To bring everyone up to date with my moms condition - I will give everyone a quick update.
November 14 - my mom had a procedure in Indianapolis at IU to place a custom stent in her pancreas to help with the reaccuring pancreatitis. She had really been struggling with some frequent flair ups, and this was their resolution to help.
Nov 16 - She was discharged home.
Nov 19 - She was readmitted to UVMC for some concerns in her lab work and to help with some pain control.
Nov 21 - Lab results confirmed she had some bacteria and fungus party'n in her blood.
Nov 22 - She was moved up to the Tele unit so they could monitor her heart due to the infection in her blood. (Mom was not to thrilled about this, as some of her favorite nurses work on the 1st floor)
- somewhere in these days a scan verified the stent was in place and showed no abnoraml findings such as abscess or bleeding.
November 27 - They attempted to place a PICC line with multiple attempts and had no success. They settled for a MIDLINE, and then surgically removed her mediport as they felt this may had been the source of infection.
Nov 28 - We spent thanksgiving with her - She was doing well. Just tired from fighting this infection, having elevated temperatures off and on and laying in a bed for the last few months. She ate some mashed potatoes and home made noodles and apple pie!
Nov 29 - She starting feeling short of breath with movement and complained of a new pain under her left rib. Xray later that night suggested pneumonia.
Dec 4 - Cardiology performed a TEE to assure strep infection had not attacked the valves in her heart - as you can imagine, this was a scary scenario for my mom - as it could indicate the need for valve replacement. -- However, TEE showed no abnormal findings!!
-- at some point a second scan was performed to look at the stent from a different angle and it still looked ok.
Dec 7 - early morning my mom went into respiratory distress, having such difficulties breathing - she was moved to ICU. The decision was then made to intubate and transport to IU - which is where her GI specialist is located and he is who placed the stent.
** Throughout this whole stay we have also continued to battle low HGB and platelets. - She has received numerous units of blood (roughly 1 a day) and we could barely manage to keep her counts in the 6 point range.
...please check my daily journal for the most recent updates!
