The 4th month of Vicky's Progress

November 25, 2003 and Vicky is scheduled for a followup chest x-ray to see if there is any progress in her fight agains pneumonia. At the same time she also has another scheduled blood test taken care of. Simple stuff, just go to the hospital, have these things taken care of, then head home and wait to be called with the results.

November 25th, in the evening Vicky's doctor calls with some unforseen and bad news. The x-ray that was taken also include part of Vicky's abdomen. Vicky's pneumonia is lessening, but the x-ray showed a brand new problem, and not a minor one.

Somehow Vicky's intestines are perforated, as the x-ray shows. Air is now around her intestine,and Vicky's doctor tells us that an immediate trip to the Emergency Room is needed. Not tomorrow, but now.

Again at the ER, when we explain the problem, we are immediately brought in. Bad sign, this is serious. We learn that Vicky needs an operation in the morning to repair her perforated intestine. Any operation is bad, but when I explain to the Emergency Rooom doctor about Vicky's Acquired Factor VIII Inhibitor, they decide to hold off on the operation, as necessary as it is. (Note: The Hematologist does okay the operation, if need be.)

Vicky has a nasal gastric tube inserted to clear out her stomach. Basicly what that is, is a tube that is inserted into a person's nostril and goes all the way into their stomach, then by way of suction keeps the stomach empty. Bad stuff, it hurts.

November 26th, about 2 a.m. and Vicky finally gets a room on the Clarkson side on the hospital. both sides of the hospital were full when we arrived, so it was quite a wait to get a room, and this turned out to be a temporary location for Vicky. About 4:30 a.m. she is transferred to 5 West, on the University side of the hospital. This part of the hospital allows Vicky to be connected with their telemetry, so they can monitor her better.

November 28th, the naso-gastric tube is removed, and Vicky eases her way back into eating again. Food is good after several days with no food or water allowed. Why is she free from that NG tube? Vicky is getting better, without the operation! Vicky is feeling much better and is happier than she has been in weeks.

November 30, and a real meal! Who says hospital food is not good? Trying going without any food or drink for a few days, and hospital food is excellent.

December 1, and Vicky is allowed to go home. Followup includes more x-rays and doctor visits to make sure she is still doing okay. She is on an increased dosage of Prednisone, but that will decrease weekly, and she will be done with that in seven weeks.

December 3, and Vicky is still a bit worn out. Sleep is good for her, and she looks so much better now. It is nice to have her home.

December 8 is Vicky's birthday! I am adding that information a day prior to the event. Birthday plans? I have the day off tomorrow and we are really hoping for a combination of nice weather and Vicky feeling well. If those two things happen tomorrow, Vicky wants to go to the beauty shop for a birthday haircut. Here is hoping for a nice day tomorrow.

December 13, 2003. Vicky had second thoughts about going to the beauty shop for a haircut on her birthday. She did have a special request for a pineapple milkshake as a birthday treat.

Medical update. Two days back Vicky had an appointment with her specialist at the Trauma Surgery Clinic. Things are going quite well with her healing of her intestinal perforation. Next trip back to that doctor will be about a month from now, and an x-ray will be taken taken before the appointment to see how things are doing. The doctor did mention that perhaps it was the combination of Prednisone and antibiotics that could have caused the intestinal perforation.

Vicky will continue with her Prednisone for about five or six weeks, with the decreasing amount of 5 mg per week. It would be nice if a person could just quit taking it when it has done it's job. However, Prednisone needs to be tapered off gradually in dosage. Abruptly quitting the drug can cause bad things to happen to a person.

A phone call to the Hematolgist's nurse gave us great information, everything they tested in her blood came back normal!

How is Vicky feeling? She is a lot happier and healthier than she has been for a long time. She is annoyed with the puffiness Prednisone causes. She is beginning to do a few more things around the house. Vicky's hands are still very weak. She had a lot of trouble opening a container of Pringle's Potato Chips this evening, but she kept working on it, and finally got it open. It is hard not to help her, but she does want to do things for herself and get back to normal.

December 17, 2003, and Vicky is getting even more back to normal. The puffiness is starting to go down in her face and her energy level is even higher. Today Vicky baked a cake while I was at work! Vicky likes to bake, and this is the first time she has baked a cake since her problems began.

Are things getting back to normal? It sure looks that way. She is still scheduled for ongoing consultations with three different doctors, but she doesn't need to be monitored nearly as closely as before. We still have the words of one of her doctor's in our memory... "If Vicky feels anything at all wrong, even the slightest thing, get her to the Emergency Room right away". That was less than a week ago we were given those instructions, so we need to always keep that in mind, no matter how well she feels today.

December 23, 2003. Vicky is doing quite well at home. She does have more followup doctors' visits and a blood test scheduled for next month. We expect these to continue for quite a while.

At the end of month four Vicky is doing quite well. Her strength is not back to what it was, but she has been through a lot since late summer.