If not a miracle - pretty darn close!
Today they got my mother-in-law up out of bed and are making plans to move her to a regular hospital room. For someone who they thought did not have too much of a chance, she's getting back on her feet and, hopefully, will be home in time for Christmas! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. As we've seen before - they do work!
As for me, the situation isn't quite as rosy. I knew that my eyes had not improved in the past six weeks but it was confirmed today that they had gotten worse! What does it mean? Currently, it means taking the same eye medications on a more frequentbasis and returning to the clinic in four weeks. GVHD is wearing away the cover to my corneas and they have to stop it. It doesn't affect my vision per se. But constantly putting all that stuff in my eyes does make them somewhat blurry.
I had my blood drawn to make more serum drops and we'll go back to Mass Eye And Ear tomorrow to pick them up. I suppose that the upside is that I am not in any pain. The reason for that is that all the nerves in my eyes are gone! A blessing in disguise, I guess.
They also cauterized my lower tear ducts as the plugs fell out over the past 6 weeks and I had no tars at all in my eyes. It didn't go quite as painless this time but it is now over and done. With all four done I don't have to "look forward to" having the procedure done anymore.
Can I live like this? Sure I can!
I have nothing to complain about...
Bob
December 8, 2010 12:35 AM
We've dodged anothet bullet!
My mother-in-law seems to be improving on her own. Thank God! Two more pints of blood and her counts and other signs seem to have somewhat stabilized and the bleeding subsided. She finally had some very light food today - broth, jello, etc. The decision now is to keep her off of blood thinners which poses the risk of a possible stroke but the risk is less of a danger than the results of what the blood thinners have done.
Today is my next eye visit. I'm admittedly a little anxious because my right eye has not improved and I don't know if any improvement will ever be achieved. The doctors will have to be the judge of that.
Otherwise, it was another all day affair at the hospital today.
Later today, it's on to the clinic.
There just seems to bo too many doctors in our lives at this point...
Bob
My mother-in-law seems to be improving on her own. Thank God! Two more pints of blood and her counts and other signs seem to have somewhat stabilized and the bleeding subsided. She finally had some very light food today - broth, jello, etc. The decision now is to keep her off of blood thinners which poses the risk of a possible stroke but the risk is less of a danger than the results of what the blood thinners have done.
Today is my next eye visit. I'm admittedly a little anxious because my right eye has not improved and I don't know if any improvement will ever be achieved. The doctors will have to be the judge of that.
Otherwise, it was another all day affair at the hospital today.
Later today, it's on to the clinic.
There just seems to bo too many doctors in our lives at this point...
Bob
December 7, 2010 1:00AM
Holding her own!
Having spent the entire day at the hospital, we saw that my mother-in-law was starting to holding her own at thi spoint. The problem has been diagnosed as a bleeding ulcer with the initial goal to stabilize her system such that they can try measures to stop the bleeding .
After 8 pints of blood and countless units of fresh frozen plsma coupled with not allowing her to eat or drink, it appears that these non-invasive efforts have caused the bleeding to subside somewhat. Whereas on Sunday, as fast as the blood went in, she wound lose it.
Right now her blood pressure has come back to a good level, her hematocrit(blood clotting component) has finally increased about their threshhold bottom limit, but her InR(time to clot measurement - in minutes) has not decreased to quite the level that they are looking for. Having had leukemia, I'm well aware of what most of the components of the blood are for and what factors they most look for.
In a nut shell, she is feeling much better but we are not home free yet.
I wish to thank everyone who has called and who has offered prayers for her recovery.
I have to admit that it was disturbing today to have the person in the room next to her have two "code blue" calls and not survive the second one. We have to be very thankful that things have slowly seemed to progress with my mother-in-law.
There is still a long way to go and prayers are much appreciated...
Bob
Having spent the entire day at the hospital, we saw that my mother-in-law was starting to holding her own at thi spoint. The problem has been diagnosed as a bleeding ulcer with the initial goal to stabilize her system such that they can try measures to stop the bleeding .
After 8 pints of blood and countless units of fresh frozen plsma coupled with not allowing her to eat or drink, it appears that these non-invasive efforts have caused the bleeding to subside somewhat. Whereas on Sunday, as fast as the blood went in, she wound lose it.
Right now her blood pressure has come back to a good level, her hematocrit(blood clotting component) has finally increased about their threshhold bottom limit, but her InR(time to clot measurement - in minutes) has not decreased to quite the level that they are looking for. Having had leukemia, I'm well aware of what most of the components of the blood are for and what factors they most look for.
In a nut shell, she is feeling much better but we are not home free yet.
I wish to thank everyone who has called and who has offered prayers for her recovery.
I have to admit that it was disturbing today to have the person in the room next to her have two "code blue" calls and not survive the second one. We have to be very thankful that things have slowly seemed to progress with my mother-in-law.
There is still a long way to go and prayers are much appreciated...
Bob
December 5, 2010 11:45 PM
The vigil that could have been!
Yesterday, my mother-in-law was re-admitted to the hospital after being home less that 24 hours. She was found to have lost half of her blood because of internal bleeding. After the usual hospital delays, when we finally left the hospital at 4:00 the game plan was to transfuse her with 2 units of blood and look for her to stabilize.
We had to leave the hospital in order to attend a surprise birthday party for one of my daughters. If we were not there, she sould have been concerned as to why and we did not wish to have her not enjoy the party.
At 5:15 this morning the telephone rang with a call from my sister-in-law who had just spoken with the doctor at the hospital who suggested that we get to the hospital by 7:00 and who wished to re-establish what the rules were for resussitation. It didn't look good!
We quickly made the 1 hour plus drive back to the hospital in Concord, Mssachusetts to see that my mother-in-law seemed to be doing better although her color was extremely white. By then she had received 2 units of blood and had failed to stabilize. Two more units of blood achieved the same result. Tests revealed that the problem was gastro-intestinal in nature. But as fast as the blood went in - it went out again.
The game plan changed and they transfused 3 units of fresh-frozen plasma which seemed to bring the desired results that the doctors were looking for. When we left at 7:00 tonight, they still intended to transfuse one more unitt of plasma.
However, because of her age(93) and the multiple medications that she takes, the doctors find that their options are quite limited. In looking to stop the bleeding, they are leaving her susceptible to having a stroke or some other side effect that could be quite debilitating. Fortunately, the problem has been isolated. Unfortunately, there, as yet, does not appear to be a clean solution to the problem.
So it has been a long two days with the prospect of more to come.
As they say, where there's life there's hope. Keep her in your prayers...
Bob
Yesterday, my mother-in-law was re-admitted to the hospital after being home less that 24 hours. She was found to have lost half of her blood because of internal bleeding. After the usual hospital delays, when we finally left the hospital at 4:00 the game plan was to transfuse her with 2 units of blood and look for her to stabilize.
We had to leave the hospital in order to attend a surprise birthday party for one of my daughters. If we were not there, she sould have been concerned as to why and we did not wish to have her not enjoy the party.
At 5:15 this morning the telephone rang with a call from my sister-in-law who had just spoken with the doctor at the hospital who suggested that we get to the hospital by 7:00 and who wished to re-establish what the rules were for resussitation. It didn't look good!
We quickly made the 1 hour plus drive back to the hospital in Concord, Mssachusetts to see that my mother-in-law seemed to be doing better although her color was extremely white. By then she had received 2 units of blood and had failed to stabilize. Two more units of blood achieved the same result. Tests revealed that the problem was gastro-intestinal in nature. But as fast as the blood went in - it went out again.
The game plan changed and they transfused 3 units of fresh-frozen plasma which seemed to bring the desired results that the doctors were looking for. When we left at 7:00 tonight, they still intended to transfuse one more unitt of plasma.
However, because of her age(93) and the multiple medications that she takes, the doctors find that their options are quite limited. In looking to stop the bleeding, they are leaving her susceptible to having a stroke or some other side effect that could be quite debilitating. Fortunately, the problem has been isolated. Unfortunately, there, as yet, does not appear to be a clean solution to the problem.
So it has been a long two days with the prospect of more to come.
As they say, where there's life there's hope. Keep her in your prayers...
Bob
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