First Month of Progress

Today is September 20, 2003 as I start this page about Vicky's progress.

August 24 2003 seems like a lifetime ago. That was the date Vicky was seen in the Emergency Room and then admitted to The Nebraska Medical Center. September 2 Vicky came home.

During the first part of her hospital stay, Vicky was unable to get out of bed. Swelling in her legs and left arm had created pressure on her nerves in those areas, making any attempted use of those limbs extremely painful. Morphine helped, but did not eliminate all the pain.

Perhaps halfways into her hospital stay, Vicky improved enough to get out of bed and into a nearby chair.

An impatient lady at times, Vicky was disappointed at the slowness of her recovery. However, during the 8 days in the the hospital, Vicky had advanced from being unable to leave the bed to using a walker for a few tentative steps.

Discharged from the hospital, Vicky was pleased to be home late afternoon on Tuesday September 2. Although she could use her walker, she was still very unsteady and weak.

Vicky spent quite a bit of time sleeping and healing (I thought) during the next few days. The day of a follow up doctor's appointment Vicky was feeling quite weak. By the time we arrived for her appointment she was even worse. Vicky's doctor ordered a stat blood test done on her. The results quickly arrived, showing that Vicky had more loss of blood (unseen bruising, it was too deep within her body to be seen).

Needing an immediate blood transfusion, Vicky was transferred to the Lied Transplant Center. This was the second time Vicky needed a transfusion due to the Acquired Factor VIII inhibitor. Vicky and I both believe that this time was the most urgent need.

We were unsure as to whether or not Vicky needed to be readmitted to the hospital. However, halfways through the blood transfusion Vicky began to feel a little bit better. Vicky's doctor called down to see how Vicky was doing, and receiving somewhat encouraging results, left it up to Vicky as to whether or not to spend more time in the hospital. Vicky decided she wanted to go back home.

We arrived home about 11 p.m., and Vicky was worn out and went to bed, even though she had an unusual amount of sleep during the previous several days.

By the time she woke up the next morning, Vicky was feeling like a brand new person! Happy and smiling, Vicky nearly had her usual personality back. It was great, and we were both so pleased.

As the swelling decreases and pressure is being removed from the nerves in her arm and legs, Vicky's accomplishments increase. Walking was painful for Vicky at first, but she forced herself to do it. For the last several days her walker has sat unused in the corner of the living room. For the time being the wheelchair is still needed for anything of distance, such as her first trip to a store which we acomplished September 18th.

We both are extremely happy whenever Vicky accomplishes a new level of recovery. Although Vicky has moved on to baking meals now, the salad making picture at the top right of this page was a very special day for us. It was the first meal she prepared and was only two days after leaving the hospital.

Although her arms may look badly bruised in the photo, they are actually a whole lot better than they were a week earlier.

Vicky's latest blood tests showed her blood level as steady (indicating no further bleeding), Factor VIII level (the good stuff) is increasing, and the Inhibitor (the bad stuff) as decreasing.

As of September 20, 2003, this brings you up to date on Vicky's progress.