Sunday, July 8, 2018

7/8/18 A little bump in the road upon returning to Seattle

Hi, friends, family.  Here's a quick update as to what's going on.  

Gabrielle and Daniel got home from Houston yesterday afternoon after a difficult few days in Houston (see Daniel's great entry for more details).  Once she got home, she had very little energy and took a long nap in the basement (after having her mandatory visit to the bunnies, one of whom she dearly missed).  We started watching TV, but as I held her hand, it felt like she was burning up, so I took her temperature and it was 102.3.  She was also a little on the spacey side, just staring off in the distance with a glazed look in her eyes, and not even having any interest in the boring Australian soap opera we were watching.  It was almost as if she had had several shots of neighbor Jerry's special raspberry infused vodka...and she doesn't drink.  So Daniel and I took her off to Northwest Hospital ER where we got checked in right away.  Triage nurse didn't even make her go back to the waiting room; they ushered her right into a room because she looked so sick.  It was either that or she didn't want to make the rest of the folks in the waiting room jealous because of Gabrielle's penguin and snowflake jammies she was wearing.  


Had labs and chest X-ray.  No pneumonia, but she had quite an infection with the access port for chemo therapy being the likely culprit.  She got started on two different high power IV antibiotics (Zosyn and Vancomycin).  Sodium was also quite low which is not as simple a matter to correct as you might think.  You don't just eat a mess of French fries and fix things.  She ended up getting admitted, so that's where we are right now: in the hospital.  


I am writing this from the waiting area of the fourth floor where she is staying while she and Daniel have a second crack at that dippy soap opera I alluded to earlier (A Place to Call Home, in case you are curious.  My advice: go straight to a Dr. Blake mystery, if you like Australian shows, but this isn't a Siskel and Ebert movie column, so I better get back on track).  


Overnight, Renée stayed with her while Daniel and I went home to rest, but we came back this morning and have already met with a whole bunch of doctors: infectious disease, hospitalist, two surgeons, and an oncologist and anesthesiologist are on the slate for later today.  She is going to get the infected port taken probably around mid-afternoon today, though we are not sure exactly when.  


Her sodium is doing a little better.  Happily, she is clearing up from a mental status point of view.  Last night she had trouble even remembering what day it was, though she did get it right after some serious head scratching.  It would have been an ideal time to challenge her to a "friendly" game of Scrabble, but I lost my window of opportunity (as you may guess, "friendly" is in quotation marks because she has a "take no prisoners" approach to any game she plays).  She is much better today, though still very weak.  They won't let her eat till after the surgery, but she isn't very hungry anyhow.  Pain is still an issue but they are working on that as well.


We have had excellent care here at NW Hospital.  Everyone from the custodians to the nurses and doctors have all been nice to us.  We are not sure how long she will need to be here, but it will for sure be at least till tomorrow.  She really wants to get out of here and back home so that she can meet with Dr. Goff, her oncologist at the UW, on Tuesday.  We are not sure of the long-term plan at this point.  Clinical trials in Houston are off the table for now, but she may be able to revisit them once she is healthier.


Wish I had better news to report, but that's the way things go.  Ups and downs.  As Cousin Rob likes to encourage me: Chinz Up.  That's the way he spells things.  I don't know how he managed to get through law school with such louzy speling ennyhow.


Signing off for now.  As soon as the pre-surgery anesthesia gets on board, I think I will have another crack at challenging her to Scrabble!



4 comments:

  1. Wore my f**k cancer teashirt yesterday. Soap operas have their place and Dr.Blake is right up there. In our prayers. Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am not to old to use this way of communicating maybe. I am the tea shirt person. Wore it to a music event. It was well read through the night. Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  3. My heart and prayers go with you all! I pray the port operation will "do the trick" for now so that Gaby can feel better. My loves and hugs to everyone. 🙏💓

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete