of pills that she has been having to deal with every day. If she goes off one of the anti-arrythmia pills, it might help out with halting the fluid build-up...definitely a good thing. It also will help her build up her stamina, as that medication keeps her blood pressure artificially depressed, even when she is exercising.
I've been a bit remiss in keeping up with this - big reason is that not much is happening, so that is pretty good news. The afib seems to have gone by the wayside. Not one example of it since she left the hospital for the second (third?) time. The only issue has been that she has been holding on to some fluid weight, which gets her bloated and tired. Her surgeon told her that this is fairly common for people that have had open heart surgery. The heart just doesn't like to be handled, and it sometimes isn't able to keep up the way that it should. She has to take Lasik, which pulls water out of her...one night, she took it before bed...the next morning, she weighed herself, and she had lost 7 lbs. of fluids. (Guess what SHE was up doing all night???) Other than that, things are going fairly well. She still cannot sleep on her left side, without it being uncomfortable. That is unfortunate because that is the side the she sleeps best on. However, the sternum has knitted itself well, and all of the incisions are helaing nicely. In fact, the incision on her neck, where the carotid artery was repaired is almost invisible.
We did have some action on another front, however. Carlee has had some problems sleeping...after a sleep test, and after some investigations, it turned out that her tonsils were enlarged enough that they were blocking her airway. And so, the classic tonsillectomy was scheduled. That was Friday morning. Things went very well. She was in and out in 20 minutes. However, due to the fact that the tonsils had been interfering with her breathing, the surgeon decided to have her stay the night in PICU - pediatric intensive care unit. She was the healthiest kid in that place by far. All kinds of very sick kids in that place. It was very depressing. However, the nurses really made over her, and she had a pretty good time. I guess most of the staff there doesn't get much of an opportunity to interact with relatively healthy kids, so she was a special treat for them. It was obvious that she was going to do just fine shortly after she came out of recovery. About an hour later, Lynn ordered some lunch for her. It consisted of eggs and chicken with stars soup. She almost inhaled the eggs, and I had to feed her the soup, because she couldn't handle the spoon fast enough to satisfy herself. Obviously, the throat was not even remotely sore. Her voice sounds much better as well - lots cuter, if that is possible!
Carlee and Lynn will both be home all next week-if anyone gets bored, give her a call. Both parties are feeling much better, enough to start getting cabin fever. Lynn started therapy week before last, and is trying to build herself up. She has an appointment with her doctor next week, and may get to stop taking some of the mounds of pills that she has been having to deal with every day. If she goes off one of the anti-arrythmia pills, it might help out with halting the fluid build-up...definitely a good thing. It also will help her build up her stamina, as that medication keeps her blood pressure artificially depressed, even when she is exercising.
Monday, May 18, 2009
May 18, 2009
May 18, 2009
Well, I've been getting all kinds of grief about not keeping up on the blog...I just figured that, once Lynn was out of the woods, everyone would breathe a collective sigh of relief, and go back to playing on-line poker again. Looks like I was wrong, so I'll try to catch up on all the events around here. Nothing nearly as exciting as chest incisions and multiple IVs filled with brightly colored fluids, but I'll try to make it interesting.
Ever since Lynn got released from the hospital after visit number 3, on Sunday, May 3rd, she has had no sign of the afib. It looks like it might be gone for good - yesterday, it was two weeks since she had problems with the old timing belt. She is still taking the medicine for it. The dosage dropped off today, but she will maintain this level for a while. We don't know when she will be taken off of it, but it seems that most of the time the 3 month mark is popular, so that might be what they are shooting for.
She did have another issue later on. After she got out of the hospital, she had some troubles with coughing. This was particularly bothersome when she was trying to sleep - she simply could not get a good night's rest. Also, coughing was pretty painful, since her chest and ribs still hurt from the surgery. She was unable to sleep anywhere but on the recliner in the couch. This caused a myriad of problems, as the couch is right in front of the TV, and she got to call the shots on the shows we watched. In addition, her ankles had a tendency to get swollen. Anyway, she finally called Dr. Blossom about it, and he had her get an x-ray. It turned out that she had a fluid build-up in the lining between her lungs and her chest wall. This is fairly common for heart surgery patients, but you want to take care of it as soon as possible, so that it doesn't turn into pneumonia. She was prescribed Lasik, which causes the body to get rid of extra fluid, plus a potassium supplement. The Lasik does such a good job of draining you that it pulls out some of the salts your body needs, and you have to make sure that you keep throwing them back into the body. Of course, we all know how the body gets rid of the fluids, so, let's just say, Lynn was making quite a few trips to one of the smaller rooms in the house, and I don't mean the linen closet.
The day after she took it, she felt much better. The coughing was way down, and she got a good night's rest. A few days later, she actually was feeling good enough to sleep in the bed, so that was a significant victory. Right now, she sometimes wakes up and can't get back to sleep, but that is due more to the fact that she sleeps much better on her side, something that she cannot do for a few more weeks.
Today, she went out to see Dr. Conaway, her personal physician. She is going to be going to him soon, and will phase out her interaction with the cardiac people. Funny thing was, Dr. Conaway was unaware that she had even had bypass surgery...can't believe he did not read the blog! He checked her out and things look like they are going well. She seemed to think so too - she drove for the first time since she was in the hospital. He mentioned something that was not all that welcome, but that, in retrospect, seems probable. He said that she will probably have difficulties with her ankle swelling for the rest of her life. The reason is, veins were removed in order that they be used for the heart bypass, and the circulation on the left leg is never going to return to what it was before the surgery. He did not think that this was going to be a major problem, however. I just hope she doesn't have to start buying different sized shoes for each foot! Dr. Conaway's office is also lining up her cardio-health work at the hospital. This is specialized for people that have had heart surgery, and will help her keep the heart muscle in shape. It has been highly recommended by everyone who has done it, and it is covered by insurance, so it should be good for her.
Tomorrow, she is going to see Dr. Blossom - originally, he was supposed to give her permission to drive at that appointment. However, since she is driving herself to get there, that seems like a pretty moot point now. He'll be checking out how the incisions are doing, plus will see how the heart characteristics look. After that, we should not have to see him anymore...at least till the NEXT surgery!
We've had quite a few people staying with us lately. Tim Miller spent a couple days with us last week - he kept Lynn company and helped out with the kids. He also did some housework, but I am not supposed to mention that. His wife Michelle, he was afraid, might find out that he had talent in that area, and she might start getting some unpleasant ideas about housework sharing. (Mac had the quote of the week - when he observed Tim getting his baggage out of the car, he said "Well, how long are YOU staying here???") Gary and Sharon came by and spent a few nights as well. After Gary got done with it, the yard looked like it had been fixed up by someone who did that sort of thing for a living...which of course is the case. Sharon cooked up some excellent food, so good, in fact, that Mac actually complained about it less than 50% of the time, a personal record. Kelly and Marsha took the kids off our hands for a few hours last week, which was really great. Kelly also prepared an emergency care package for Mac and Carlee, that we used over the week-end. There were things in there to be used when they got bored and we got frustrated. There were all kinds of little goodies in there that really kept them occupied. Lynn's sister Sue is here now - she leaves tomorrow morning after Mac heads off to school.
I'll try to keep up with this a little more diligently - I didn't think that anyone was really following the blog anymore, but, as our friend Laura said, when there is nothing to write about, and entry is boring, that is really good news.
Well, I've been getting all kinds of grief about not keeping up on the blog...I just figured that, once Lynn was out of the woods, everyone would breathe a collective sigh of relief, and go back to playing on-line poker again. Looks like I was wrong, so I'll try to catch up on all the events around here. Nothing nearly as exciting as chest incisions and multiple IVs filled with brightly colored fluids, but I'll try to make it interesting.
Ever since Lynn got released from the hospital after visit number 3, on Sunday, May 3rd, she has had no sign of the afib. It looks like it might be gone for good - yesterday, it was two weeks since she had problems with the old timing belt. She is still taking the medicine for it. The dosage dropped off today, but she will maintain this level for a while. We don't know when she will be taken off of it, but it seems that most of the time the 3 month mark is popular, so that might be what they are shooting for.
She did have another issue later on. After she got out of the hospital, she had some troubles with coughing. This was particularly bothersome when she was trying to sleep - she simply could not get a good night's rest. Also, coughing was pretty painful, since her chest and ribs still hurt from the surgery. She was unable to sleep anywhere but on the recliner in the couch. This caused a myriad of problems, as the couch is right in front of the TV, and she got to call the shots on the shows we watched. In addition, her ankles had a tendency to get swollen. Anyway, she finally called Dr. Blossom about it, and he had her get an x-ray. It turned out that she had a fluid build-up in the lining between her lungs and her chest wall. This is fairly common for heart surgery patients, but you want to take care of it as soon as possible, so that it doesn't turn into pneumonia. She was prescribed Lasik, which causes the body to get rid of extra fluid, plus a potassium supplement. The Lasik does such a good job of draining you that it pulls out some of the salts your body needs, and you have to make sure that you keep throwing them back into the body. Of course, we all know how the body gets rid of the fluids, so, let's just say, Lynn was making quite a few trips to one of the smaller rooms in the house, and I don't mean the linen closet.
The day after she took it, she felt much better. The coughing was way down, and she got a good night's rest. A few days later, she actually was feeling good enough to sleep in the bed, so that was a significant victory. Right now, she sometimes wakes up and can't get back to sleep, but that is due more to the fact that she sleeps much better on her side, something that she cannot do for a few more weeks.
Today, she went out to see Dr. Conaway, her personal physician. She is going to be going to him soon, and will phase out her interaction with the cardiac people. Funny thing was, Dr. Conaway was unaware that she had even had bypass surgery...can't believe he did not read the blog! He checked her out and things look like they are going well. She seemed to think so too - she drove for the first time since she was in the hospital. He mentioned something that was not all that welcome, but that, in retrospect, seems probable. He said that she will probably have difficulties with her ankle swelling for the rest of her life. The reason is, veins were removed in order that they be used for the heart bypass, and the circulation on the left leg is never going to return to what it was before the surgery. He did not think that this was going to be a major problem, however. I just hope she doesn't have to start buying different sized shoes for each foot! Dr. Conaway's office is also lining up her cardio-health work at the hospital. This is specialized for people that have had heart surgery, and will help her keep the heart muscle in shape. It has been highly recommended by everyone who has done it, and it is covered by insurance, so it should be good for her.
Tomorrow, she is going to see Dr. Blossom - originally, he was supposed to give her permission to drive at that appointment. However, since she is driving herself to get there, that seems like a pretty moot point now. He'll be checking out how the incisions are doing, plus will see how the heart characteristics look. After that, we should not have to see him anymore...at least till the NEXT surgery!
We've had quite a few people staying with us lately. Tim Miller spent a couple days with us last week - he kept Lynn company and helped out with the kids. He also did some housework, but I am not supposed to mention that. His wife Michelle, he was afraid, might find out that he had talent in that area, and she might start getting some unpleasant ideas about housework sharing. (Mac had the quote of the week - when he observed Tim getting his baggage out of the car, he said "Well, how long are YOU staying here???") Gary and Sharon came by and spent a few nights as well. After Gary got done with it, the yard looked like it had been fixed up by someone who did that sort of thing for a living...which of course is the case. Sharon cooked up some excellent food, so good, in fact, that Mac actually complained about it less than 50% of the time, a personal record. Kelly and Marsha took the kids off our hands for a few hours last week, which was really great. Kelly also prepared an emergency care package for Mac and Carlee, that we used over the week-end. There were things in there to be used when they got bored and we got frustrated. There were all kinds of little goodies in there that really kept them occupied. Lynn's sister Sue is here now - she leaves tomorrow morning after Mac heads off to school.
I'll try to keep up with this a little more diligently - I didn't think that anyone was really following the blog anymore, but, as our friend Laura said, when there is nothing to write about, and entry is boring, that is really good news.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Lynn is doing pretty well, it seems. She has not had any of the afib since Sunday evening, which is good news indeed. And, the number of pills she has to take will go way down the next day. Many of them were 4 day prescriptions, including the anitbiotic. She got back the results from the blood test on Monday, and found out that the Cuomedin levels are right on the money. That means that her blood is now thinned down properly, so that she can handle a period of afibrillation if it crops up again, without having to worry about having a clot. The enduance is also starting to come back. The stairs are still a challenge, and she makes a point of only going up them one time during the night, but at least she can handle them without feeling like she had just run a marathon. She got out a couple of times yesterday and walked to the corner. She also has been able to stay away from the pain pills for the last several days. She only feels pain when she bends her neck a certain way. The breathing is getting better too, and all the incisions are doing much better.
Gary and Sharon are spending some time with us. Susan left last night, and they are now "it"! It has been pretty hard for them - today, I believe the highlight for them was when they were able to sock in ring bologna that they cannot get in Florida. Gary is feeling a sense of impending doom - it is going to rain the next few days, and he cannot work out in the yard. Carlee and Mac are having fun showing off for them, but Mac isn't all that enthused when Sharon makes him pick up his pajamas...the quite logical excuse that he uses, that he doesn't feel like it, does not appear to carry much weight with her.
Lynn is doing pretty well, it seems. She has not had any of the afib since Sunday evening, which is good news indeed. And, the number of pills she has to take will go way down the next day. Many of them were 4 day prescriptions, including the anitbiotic. She got back the results from the blood test on Monday, and found out that the Cuomedin levels are right on the money. That means that her blood is now thinned down properly, so that she can handle a period of afibrillation if it crops up again, without having to worry about having a clot. The enduance is also starting to come back. The stairs are still a challenge, and she makes a point of only going up them one time during the night, but at least she can handle them without feeling like she had just run a marathon. She got out a couple of times yesterday and walked to the corner. She also has been able to stay away from the pain pills for the last several days. She only feels pain when she bends her neck a certain way. The breathing is getting better too, and all the incisions are doing much better.
Gary and Sharon are spending some time with us. Susan left last night, and they are now "it"! It has been pretty hard for them - today, I believe the highlight for them was when they were able to sock in ring bologna that they cannot get in Florida. Gary is feeling a sense of impending doom - it is going to rain the next few days, and he cannot work out in the yard. Carlee and Mac are having fun showing off for them, but Mac isn't all that enthused when Sharon makes him pick up his pajamas...the quite logical excuse that he uses, that he doesn't feel like it, does not appear to carry much weight with her.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
May 4, 2009
Lynn is still home, and things look they are going pretty well. Her afib dropped off yesterday evening, we think, and she hasn't had a recurrence yet today. She took it pretty easy, and did not push things too much, but the day was way too nice to stay indoors, so she managed to get around a little. Today, I took Jo back to the airport around 7:30am. She didn't get much of a chance to visit, since Lynn was in the hospital most of the time, but she sure helped out with Mac and Carlee. Lynn's sister Susan is still here, and will spend the night. Tomorrow, Gary and Sharon make a return trip down.
I called the doctor's office today to see exactly when it would be OK for Lynn to stay home alone...no, I'm not worried that she'll throw a big party and mess up the place (well, that's possible, but probably not for another week or so). The way it was originally told to me, she was going to be in pretty good shape from the surgery about 3 to 4 weeks later. She would be seeing Dr. Blossom then, and he was expected to give her the go-ahead to drive. That would also mean that she is well enough that she doesn't need someone to keep an eye on her. The problem is, we now have the complication of the afibrillation. My question was, would she be alright if she went into defib and there was no one with her? Basically, the answer is yes. Although I didn't like to hear this, I guess that there are a number of people around who go into afib and never really come out of it. I certainly hope that is not the case for Lynn, but it goes to show that people can go about their daily business when they have that condition, and don't need to be constantly watched.
Last night, when she had the afib, it was all she could do to tuck in the kids, and then make it back to the chair in the bedroom. When she has sinus (Sinusoidal heartbeat, or regular heartbeat), she gets tired, but not to that extent. It doesn't help that her leg is still stiff from the surgery to get the bypass vein. She and Susan played outside with Carlee and Mac for a while after Mac got back from school, and it really wore her out....not a good thing when you are dealing with a child that is usually in passing gear, like Carlee.
Lynn is still home, and things look they are going pretty well. Her afib dropped off yesterday evening, we think, and she hasn't had a recurrence yet today. She took it pretty easy, and did not push things too much, but the day was way too nice to stay indoors, so she managed to get around a little. Today, I took Jo back to the airport around 7:30am. She didn't get much of a chance to visit, since Lynn was in the hospital most of the time, but she sure helped out with Mac and Carlee. Lynn's sister Susan is still here, and will spend the night. Tomorrow, Gary and Sharon make a return trip down.
I called the doctor's office today to see exactly when it would be OK for Lynn to stay home alone...no, I'm not worried that she'll throw a big party and mess up the place (well, that's possible, but probably not for another week or so). The way it was originally told to me, she was going to be in pretty good shape from the surgery about 3 to 4 weeks later. She would be seeing Dr. Blossom then, and he was expected to give her the go-ahead to drive. That would also mean that she is well enough that she doesn't need someone to keep an eye on her. The problem is, we now have the complication of the afibrillation. My question was, would she be alright if she went into defib and there was no one with her? Basically, the answer is yes. Although I didn't like to hear this, I guess that there are a number of people around who go into afib and never really come out of it. I certainly hope that is not the case for Lynn, but it goes to show that people can go about their daily business when they have that condition, and don't need to be constantly watched.
Last night, when she had the afib, it was all she could do to tuck in the kids, and then make it back to the chair in the bedroom. When she has sinus (Sinusoidal heartbeat, or regular heartbeat), she gets tired, but not to that extent. It doesn't help that her leg is still stiff from the surgery to get the bypass vein. She and Susan played outside with Carlee and Mac for a while after Mac got back from school, and it really wore her out....not a good thing when you are dealing with a child that is usually in passing gear, like Carlee.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
May 3, 2009
Lots happened today - it is now 1:45 pm, and Lynn has checked out of the hospital...she is home, hopefully for good! The trouble is, it is not all good news. She got out alright, but the arrhythmia is still present. She called me this morning and said that she had some good news and some bad news. I don't know how most people approach being confronted with that phrase, but for me, the bad news always seems to overshadow the good, but I am generally pessimistic, so take that as you will. The good news was that she was going to be able to come home. The bad news is that the arrhythmia was back. Her pulse was erratic and fast. Her doctors told her, though, that they thought they could get it under control, and that it did not necessarily involve her having to stay in the hospital. Basically, this is a condition that is not life-threatening, and, if she feels it coming on, she needs to lay down and/or relax immediately. I'm not so sure that I like the sounds of that. My thought was that Lynn was so tired of staying there that her judgement was a bit less than clear. I wanted to hear that we had something lined up that was definitely going to solve the problem, and that all she was going to have to do was take her pills and she would be fine. I don't like the idea of having this issue hanging over her head...however, after giving her a cross examination that would we worthy of the best legal attorneys in the business today, I was finally convinced.
Basically, her doctors think that she is very near to having the right mix for the "cocktail" she needs in order to manage the arrhythmia...they think that she has the right three drugs, but the quantities must be determined. Plus, she is essentially able to handle it when she DOES go into deflib. I gather that, for some people, they are pretty much out of action when this happens. With Lynn, she just gets tired and a little weak. She is able to handle it on her own, without any help. Not a perfect solution, but, on the other hand, she is bound to heal much better when she is home, around family and away from a pretty drab hospital room.
I picked her up around 10:30 - we discussed the situation with her nurse, then I picked her up at the entrance. We then went and got her four prescriptions, then headed back. Mac and Carlee were really glad to see us pull into the driveway. Lynn was just as happy. Todd and Laurie dropped by a little later, and she had a chance to visit for a bit. No way to tell if the arrhythmia wa back, without some kind of fancy monitor, but she seemed tobe hanging in there. Right now, it is 2:15PM - she had to go down for a nap about 30 minutes ago, so she is still not 100% back. However, she is doing really well, and I hope she doesn't have to go back to the hospital anytime soon!
Lots happened today - it is now 1:45 pm, and Lynn has checked out of the hospital...she is home, hopefully for good! The trouble is, it is not all good news. She got out alright, but the arrhythmia is still present. She called me this morning and said that she had some good news and some bad news. I don't know how most people approach being confronted with that phrase, but for me, the bad news always seems to overshadow the good, but I am generally pessimistic, so take that as you will. The good news was that she was going to be able to come home. The bad news is that the arrhythmia was back. Her pulse was erratic and fast. Her doctors told her, though, that they thought they could get it under control, and that it did not necessarily involve her having to stay in the hospital. Basically, this is a condition that is not life-threatening, and, if she feels it coming on, she needs to lay down and/or relax immediately. I'm not so sure that I like the sounds of that. My thought was that Lynn was so tired of staying there that her judgement was a bit less than clear. I wanted to hear that we had something lined up that was definitely going to solve the problem, and that all she was going to have to do was take her pills and she would be fine. I don't like the idea of having this issue hanging over her head...however, after giving her a cross examination that would we worthy of the best legal attorneys in the business today, I was finally convinced.
Basically, her doctors think that she is very near to having the right mix for the "cocktail" she needs in order to manage the arrhythmia...they think that she has the right three drugs, but the quantities must be determined. Plus, she is essentially able to handle it when she DOES go into deflib. I gather that, for some people, they are pretty much out of action when this happens. With Lynn, she just gets tired and a little weak. She is able to handle it on her own, without any help. Not a perfect solution, but, on the other hand, she is bound to heal much better when she is home, around family and away from a pretty drab hospital room.
I picked her up around 10:30 - we discussed the situation with her nurse, then I picked her up at the entrance. We then went and got her four prescriptions, then headed back. Mac and Carlee were really glad to see us pull into the driveway. Lynn was just as happy. Todd and Laurie dropped by a little later, and she had a chance to visit for a bit. No way to tell if the arrhythmia wa back, without some kind of fancy monitor, but she seemed tobe hanging in there. Right now, it is 2:15PM - she had to go down for a nap about 30 minutes ago, so she is still not 100% back. However, she is doing really well, and I hope she doesn't have to go back to the hospital anytime soon!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
May 2, 2009
Sorry about missing Friday - just did not get to updating. The last two days are the epitome of roller coaster events - Friday morning was awful, it got better late in the day, Saturday looked great, a bit of a retrenchment around noon, and then some positive feedback later in the day.
First: Friday. Bottom line - I called Lynn early in the day Friday, hoping that she would be able to tell me when she was going to get cut loose that day...well, that certainly wasn't the case. She went back into arrhythmia the night before. No chance that she was going home anytime soon. It was pretty bad. I had been telling the kids that she was going to be back soon, and really believed that it was going to happen Friday, but no way. I don't really understand exactly what happened, but there was no doubt that the upper chamber of her heart was still not back to normal. Later, she also got an upset stomach, which she really hates, and just felt awful.
Her doctors had doubled one of the medications, which could have been the reason she felt so sick to her stomach. However, having the afib also can make someone nauseated, so that wasn't necessarily the case. The big issue with that was, if one of the pills used to control her heart rate was not going to work for her, then basically, they would have to start everything over again and try to find something that worked. That would mean a lot longer time in the hospital, something that nobody really wanted.
I went over to see her around 4PM - she looked pretty bad. Her color was not good at all...it was more gray than anything, and she said that she still felt a little queasy. However, as time progressed, I noted that she seemed to be starting to improve. The gray color was definitely giving way to a more rosy cheeked look. I didn't notice it right away, but later I saw on the monitor that her heart rate was also starting to even out. By the time I left around 6PM, she was much, much better. She told me that the upset stomach was all gone, and it looked like her heart rate was doing exactly what one would expect from a young, 45 year old woman.
Well, her Mom Jo went to see her later,after I got back home, and she said that Lynn looked better. They had a good visit, and when Jo left, Lynn looked pretty good. The next morning when I called Lynn, she told me that she had had a normal heartbeat all night, and that she felt pretty good. That was Saturday morning. Plus, the blood thinner, Cuomidein, was also properly set - that means that it is a high enough level to stop blood clots, but not so high that she has to worry about bleeding to death if she cuts her finger.
I kind of hoped that we would get the word that she could depart Riverside late in the day Saturday - Dr. Blossom dashed those hopes, however. He wanted her to stay one more night so that they could make sure that the heart rate was controlled. Frankly, Lynn was in agreement with that - the one thing that we definitely do NOT want is a return engagement to the hospital. We want to be done with the place from now on.
I spoke to her late in the day today - heart rate is staying right where it should be. If that hangs on until tomorrow morning, we are going to bring her home. I'll let everyone know if that works out - stay tuned!
Sorry about missing Friday - just did not get to updating. The last two days are the epitome of roller coaster events - Friday morning was awful, it got better late in the day, Saturday looked great, a bit of a retrenchment around noon, and then some positive feedback later in the day.
First: Friday. Bottom line - I called Lynn early in the day Friday, hoping that she would be able to tell me when she was going to get cut loose that day...well, that certainly wasn't the case. She went back into arrhythmia the night before. No chance that she was going home anytime soon. It was pretty bad. I had been telling the kids that she was going to be back soon, and really believed that it was going to happen Friday, but no way. I don't really understand exactly what happened, but there was no doubt that the upper chamber of her heart was still not back to normal. Later, she also got an upset stomach, which she really hates, and just felt awful.
Her doctors had doubled one of the medications, which could have been the reason she felt so sick to her stomach. However, having the afib also can make someone nauseated, so that wasn't necessarily the case. The big issue with that was, if one of the pills used to control her heart rate was not going to work for her, then basically, they would have to start everything over again and try to find something that worked. That would mean a lot longer time in the hospital, something that nobody really wanted.
I went over to see her around 4PM - she looked pretty bad. Her color was not good at all...it was more gray than anything, and she said that she still felt a little queasy. However, as time progressed, I noted that she seemed to be starting to improve. The gray color was definitely giving way to a more rosy cheeked look. I didn't notice it right away, but later I saw on the monitor that her heart rate was also starting to even out. By the time I left around 6PM, she was much, much better. She told me that the upset stomach was all gone, and it looked like her heart rate was doing exactly what one would expect from a young, 45 year old woman.
Well, her Mom Jo went to see her later,after I got back home, and she said that Lynn looked better. They had a good visit, and when Jo left, Lynn looked pretty good. The next morning when I called Lynn, she told me that she had had a normal heartbeat all night, and that she felt pretty good. That was Saturday morning. Plus, the blood thinner, Cuomidein, was also properly set - that means that it is a high enough level to stop blood clots, but not so high that she has to worry about bleeding to death if she cuts her finger.
I kind of hoped that we would get the word that she could depart Riverside late in the day Saturday - Dr. Blossom dashed those hopes, however. He wanted her to stay one more night so that they could make sure that the heart rate was controlled. Frankly, Lynn was in agreement with that - the one thing that we definitely do NOT want is a return engagement to the hospital. We want to be done with the place from now on.
I spoke to her late in the day today - heart rate is staying right where it should be. If that hangs on until tomorrow morning, we are going to bring her home. I'll let everyone know if that works out - stay tuned!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
April 30, 2009
Lynn is still at the hospital, but it looks like things are getting better. The doctors have been trying to come up with some sort of combination for her drug therapy that controls the high heartbeat, one that does not involve an IV. Obviously, if she needs an IV drip to keep the afibrillation under control, she won't be able to go home...unless, of course, she gets to take a nurse home with her to hook her up to the drip. We determined that this would not work, however, as she insisted that the nurse be male, and that he bear a striking resemblence to someone like Brad Pitt. I, of course, felt that this was a very poor way to judge someone's qualifications, and felt that any nurse we got should have a look that exudes competence...someone like Cameron Diaz.
Well, it looks like one of the combinations is working. Yesterday, her doctors gave her the mix, and she has been out of arrhythmia ever since. Her heart rate is staying between 80 and 90 bpm, a bit high, but still within a normal range. This is much better than the 140-150 she had a day ago, and that pretty much got this whole line of treatment started. One of the parts of the drug mix she is taking is called Coumadin. It takes a while to work through her system and build up to the levels that her doctors want, hence the waiting game. The trouble is, the only way to tell what the levels are is to do a blood test. And so, nurses take a blood sample from Lynn periodically during each 24 hour period. I guess that the blood sample must be drawn when she is deeply asleep during the night, or when she is taking a nap, because that is exactly when they come to get it. This impeccible timing must be a crucial part of the nurse's training, since they have managed to hit those times exactly right for 2 days running.
Lynn is also starting to get some of her stamina back. Today, when I went to see her for lunch, she made it all the way through the ward to the elevators, but was still getting a bit winded. Tonight, when I brought Mac and Carlee over to see her, we walked around the ward once, and then she walked us over to the elevators when we were ready to leave. Neither time was she nearly as out of breath as she was even just a few hours earlier. I guess that having a functional heart helps out a bit. The doctor handling the drug therapy told her that she may be able to leave tomorrow. If she can make it to noon, they think that they have the right mix, and that she doesn't need to be monitored any longer. If not tomorrow, it will be Saturday. It is pretty clear that it cannot come soon enough for her!
Like I said, I took Mac and Carlee over to see her this evening, and we stayed until around 7:30 PM. When we took our first lap around the ward, the two of them picked up some prints of the heart, line drawings actually, that they used for classes. The two of them thought it would be really cool to color them and leave them hung up for Mommy to see...great idea, except that Carlee liked hers so much she decided to keep it for herself. Mac and Carlee also take advantage of the sterile glove dispensers near the door and keep themselves well supplied with blue rubber gloves. For some reason, Mac thinks that these are part of the normal garb of secret agents, so he'll put on a pair, and start stalking around looking as secretive and sneaky as possible. Unfortunately for him, he just sort of looks like a 7 year old kid in blue rubber gloves that also happens to have a herniated disk.
For this little stay at the hospital, Lynn drew one of the better rooms. It is on the second floor, and she has an excellent view of the front entrance to the hospital. This morning, she saw me walking in as I came to visit her. She also gets an excellent view of the people in hospital gowns, towing IV racks, and that are often on oxygen, sneaking out to light up a smoke or two. Carlee and Mac thought it was really cool that they could see mom from the walk as we left, but all three of us got pretty depressed, thinking that we had to leave Mom up there, and couldn't take her home. Mac summed it up pretty well - he said he felt homesick as we were driving home. It's pretty hard to understand, when you're 7, why your mom has to stay at the hospital, when she looks like she's doing just fine, and doesn't act sick at all.
Lynn's mom is staying with us for a few more days - she heads back to Florida on Monday. Susan Mathew is coming up early next week, then Gary and Sharon do a return engagement next week as well. Having all the help has certainly been great - it does wonders for Lynn to know that she doesn't have to worry about who can watch the kids - or the husband, for that matter.
Lynn is still at the hospital, but it looks like things are getting better. The doctors have been trying to come up with some sort of combination for her drug therapy that controls the high heartbeat, one that does not involve an IV. Obviously, if she needs an IV drip to keep the afibrillation under control, she won't be able to go home...unless, of course, she gets to take a nurse home with her to hook her up to the drip. We determined that this would not work, however, as she insisted that the nurse be male, and that he bear a striking resemblence to someone like Brad Pitt. I, of course, felt that this was a very poor way to judge someone's qualifications, and felt that any nurse we got should have a look that exudes competence...someone like Cameron Diaz.
Well, it looks like one of the combinations is working. Yesterday, her doctors gave her the mix, and she has been out of arrhythmia ever since. Her heart rate is staying between 80 and 90 bpm, a bit high, but still within a normal range. This is much better than the 140-150 she had a day ago, and that pretty much got this whole line of treatment started. One of the parts of the drug mix she is taking is called Coumadin. It takes a while to work through her system and build up to the levels that her doctors want, hence the waiting game. The trouble is, the only way to tell what the levels are is to do a blood test. And so, nurses take a blood sample from Lynn periodically during each 24 hour period. I guess that the blood sample must be drawn when she is deeply asleep during the night, or when she is taking a nap, because that is exactly when they come to get it. This impeccible timing must be a crucial part of the nurse's training, since they have managed to hit those times exactly right for 2 days running.
Lynn is also starting to get some of her stamina back. Today, when I went to see her for lunch, she made it all the way through the ward to the elevators, but was still getting a bit winded. Tonight, when I brought Mac and Carlee over to see her, we walked around the ward once, and then she walked us over to the elevators when we were ready to leave. Neither time was she nearly as out of breath as she was even just a few hours earlier. I guess that having a functional heart helps out a bit. The doctor handling the drug therapy told her that she may be able to leave tomorrow. If she can make it to noon, they think that they have the right mix, and that she doesn't need to be monitored any longer. If not tomorrow, it will be Saturday. It is pretty clear that it cannot come soon enough for her!
Like I said, I took Mac and Carlee over to see her this evening, and we stayed until around 7:30 PM. When we took our first lap around the ward, the two of them picked up some prints of the heart, line drawings actually, that they used for classes. The two of them thought it would be really cool to color them and leave them hung up for Mommy to see...great idea, except that Carlee liked hers so much she decided to keep it for herself. Mac and Carlee also take advantage of the sterile glove dispensers near the door and keep themselves well supplied with blue rubber gloves. For some reason, Mac thinks that these are part of the normal garb of secret agents, so he'll put on a pair, and start stalking around looking as secretive and sneaky as possible. Unfortunately for him, he just sort of looks like a 7 year old kid in blue rubber gloves that also happens to have a herniated disk.
For this little stay at the hospital, Lynn drew one of the better rooms. It is on the second floor, and she has an excellent view of the front entrance to the hospital. This morning, she saw me walking in as I came to visit her. She also gets an excellent view of the people in hospital gowns, towing IV racks, and that are often on oxygen, sneaking out to light up a smoke or two. Carlee and Mac thought it was really cool that they could see mom from the walk as we left, but all three of us got pretty depressed, thinking that we had to leave Mom up there, and couldn't take her home. Mac summed it up pretty well - he said he felt homesick as we were driving home. It's pretty hard to understand, when you're 7, why your mom has to stay at the hospital, when she looks like she's doing just fine, and doesn't act sick at all.
Lynn's mom is staying with us for a few more days - she heads back to Florida on Monday. Susan Mathew is coming up early next week, then Gary and Sharon do a return engagement next week as well. Having all the help has certainly been great - it does wonders for Lynn to know that she doesn't have to worry about who can watch the kids - or the husband, for that matter.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday
The treatment that had been planned for Lynn today did not take place - The way things sound, the specialists in charge decided that, since her heart rate responded to drug therapy, it was reasonable to assume that some mix of drugs could be developed that she could take in pill form would also fix the heart rate problem. And so, she did not have to go through the electro-shock therapy today. Instead, she went on a three drug therapy that is supposed to fix the issue of the rapid heart rate. We had sort of mixed feelings about that...on one hand, no one wants to go through the eletroshock treatment...but if it worked, she would be done, and could go right home. The drug therapy determination means that she will have to be in the hospital much longer. It simply takes longer to figure out the right mix that will work for her. And, the trouble is, she feels really great right not, not at all ill, and would really like to get out and go home. However, today she got the word that she will have to spend at least 2 more days there, maybe more, and, despite the fact that she has a corner suite and finally has a view of something other than roof-top air handling units, time does indeed drag on for her.
The treatment that had been planned for Lynn today did not take place - The way things sound, the specialists in charge decided that, since her heart rate responded to drug therapy, it was reasonable to assume that some mix of drugs could be developed that she could take in pill form would also fix the heart rate problem. And so, she did not have to go through the electro-shock therapy today. Instead, she went on a three drug therapy that is supposed to fix the issue of the rapid heart rate. We had sort of mixed feelings about that...on one hand, no one wants to go through the eletroshock treatment...but if it worked, she would be done, and could go right home. The drug therapy determination means that she will have to be in the hospital much longer. It simply takes longer to figure out the right mix that will work for her. And, the trouble is, she feels really great right not, not at all ill, and would really like to get out and go home. However, today she got the word that she will have to spend at least 2 more days there, maybe more, and, despite the fact that she has a corner suite and finally has a view of something other than roof-top air handling units, time does indeed drag on for her.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
April 28, 2009
Well, we’ve had a little bit of a setback. Lynn is back in the hospital, and she is likely to be there for at least two days. There is a problem with her heart rate. When someone goes through open heart surgery, as I related earlier, the heart often has a difficult time recovering from just being handled, and stopped, during the operation. Any problem with the rhythm of the heart is call arrhythmia, a potential byproduct of this handling. The rates can be of three types: It can beat too fast, beat too slow, or go into an irregular beat. Lynn’s heart has shown a tendency to beat too fast, tachycardia, and that’s why she is back at Riverside.
We started out pretty good. She got home Saturday night, and was feeling OK. She had had the fast heart rate at the hospital, but it appeared that it was under control with pills, so she was given the green light to go home. The highlight for her was taking a shower for the first time in 5 days – she said she never had a better shower in her life. Lynn tried to sleep in the bed, but could not get comfortable. It was too hard for her to breathe with her lying flat on her back, so she ended up sleeping on the lounger on the sofa. That seemed to work out well for her.
The next day went pretty well. She had a rough time moving around without getting winded, however, and that was worrisome. One of the things she brought home was a breathing exercise machine…you suck in a lung full of air, and see how much you can move the needle. She was supposed to get to 2500, but only made it to 1000. As part of the operation, the surgeons deflate her lungs… we were wondering if maybe something had gone wrong on that level, and that she wasn’t getting them filled up properly. Sunday night was not good…she simply could not get comfortable, and spent a restless night on the sofa.
The next day, Susan (who had come down the previous night) and Jo took Lynn to the radiologist. Her surgeon wanted her to get an x-ray to see if there was some fluid build-up in her lungs that was causing the deflation issues. He would meet with her the next day, Tuesday, to discuss the results. Well, Lynn started to get winded, then dizzy, as she was heading out to the car. Then, because she was so dizzy, she threw up, which must have been absolute agony for her. Susan and Jo got her back home straightaway, but she was still sick the rest of the afternoon. Dr. Blossom had Lynn stop taking the blood pressure pills…this made a great deal of sense since her blood pressure was already too low anyway! And, when I got home, I picked up the prescription she had that had been screwed up for the proper pain medication. One way or another, she started feeling much better, and the dizziness went away.
That night, she tried again to sleep on the bed – no luck…it still hurt too much. She then went down to the sofa lounger and had a little more luck, but still didn’t do all that well. This morning, she had her appointment with Dr. Blossom to review the x-rays. There was no fluid buildup in the lungs, which was good. However, they found out that the rapid heartbeat was back again, this time at 150 bpm, and he immediately had her readmitted to the hospital.
Right now, they are trying to get the rate down, and have succeeded with an IV administered drug. Tomorrow, they will do a cardio-echo, if the rapid rate continues, to see if there is visible reason why the rate is staying too high. Then, they will try electrocardioversion…this is a procedure where a shock is administered to the heart to try to jolt it into a normal rhythm. This is normally considered to be a safe procedure, as safe as can be expected, but it is still something that they hate to have to do. Of course, if her heart comes back with the medicine, they won’t have to do it…that’s what we’re shooting for.
Lynn’s hospital phone number is 614-544-7761. She is in room 2004 at Riverside.
Well, we’ve had a little bit of a setback. Lynn is back in the hospital, and she is likely to be there for at least two days. There is a problem with her heart rate. When someone goes through open heart surgery, as I related earlier, the heart often has a difficult time recovering from just being handled, and stopped, during the operation. Any problem with the rhythm of the heart is call arrhythmia, a potential byproduct of this handling. The rates can be of three types: It can beat too fast, beat too slow, or go into an irregular beat. Lynn’s heart has shown a tendency to beat too fast, tachycardia, and that’s why she is back at Riverside.
We started out pretty good. She got home Saturday night, and was feeling OK. She had had the fast heart rate at the hospital, but it appeared that it was under control with pills, so she was given the green light to go home. The highlight for her was taking a shower for the first time in 5 days – she said she never had a better shower in her life. Lynn tried to sleep in the bed, but could not get comfortable. It was too hard for her to breathe with her lying flat on her back, so she ended up sleeping on the lounger on the sofa. That seemed to work out well for her.
The next day went pretty well. She had a rough time moving around without getting winded, however, and that was worrisome. One of the things she brought home was a breathing exercise machine…you suck in a lung full of air, and see how much you can move the needle. She was supposed to get to 2500, but only made it to 1000. As part of the operation, the surgeons deflate her lungs… we were wondering if maybe something had gone wrong on that level, and that she wasn’t getting them filled up properly. Sunday night was not good…she simply could not get comfortable, and spent a restless night on the sofa.
The next day, Susan (who had come down the previous night) and Jo took Lynn to the radiologist. Her surgeon wanted her to get an x-ray to see if there was some fluid build-up in her lungs that was causing the deflation issues. He would meet with her the next day, Tuesday, to discuss the results. Well, Lynn started to get winded, then dizzy, as she was heading out to the car. Then, because she was so dizzy, she threw up, which must have been absolute agony for her. Susan and Jo got her back home straightaway, but she was still sick the rest of the afternoon. Dr. Blossom had Lynn stop taking the blood pressure pills…this made a great deal of sense since her blood pressure was already too low anyway! And, when I got home, I picked up the prescription she had that had been screwed up for the proper pain medication. One way or another, she started feeling much better, and the dizziness went away.
That night, she tried again to sleep on the bed – no luck…it still hurt too much. She then went down to the sofa lounger and had a little more luck, but still didn’t do all that well. This morning, she had her appointment with Dr. Blossom to review the x-rays. There was no fluid buildup in the lungs, which was good. However, they found out that the rapid heartbeat was back again, this time at 150 bpm, and he immediately had her readmitted to the hospital.
Right now, they are trying to get the rate down, and have succeeded with an IV administered drug. Tomorrow, they will do a cardio-echo, if the rapid rate continues, to see if there is visible reason why the rate is staying too high. Then, they will try electrocardioversion…this is a procedure where a shock is administered to the heart to try to jolt it into a normal rhythm. This is normally considered to be a safe procedure, as safe as can be expected, but it is still something that they hate to have to do. Of course, if her heart comes back with the medicine, they won’t have to do it…that’s what we’re shooting for.
Lynn’s hospital phone number is 614-544-7761. She is in room 2004 at Riverside.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
April 25, 2009
Nothing but good news today - Lynn got to go home! It didn't look like it was going to happen earlier today, but she called me around 3PM and told me that she was going to get cut loose at 6:00. Jo, Mac, Carlee and I all drive down in the van and picked her up. She was really glad to go home. Mary Ann and Leia came by for visits, but in between times she was reall getting antsy. Her heart rate is down to acceptable levels, and everything else looks to be fine. She had a list of drugs to get from the pharmacy as long as your arm, but it that's a small price to pay. Mac and Carlee are REALLY glad she's back.
More later
Nothing but good news today - Lynn got to go home! It didn't look like it was going to happen earlier today, but she called me around 3PM and told me that she was going to get cut loose at 6:00. Jo, Mac, Carlee and I all drive down in the van and picked her up. She was really glad to go home. Mary Ann and Leia came by for visits, but in between times she was reall getting antsy. Her heart rate is down to acceptable levels, and everything else looks to be fine. She had a list of drugs to get from the pharmacy as long as your arm, but it that's a small price to pay. Mac and Carlee are REALLY glad she's back.
More later
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday, April 24 2009
April 24,2009
Today was the day that we thought that Lynn was supposed to come home...well, it turned out that wasn't the case. She had some problems with her heart rate, and Dr. Blossom wanted her to stay at the hospital a few more days. The problem is two-fold - first, her heart rate is too high, about 140 bpm. Second, her heartbeat is erratic, that is, unsteady. Dr. Blossom said that an erratic heartbeat is OK, and he would normally have let her go home, but not at the rate she had. Her heart rate is about the one you would expect for someone who just climbed 3 flights of stairs...not for someone laying at rest in bed. We want her to get to somewhere between 80 and 120 beats per minute.
Well, the doctor gave her some medication that is supposed to slow down the heart rate. If she can stay lower than the base rate for 24 hours, she can go home. Even if she can't, if the rate can stay below that threshold with oral drugs, she can still go home. If it takes IV administered drugs, then it is no go. Important note - this is something that is not uncommon for heart surgery patients - many people have to deal with this. The heart simply does not deal very well with the rough handling required to do the surgery that Lynn needed, especially the part where it was STOPPED for over 2 hours, and it simply takes a while for it to get back to normal. She was on the heart-lung for 126 minutes, so this kind of side-effect is something that should have been expected...the trouble is, that it REALLY hard to explain to a 7 year-old, much less a 3-year old.
The big problem is, Lynn feels just fine. She is alert, awake, and ready to go....and BORED TO TEARS. Maybe her heart isn't ready, but her mind is certainly good to go. She really wants to get home as soon as possible (and Carlee and Mac agree.) The phrase "stir crazy" certainly applies! Note: anyone who can - please give her a call tomorrow - it will be very much appreciated.
Right now, Sunday appears to be the best bet. Hopefully, we'll have her home, and nestled safely on the patio, enjoying the 85 degree sunshine, and listening to Boston before the end of the week-end - we'll keep everyone posted until then.
Today was the day that we thought that Lynn was supposed to come home...well, it turned out that wasn't the case. She had some problems with her heart rate, and Dr. Blossom wanted her to stay at the hospital a few more days. The problem is two-fold - first, her heart rate is too high, about 140 bpm. Second, her heartbeat is erratic, that is, unsteady. Dr. Blossom said that an erratic heartbeat is OK, and he would normally have let her go home, but not at the rate she had. Her heart rate is about the one you would expect for someone who just climbed 3 flights of stairs...not for someone laying at rest in bed. We want her to get to somewhere between 80 and 120 beats per minute.
Well, the doctor gave her some medication that is supposed to slow down the heart rate. If she can stay lower than the base rate for 24 hours, she can go home. Even if she can't, if the rate can stay below that threshold with oral drugs, she can still go home. If it takes IV administered drugs, then it is no go. Important note - this is something that is not uncommon for heart surgery patients - many people have to deal with this. The heart simply does not deal very well with the rough handling required to do the surgery that Lynn needed, especially the part where it was STOPPED for over 2 hours, and it simply takes a while for it to get back to normal. She was on the heart-lung for 126 minutes, so this kind of side-effect is something that should have been expected...the trouble is, that it REALLY hard to explain to a 7 year-old, much less a 3-year old.
The big problem is, Lynn feels just fine. She is alert, awake, and ready to go....and BORED TO TEARS. Maybe her heart isn't ready, but her mind is certainly good to go. She really wants to get home as soon as possible (and Carlee and Mac agree.) The phrase "stir crazy" certainly applies! Note: anyone who can - please give her a call tomorrow - it will be very much appreciated.
Right now, Sunday appears to be the best bet. Hopefully, we'll have her home, and nestled safely on the patio, enjoying the 85 degree sunshine, and listening to Boston before the end of the week-end - we'll keep everyone posted until then.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
April 23, 2009
April 23, 2009
Lynn did alright today...she was still in some pain, but having the chest tubes out helped her feel much better. She managed to get a walk or two in, but she got pretty tired. Yesterday, evidently, there was some concern because her heart rate was a bit too high, and she could not walk much. That appears to be under control now, but it meant another day in the hospital, so it looks like tomorrow will be the big day, instead of today, as we had hoped. She got a late visit yesterday from Christa and her boyfriend Justin, plus Gary and Sharon dropped by a couple of times too. They helped out with the kids this morning, then headed off to visit Todd.
Jo flew in this afternoon, and I dropped her off at the hospital. Lynn took her walk while I was there, then I went back to work. Later, I picked up Carlee from daycare, and then got Mac. We all went over to the hospital, and Lynn got to see the kids for the first time since the operation. We stuck around for a while, until Lynn's food came, and then the three of us and Jo went to dinner. It looks like a 90% chance that Lynn will go home tomorrow, according to her. I am still a bit concerned, since she is having trouble getting up from her bed, and thinks that she can't manage stairs. Hopefully, we find that those fears are unjustified, and everything will go well tomorrow. Blood tests are good, blood pressure is good, pulse is where it should be, and all the internal workings are working. All systems go!
Lynn did alright today...she was still in some pain, but having the chest tubes out helped her feel much better. She managed to get a walk or two in, but she got pretty tired. Yesterday, evidently, there was some concern because her heart rate was a bit too high, and she could not walk much. That appears to be under control now, but it meant another day in the hospital, so it looks like tomorrow will be the big day, instead of today, as we had hoped. She got a late visit yesterday from Christa and her boyfriend Justin, plus Gary and Sharon dropped by a couple of times too. They helped out with the kids this morning, then headed off to visit Todd.
Jo flew in this afternoon, and I dropped her off at the hospital. Lynn took her walk while I was there, then I went back to work. Later, I picked up Carlee from daycare, and then got Mac. We all went over to the hospital, and Lynn got to see the kids for the first time since the operation. We stuck around for a while, until Lynn's food came, and then the three of us and Jo went to dinner. It looks like a 90% chance that Lynn will go home tomorrow, according to her. I am still a bit concerned, since she is having trouble getting up from her bed, and thinks that she can't manage stairs. Hopefully, we find that those fears are unjustified, and everything will go well tomorrow. Blood tests are good, blood pressure is good, pulse is where it should be, and all the internal workings are working. All systems go!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
April 22, 2009
April 22, 2009
Lynn had a pretty good day today. She got up too early, but said that she felt pretty good. The nurses moved her from the recliner to the bed yesterday, and that was her first night in a bed with the new plumbing. I went to see her around lunch time, and arrived just in time for her to get the chest drainage tubes pulled. That was certainly not what I expected. However, since I had to miss lunch in order to go see her, it DID have the side benefit of making me lose my appetite. Actually, it was no big deal. Lynn had been fretting about it ever since she found out she needed surgery, since the first time around, it had been extremely painful for her when the surgeon took them out. Well, the nurse did it this time, and she was much more careful. Lynn said it hardly hurt at all. In fact, for the first one, she didn't even know that it was out until we told her. The second one, she noticed, but it still wasn't all that bad. Nurses seem to be a little more considerate of a patient's pain than the surgeons. I guess that is understandable...surgeons are just not used to their patients being conscious!
The nurse also pulled the catheter, which just left the IV and the oxygen feed. They asked if Lynn wanted to go for a walk. She said that sounded fine to her. So, she dumped the oxygen feed, the nurse grabbed the IV stand, and off they went. She did quite well, and didn't feel much fatigue or pain. She was able to make a full lap around the floor, which is far better than most patients. The nurse was monitoring the oxygen levels, and was a little concerned at the end, as Lynn's were a bit low. Other than that, it went very well.
After the chest tubes were pulled, Lynn felt much much better. She had all sorts of pain when she breathed deeply...that was relieved significantly when the tubes were gone. However, she still has trouble breathing deeply. She has a device that measures how much she can breathe in. They want her to get to 2500, but she can only reach 1000 at this point. It looks like her lungs are having a hard time recovering from being deflated during the surgery. This was exactly what happened the first time, so it is not a big surprise. It took her months to get back to normal last time, and that will probably be the case this time as well.
We had hoped she would get out of the hospital tomorrow, Thursday. However, it looks more likely that we'll have to wait until Friday at this point, at least that is what Dr. Blossom said. Maybe he'll change his mind once he sees how well she is doing, but we aren't going to hold our collective breaths.
Lynn had a pretty good day today. She got up too early, but said that she felt pretty good. The nurses moved her from the recliner to the bed yesterday, and that was her first night in a bed with the new plumbing. I went to see her around lunch time, and arrived just in time for her to get the chest drainage tubes pulled. That was certainly not what I expected. However, since I had to miss lunch in order to go see her, it DID have the side benefit of making me lose my appetite. Actually, it was no big deal. Lynn had been fretting about it ever since she found out she needed surgery, since the first time around, it had been extremely painful for her when the surgeon took them out. Well, the nurse did it this time, and she was much more careful. Lynn said it hardly hurt at all. In fact, for the first one, she didn't even know that it was out until we told her. The second one, she noticed, but it still wasn't all that bad. Nurses seem to be a little more considerate of a patient's pain than the surgeons. I guess that is understandable...surgeons are just not used to their patients being conscious!
The nurse also pulled the catheter, which just left the IV and the oxygen feed. They asked if Lynn wanted to go for a walk. She said that sounded fine to her. So, she dumped the oxygen feed, the nurse grabbed the IV stand, and off they went. She did quite well, and didn't feel much fatigue or pain. She was able to make a full lap around the floor, which is far better than most patients. The nurse was monitoring the oxygen levels, and was a little concerned at the end, as Lynn's were a bit low. Other than that, it went very well.
After the chest tubes were pulled, Lynn felt much much better. She had all sorts of pain when she breathed deeply...that was relieved significantly when the tubes were gone. However, she still has trouble breathing deeply. She has a device that measures how much she can breathe in. They want her to get to 2500, but she can only reach 1000 at this point. It looks like her lungs are having a hard time recovering from being deflated during the surgery. This was exactly what happened the first time, so it is not a big surprise. It took her months to get back to normal last time, and that will probably be the case this time as well.
We had hoped she would get out of the hospital tomorrow, Thursday. However, it looks more likely that we'll have to wait until Friday at this point, at least that is what Dr. Blossom said. Maybe he'll change his mind once he sees how well she is doing, but we aren't going to hold our collective breaths.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
April 21, 2009
9PM
Sorry all - did not have time to write in the blog until now. I worked this morning, then hung out with Lynn in the afternoon, took care of the kids, visited Lynn again, then put the kids to bed. Not much time to settle in for any decent writing...OK, how about LEGIBLE writing.
Lots to report...got a call from her nurse last night - this was around 11pm. (These are all scheduled so you know when to expect them) Lynn was pretty much the same as she had been at 6pm. Very tired, and could not keep her eyes open long enough to get the breathing tube from the respirator out of her. Otherwise, everything was fine. The next morning, I got another call around 7:30 while I was at work. They had been able to get her off the respirator around midnight, and she was doing fine. They were planning on moving her over to regular room sometime around lunch time.
I took off from work around 11am and went straight over to the hospital. The critical care nurse moved her over about a half hour after I got there. I met them in the hall and Lynn was still pretty much out of it, and, like the nurses said, she again kept on nodding off. She did smile when she saw me, which is hopefully a good sign. Of course, I WAS standing in front of the candy machine, so who knows for sure. Later, she was placed in room 2019, and got settled in. The nurses left her in the recliner that they moved her in...they were planning on moving her over to the bed later in the day. For the time being, the staff wanted her to remain sitting up, as this would help out in getting her lungs back up to full function - the surgeon had to deflate them in order to work on her heart. We talked a little while...it is kind of hard to carry on a conversation with a person who keeps falling asleep on you. (Now that I think about it, it kind of reminds me of when I was dating, but I digress...) I'll never make fun of narcoleptics again. The nurse on duty said that this was due to the after effects of the anaesthetic, plus the fact that she got very little sleep the night before. Christa came by a little bit later, followed by Gary and Sharon. (Gary would have got there first, but Christa evidently dashed into the parking lot and took the last space, forcing him to use the garage!) Lynn asked about the operation, and I tried to tell her what happened, but, as she was unconscious for at least half the time, I realized that I was going to have to probably fill in a number of gaps in her information later. We left after a couple of hours, and let her sleep.
Later on, after Mac, Carlee, Sharon, Gary and I had scarfed down Sharon's liver and onions, I went back to the hospital and visited for a little while longer. She was much better, but was still having a hard time figuring out the day, and, between normal intervals of conversation, I got some rather weird questions (example: why didn't I record the kids musical show on Sunday? My answer: I have a reputation for not having a very good memory, but I am reasonably sure that the kids did NOT have a musical show on Sunday, and, besides, this was the day before she got into the hospital, so why didn't YOU record the %$#@ thing???) She also kept on taking her oxygen hose out, much to the chagrin of the nurses, and wanted to use her arms to push herself up in the chair, which, next to playing rugby, is probably the worst thing she can do over the course of the next 4 weeks. And, she wanted me to give her a piece of gum - when I told her that I had to see if it was OK with the nurses, she smacked me! Fortunately, the IV line was short enough that she did not have room to get up much momentum, but it does appear that her surgery has not had any detrimental effects on her coordination. (I retaliated by putting her in a head lock, and then using a pile driver on her, but she got a three count on me after diving off the top of the bed and then doing a body slam on me.)
She got her first meal since Sunday around lunch time today - meal might be something of an overstatement, as it consisted of jello, some kind of flavored ice, apple juice, tea, and some brothy stuff that she hated. The next meal was even better - the broth was CREAMY. I hope she builds up an appetite soon...she needs to get some food in her, since they won't let her leave until she makes a BM (I made the mistake of mentioning this to Carlee, and this totally struck a chord...I have a feeling that she will be relating this fact to any and all people she meets tomorrow at daycare, and when Lynn next appears there, everyone will cheerfully state to Lynn that they were glad to see that you FINALLY made a dootie!) When I left this evening, she was waiting on a couple of nurses to come in and move her to the bed. I understand that she gets to sleep all night long tonight (well, not if she wants to go number 2).
Tomorrow, the plan is to take out the chest tube...this will help out in her breathing, and hopefully alleviate most of the pain she has in her left side. Every time she breathes in deeply, it really hurts, and it is making her not want to inhale as deeply as they want her to try to do. This was a major problem for her when she had the surgery 20 years ago, and it looks like it will be an issue again. If everything works out (pun intended), she could be ready to leave the hospital on Thursday.
Sorry all - did not have time to write in the blog until now. I worked this morning, then hung out with Lynn in the afternoon, took care of the kids, visited Lynn again, then put the kids to bed. Not much time to settle in for any decent writing...OK, how about LEGIBLE writing.
Lots to report...got a call from her nurse last night - this was around 11pm. (These are all scheduled so you know when to expect them) Lynn was pretty much the same as she had been at 6pm. Very tired, and could not keep her eyes open long enough to get the breathing tube from the respirator out of her. Otherwise, everything was fine. The next morning, I got another call around 7:30 while I was at work. They had been able to get her off the respirator around midnight, and she was doing fine. They were planning on moving her over to regular room sometime around lunch time.
I took off from work around 11am and went straight over to the hospital. The critical care nurse moved her over about a half hour after I got there. I met them in the hall and Lynn was still pretty much out of it, and, like the nurses said, she again kept on nodding off. She did smile when she saw me, which is hopefully a good sign. Of course, I WAS standing in front of the candy machine, so who knows for sure. Later, she was placed in room 2019, and got settled in. The nurses left her in the recliner that they moved her in...they were planning on moving her over to the bed later in the day. For the time being, the staff wanted her to remain sitting up, as this would help out in getting her lungs back up to full function - the surgeon had to deflate them in order to work on her heart. We talked a little while...it is kind of hard to carry on a conversation with a person who keeps falling asleep on you. (Now that I think about it, it kind of reminds me of when I was dating, but I digress...) I'll never make fun of narcoleptics again. The nurse on duty said that this was due to the after effects of the anaesthetic, plus the fact that she got very little sleep the night before. Christa came by a little bit later, followed by Gary and Sharon. (Gary would have got there first, but Christa evidently dashed into the parking lot and took the last space, forcing him to use the garage!) Lynn asked about the operation, and I tried to tell her what happened, but, as she was unconscious for at least half the time, I realized that I was going to have to probably fill in a number of gaps in her information later. We left after a couple of hours, and let her sleep.
Later on, after Mac, Carlee, Sharon, Gary and I had scarfed down Sharon's liver and onions, I went back to the hospital and visited for a little while longer. She was much better, but was still having a hard time figuring out the day, and, between normal intervals of conversation, I got some rather weird questions (example: why didn't I record the kids musical show on Sunday? My answer: I have a reputation for not having a very good memory, but I am reasonably sure that the kids did NOT have a musical show on Sunday, and, besides, this was the day before she got into the hospital, so why didn't YOU record the %$#@ thing???) She also kept on taking her oxygen hose out, much to the chagrin of the nurses, and wanted to use her arms to push herself up in the chair, which, next to playing rugby, is probably the worst thing she can do over the course of the next 4 weeks. And, she wanted me to give her a piece of gum - when I told her that I had to see if it was OK with the nurses, she smacked me! Fortunately, the IV line was short enough that she did not have room to get up much momentum, but it does appear that her surgery has not had any detrimental effects on her coordination. (I retaliated by putting her in a head lock, and then using a pile driver on her, but she got a three count on me after diving off the top of the bed and then doing a body slam on me.)
She got her first meal since Sunday around lunch time today - meal might be something of an overstatement, as it consisted of jello, some kind of flavored ice, apple juice, tea, and some brothy stuff that she hated. The next meal was even better - the broth was CREAMY. I hope she builds up an appetite soon...she needs to get some food in her, since they won't let her leave until she makes a BM (I made the mistake of mentioning this to Carlee, and this totally struck a chord...I have a feeling that she will be relating this fact to any and all people she meets tomorrow at daycare, and when Lynn next appears there, everyone will cheerfully state to Lynn that they were glad to see that you FINALLY made a dootie!) When I left this evening, she was waiting on a couple of nurses to come in and move her to the bed. I understand that she gets to sleep all night long tonight (well, not if she wants to go number 2).
Tomorrow, the plan is to take out the chest tube...this will help out in her breathing, and hopefully alleviate most of the pain she has in her left side. Every time she breathes in deeply, it really hurts, and it is making her not want to inhale as deeply as they want her to try to do. This was a major problem for her when she had the surgery 20 years ago, and it looks like it will be an issue again. If everything works out (pun intended), she could be ready to leave the hospital on Thursday.
Monday, April 20, 2009
April 20, 8:15PM
Latest:
OK - had to pick up Carlee and take Mac to skating. More on the situation. As I was saying about her heart: when the heart has been handled like it has been during surgery, sometimes there are problems with the timing...it may beat fast, may beat slow, or the beat may be irregular. After a while it clears up, but that may take some time. WE are going to have to keep a close eye on her while the situation clears...if there is anythig out of the ordinary, we have to get her to the doctor or call the squad if it is too severe.
Lost about 4 paragraphs because %$#@ Microsoft decided to force my computer to shut down and do an update. I'm going to give some info and that's all for tonight.
Got a call from her nurse around 6PM. Lynn is doing very well. She was conscious enough that she was able to respond to commands from the nurse, but kept on dropping off to sleep. She is still working the anaesthesia out of her system, and it takes a while. Blood work is good, and she is not showing any signs of bleeding through the chest tube.
Just got another call - 10PM - situation the same. She is still too groggy to get the respirator out, but that is not unusual. Blood counts are all still very good, so once the drugs wear off some more and she is off the respirator, she will be better yet.
OK - had to pick up Carlee and take Mac to skating. More on the situation. As I was saying about her heart: when the heart has been handled like it has been during surgery, sometimes there are problems with the timing...it may beat fast, may beat slow, or the beat may be irregular. After a while it clears up, but that may take some time. WE are going to have to keep a close eye on her while the situation clears...if there is anythig out of the ordinary, we have to get her to the doctor or call the squad if it is too severe.
Lost about 4 paragraphs because %$#@ Microsoft decided to force my computer to shut down and do an update. I'm going to give some info and that's all for tonight.
Got a call from her nurse around 6PM. Lynn is doing very well. She was conscious enough that she was able to respond to commands from the nurse, but kept on dropping off to sleep. She is still working the anaesthesia out of her system, and it takes a while. Blood work is good, and she is not showing any signs of bleeding through the chest tube.
Just got another call - 10PM - situation the same. She is still too groggy to get the respirator out, but that is not unusual. Blood counts are all still very good, so once the drugs wear off some more and she is off the respirator, she will be better yet.
April 20, 2009 - 3:15 PM
Latest
Gary, Sharon, Susan, Christa and I got to see Lynn a little after noon. She was on a respirator, had about 100 tubes and wires draped over her, and was not awake, but she seems to be hanging in there. She will be in this ICU until tomorrow, late morning. The staff will begin working on getting her off the respirator in the next few hours. If all goes well, she may even be able to talk to me tonight. The nurse assigned to her said that she will be sending off status reports to me at various times during the next 24 hours. The first will be around 6PM. The next will be later in the evening, around 11PM. Finally, I should get another one from the night nurse around 6:45 to 7AM tomorrow morning. I will try to keep everyone posted when I get more news.
I also took a "class" this morning. One of the nurses has an hour long course that covers the types of surgery that can be done, and also covers extensively how a given patient should be cared for when they get home. One thing that really hit me was that Lynn's condition, where the left main is severely blocked, is called the "widow-maker". If that artery gets blocked, about 2/3 of the heart loses blood flow, and basically dies. This is the type of heart attack where a person just keels over, and is dead before they hit the ground. Also, another interesting fact - the arteries for the heart are only about a wide as a strand of spaghetti...doesn't take much to block one up.
Lynn is basically going to have to deal with three main circumstances. First, her sternum has to heal. There are all kinds of procedures that have been developed that tell people how to stand up, get out of bed, and move around that address this. The sternum is sawed in two, and then must be wired together...typically, four loops of stainless steel wire are used to hold things together. These wires have been known to break, which necessitates another operation to rewire them - not something that she is likely to deal with.
The second issue will be the heart itself. It is not supposed to be handled by human hands very much. Gotta run - will fill everyone in later!
Gary, Sharon, Susan, Christa and I got to see Lynn a little after noon. She was on a respirator, had about 100 tubes and wires draped over her, and was not awake, but she seems to be hanging in there. She will be in this ICU until tomorrow, late morning. The staff will begin working on getting her off the respirator in the next few hours. If all goes well, she may even be able to talk to me tonight. The nurse assigned to her said that she will be sending off status reports to me at various times during the next 24 hours. The first will be around 6PM. The next will be later in the evening, around 11PM. Finally, I should get another one from the night nurse around 6:45 to 7AM tomorrow morning. I will try to keep everyone posted when I get more news.
I also took a "class" this morning. One of the nurses has an hour long course that covers the types of surgery that can be done, and also covers extensively how a given patient should be cared for when they get home. One thing that really hit me was that Lynn's condition, where the left main is severely blocked, is called the "widow-maker". If that artery gets blocked, about 2/3 of the heart loses blood flow, and basically dies. This is the type of heart attack where a person just keels over, and is dead before they hit the ground. Also, another interesting fact - the arteries for the heart are only about a wide as a strand of spaghetti...doesn't take much to block one up.
Lynn is basically going to have to deal with three main circumstances. First, her sternum has to heal. There are all kinds of procedures that have been developed that tell people how to stand up, get out of bed, and move around that address this. The sternum is sawed in two, and then must be wired together...typically, four loops of stainless steel wire are used to hold things together. These wires have been known to break, which necessitates another operation to rewire them - not something that she is likely to deal with.
The second issue will be the heart itself. It is not supposed to be handled by human hands very much. Gotta run - will fill everyone in later!
April 20, 12:20
Latest
Lynn's operation is over - both bypasses are in place, and she is in recovery. Things didn't wrap up as early as we thought because the surgeon ran into a couple of issues. First off, there was a problem with a vein that ran across her breast bone. It interfered with their being able to spread open the rib cage. When they closed it off, they realized that the IV was connected to that vessel. So, they had to move the IV to another location, in her upper leg. There was lots of bleeding associated with the vein also, so that had to get cleared up. Next, the surgeon found that the artery he wanted to use, inside the chest was no good. There was all kinds of scarring inside her chest from the radiation 20 years ago, and it heavily damaged the blood vessel. There was no appreciable flow through the proposed donor artery. So, they had to use a couple of veins from down in her leg. The good news is that the veins were in great shape, so that means that the grafts should also work well. THe problem is, veins never work as well as arteries. But, Dr. Blossom said that, with all the anti cholestrol medicines and the use of aspirin, it may last a lot longer than the 10-15 year period that used to be standard.
WE'll get to see her in a few minutes, hopefully, and I'll update it more after that.
Lynn's operation is over - both bypasses are in place, and she is in recovery. Things didn't wrap up as early as we thought because the surgeon ran into a couple of issues. First off, there was a problem with a vein that ran across her breast bone. It interfered with their being able to spread open the rib cage. When they closed it off, they realized that the IV was connected to that vessel. So, they had to move the IV to another location, in her upper leg. There was lots of bleeding associated with the vein also, so that had to get cleared up. Next, the surgeon found that the artery he wanted to use, inside the chest was no good. There was all kinds of scarring inside her chest from the radiation 20 years ago, and it heavily damaged the blood vessel. There was no appreciable flow through the proposed donor artery. So, they had to use a couple of veins from down in her leg. The good news is that the veins were in great shape, so that means that the grafts should also work well. THe problem is, veins never work as well as arteries. But, Dr. Blossom said that, with all the anti cholestrol medicines and the use of aspirin, it may last a lot longer than the 10-15 year period that used to be standard.
WE'll get to see her in a few minutes, hopefully, and I'll update it more after that.
10:10 AM
Latest
No news so far, but we don't expect anything this early. A nurse came by and filled us in on more details about what to expect the next few days. She said that Thursday as a release date is a dintinct possibility, especially if Lynn does well. She is probably going to feel pretty good tomorrow, too...they will have her medicated up to the gills. I might be able to get some really good quotes from her that I can pass along at family gatherings. She will start feeling the pain more the next day. She will go from the ICU to a regular room around noon tomorrow. I will probably work in the morning, then head up the hospital that afternoon when she moves. After she is in the new room, she can have visitors at just about time. Carlee and Mac could see her then as well.
Christa came by a little bit ago; Susan got here a bit before that, and Gary and Sharon have been here since before 5AM...pretty big cheering section.
No news so far, but we don't expect anything this early. A nurse came by and filled us in on more details about what to expect the next few days. She said that Thursday as a release date is a dintinct possibility, especially if Lynn does well. She is probably going to feel pretty good tomorrow, too...they will have her medicated up to the gills. I might be able to get some really good quotes from her that I can pass along at family gatherings. She will start feeling the pain more the next day. She will go from the ICU to a regular room around noon tomorrow. I will probably work in the morning, then head up the hospital that afternoon when she moves. After she is in the new room, she can have visitors at just about time. Carlee and Mac could see her then as well.
Christa came by a little bit ago; Susan got here a bit before that, and Gary and Sharon have been here since before 5AM...pretty big cheering section.
April 20, 8AM.
April 20, 8AM
Lynn went off to surgery at 7:30 AM sharp - not many delays when you are first in line. The only delay so far involved finding a clean shower. A little after 7AM, Dr. Blossom came by to discuss the surgery. He will try to use the two arteries in the chest, right and left thoracic. He will probably use the left thoractic regardless, for the bypass for the left main. However, Lynn's radiation and chemotherapy may have caused enough damage to the right one that he will not be able to transfer that one easily. He won't know for sure until he gets in there and can assess the condition of the artery. If he doesn't want to use it, he will have to borrow a vein from her leg, from her upper thigh, and use that. The prep work will go from 7:30 to 8:30, then the surgery itself will begin. Dr. Blossom thinks that it will go until 11:15AM. We will get to see her shortly after that, when she is stable. Next time we'll be able to see her will be tomorrow around noon.
Looks like the stay will be 4-5 days. She might be out on Friday, possibly Saturday. Probably Thursday is out, though. It all depends on how well she does in the next few days.
Lynn went off to surgery at 7:30 AM sharp - not many delays when you are first in line. The only delay so far involved finding a clean shower. A little after 7AM, Dr. Blossom came by to discuss the surgery. He will try to use the two arteries in the chest, right and left thoracic. He will probably use the left thoractic regardless, for the bypass for the left main. However, Lynn's radiation and chemotherapy may have caused enough damage to the right one that he will not be able to transfer that one easily. He won't know for sure until he gets in there and can assess the condition of the artery. If he doesn't want to use it, he will have to borrow a vein from her leg, from her upper thigh, and use that. The prep work will go from 7:30 to 8:30, then the surgery itself will begin. Dr. Blossom thinks that it will go until 11:15AM. We will get to see her shortly after that, when she is stable. Next time we'll be able to see her will be tomorrow around noon.
Looks like the stay will be 4-5 days. She might be out on Friday, possibly Saturday. Probably Thursday is out, though. It all depends on how well she does in the next few days.
April 20, 2009
Early Morning
Lynn and I got up around 4:30 this morning. She took another shower using the soap she is supposed to use before the surgery, gathered up everythng, and then headed out to the hospital. We got there around 5:30...exccellent choice of parking spaces, not surprisingly. Right now, the nurses are giving her ANOTHER shower. (They had to give her one after she got shaved...I'll avoid THAT topic, however.) We also got the scoop on the next day. She should be in surgery for about 3 hours. Then, she gets out, and they stabilize her. About an hour later, we'll briefly get a chance to see her. Then, they put her in the heart surgery ICU, where no one can see her until tomorrow, probably late morning. The next step will be a transfer to the regular hospital, and she will be able to have visitors. That won't be until tomorrow in the afternoon or so.
Lynn's blood pressure was 110/80...pretty good. (I told the nurse I was glad they weren't taking MINE!) Everything else is as normal as it can get. After she gets back from the shower, we should get a visit from Dr. Blossom, then, it'll be show time.
Lynn and I got up around 4:30 this morning. She took another shower using the soap she is supposed to use before the surgery, gathered up everythng, and then headed out to the hospital. We got there around 5:30...exccellent choice of parking spaces, not surprisingly. Right now, the nurses are giving her ANOTHER shower. (They had to give her one after she got shaved...I'll avoid THAT topic, however.) We also got the scoop on the next day. She should be in surgery for about 3 hours. Then, she gets out, and they stabilize her. About an hour later, we'll briefly get a chance to see her. Then, they put her in the heart surgery ICU, where no one can see her until tomorrow, probably late morning. The next step will be a transfer to the regular hospital, and she will be able to have visitors. That won't be until tomorrow in the afternoon or so.
Lynn's blood pressure was 110/80...pretty good. (I told the nurse I was glad they weren't taking MINE!) Everything else is as normal as it can get. After she gets back from the shower, we should get a visit from Dr. Blossom, then, it'll be show time.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday April 19, 2009
Sunday - One day to go...
Tomorrow is the day. Last Friday, we found out that Lynn has to report to the hospital at 5:30 AM. The operation is scheduled to start at 7:30AM. She will be first in the queue, so we don't expect any big delays like last time. We still have no idea on how long the operation will take, but the background information says 3 to 6 hours. Gary and Sharon came by today around 1PM. They are going to be spending the night; Susan Mathew should be coming by soon as well, and she'll also spend the night. Lynn and I will head out to the hospital, then the rest of the crew will show up later.
I have done some research into the operation. It looks as if the surgeon will "harvest" the arteries they need from her chest area, the right and left thoracic arteries. One will be connected directly into the left main. The other will be connected from the aorta to a point just past the blockage. Hope fully, all will go well, and the operation will take closer to 3 hours than 6.
One part of the operation that I never considered... the surgical team will stop Lynn's heart for a period of time. Usually 60 minutes to 90 minutes, they use a combination of drugs and colling to still the heart so that they can work on it. Of course, all I can think of is, what if they cannot start it again? Sure, she will be on heart/lung machine, but that is completely a temporary measure. If the heart does not resume beating, that's it. That does not happen very often, but the fact that this has to happen really serves to illustrate the seriousness of the situation. Hard to believe that an operation this extensive and complicated has such a high survival rate. Never-the-less, the way people used to decide if a person was alive or dead was if they had a pulse...that is, was their heart beating or not? So, by the standards of 100 years ago, Lynn will be dead for at least an hour by the time this is done. Goes to show how far we have come, I guess, that this is now as easily accepted as getting your tonsils removed.
For dinner, we all had chicken divan, plus salad and watermelon. Lynn made an oatmeal cake for dessert. John and Todd Allen called to wish Lynn luck, and Rhonda dropped by - she is taking care of picking up the kids tomorrow. I will get them from her house when I come home tomorrow evening. With the uncertainty about the length of the operation, plus the unknown time period that has to pass from the time she gets done to when she can see visitors, it will be a long day.
Tomorrow is the day. Last Friday, we found out that Lynn has to report to the hospital at 5:30 AM. The operation is scheduled to start at 7:30AM. She will be first in the queue, so we don't expect any big delays like last time. We still have no idea on how long the operation will take, but the background information says 3 to 6 hours. Gary and Sharon came by today around 1PM. They are going to be spending the night; Susan Mathew should be coming by soon as well, and she'll also spend the night. Lynn and I will head out to the hospital, then the rest of the crew will show up later.
I have done some research into the operation. It looks as if the surgeon will "harvest" the arteries they need from her chest area, the right and left thoracic arteries. One will be connected directly into the left main. The other will be connected from the aorta to a point just past the blockage. Hope fully, all will go well, and the operation will take closer to 3 hours than 6.
One part of the operation that I never considered... the surgical team will stop Lynn's heart for a period of time. Usually 60 minutes to 90 minutes, they use a combination of drugs and colling to still the heart so that they can work on it. Of course, all I can think of is, what if they cannot start it again? Sure, she will be on heart/lung machine, but that is completely a temporary measure. If the heart does not resume beating, that's it. That does not happen very often, but the fact that this has to happen really serves to illustrate the seriousness of the situation. Hard to believe that an operation this extensive and complicated has such a high survival rate. Never-the-less, the way people used to decide if a person was alive or dead was if they had a pulse...that is, was their heart beating or not? So, by the standards of 100 years ago, Lynn will be dead for at least an hour by the time this is done. Goes to show how far we have come, I guess, that this is now as easily accepted as getting your tonsils removed.
For dinner, we all had chicken divan, plus salad and watermelon. Lynn made an oatmeal cake for dessert. John and Todd Allen called to wish Lynn luck, and Rhonda dropped by - she is taking care of picking up the kids tomorrow. I will get them from her house when I come home tomorrow evening. With the uncertainty about the length of the operation, plus the unknown time period that has to pass from the time she gets done to when she can see visitors, it will be a long day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)