Quick update.


      Mom's condition worsened again. Mostly affecting her legs and arms, her skin began to turn red and ran warmer than the rest of her body. It took a little convincing, but she decided to go to Abbott Northwestern on Monday the 9th, where she awaited to be seen for a few hours. A short while after being admitted, she became septic and her blood pressure dropped to incredibly low numbers. Her skin also began to develop pustules. She spent a night or so in the Abbott ICU before they worked out a time to transfer her back to Mayo's ICU. 


      On Wednesday, she was greeted by familiar faces at Mary Brigh's ICU staff, where she currently stays. She even has the same room as she did before. Day to day treatment is reminiscent of her prior stay at Mayo with dressing changes and skin treatment. Dilaudid was provided to help ease the pain and could even be controlled on command by Mom with a push of a button. Most her time would be spent sleeping and biding time to wellness.


      Saturday, I attended my brother, Matthew's, 11th birthday party just before my evening shift. My father and others had asked a lot about how Mom was doing, but I didn't have much to say. Ultimately, they just wanted to know that it wasn't as bad as before, which so far, doesn't seem like the case. We at least caught it earlier this time around and she certainly is in the right care. As long as her skin healed and pain levels were low, her time there would hopefully be short. However, just under an hour later, I received a phone call from a doctor on Mom's care team. They called for two reasons; to see if Mom had any leftover injections that we could provide them, and to inform us that Mom had started developing respiratory issues due to a fluid  buildup in her lungs which could result in intubation. This surprised us as we thought that sedation and intubation were in the past, but it was necessary to support her lungs. 
      I went to work with this on my mind, wondering if I should have worked it out with my manager to take time to see her, but I decided to work since we all planned to see her Monday. Shortly after midnight, I went back to my partner, Kyla's, house where we spend most of our time unwinding after a long night. I called for an update had learned that they had already gone ahead with intubation. It was a little defeating to know that I didn't get to speak to her beforehand, but I ultimately just hoped she wasn't afraid. After some shed tears and comforting from Kyla, we came up with a plan to get me out to Rochester along with my family the next day in hopes to see Mom and come back in time to work my afternoon shift. 


      Sunday, we drove out to Rochester at 11am. It had been at least a couple months since we had been out this way, but I hadn't forgotten a beat in the scenery along the way. Though, some things had changed, like the lack of construction. Highway 52 had brand new pavement and there wasn't a single cone on our southbound drive, which made the drive much shorter than normal. We made our familiar exit at the 55 mile marker, left on 2nd and right on 14th to reach Mary Brigh and drive into the underground parking lot. We walked in with masks on our faces knowing exactly where to go to reach her unit as it seemed like yesterday that we were making the same twists and turns in these very hallways. When we reached her floor, all four of us were buzzed in as the 'two-at-a-time' rule wasn't in effect. This was convenient in both time and coordination. We walked up and witnessed Mom lying in the same room that she spent so much time in for months. She was heavily sedated with fentanyl and propofol and seemingly didn't react to our presence. We really just waited for the doctor to arrive so that we could ask some questions, but the visit overall didn't contain much in terms of happenings or new information. The doctor had arrived to give us updates on what they're looking into and what to expect on Mom's agenda. Her pain levels were pretty minimal and her skin wasn't nearly as bad as it was in the past, but still, their only concern at this time is her respiratory issues and why she's capturing so much fluid in her lungs. The reason remains unknown, but they would perform as many tests necessary to find out so that she could breath without assistance. Dermatology also wants to perform a skin biopsy to understand why Mom had relapsed. The results of the biopsy should arrive later this week. We spent about an hour and a half there and headed home. I had hoped to get some sleep in the car before my shift, but I was unsuccessful.


      Once we got back to the neighborhood, I quickly got ready and headed to do my job, but emotions within myself were stirred with the uncertainty of what to expect next in Mom's care. I broke down with tears and was sent home to take some time to process what has been happening.