Karen has been in hospital since Monday. This is her third hospital stay (surgery, abscess and now this). She's in Overlook in Summit and they do a great job there.
The reason for this admission is the pain in her abdomen, near where her liver touches her lung on the right side. It's intense pain which she describes as a 10. They've been trying since Monday to diagnose the cause of the pain.
She had a CT scan on Monday and a 2nd yesterday. She's also had a chest X-Ray, an EKG and an ultra-sound on her legs. These were looking for a Pulmonary Embolism which is another name for a blood clot. It's been quite tense whilst this was going on as a PE could be very dangerous. At this time they've ruled that out.
She had blood taken on Monday and today is Wednesday. In 48 hours nothing has grown in the cultures and her white blood cells are normal. So infection has been ruled out.
Which leaves...air or fluid. The current theory is her liver is still regenerating and pushing itself back into place. There is a good bit of fluid in between her diaphragm and lungs. The liver pushing up puts this all under pressure. This makes breathing very painful.
If this is the cause she's been told she just has to ride it out.
I took the kids in for a surprise yesterday evening which gave her a lift. We thought she'd be home today but based on the pain situation that will not happen.
It's all very frustrating and overwhelming as we thought we'd be much further along by now. "Hold Fast" is a good motto, but it's not easy.
At this point she's comfortable with the hospital pain management and in good spirits but we're not sure when she'll be home.
Showing posts with label post-op. Show all posts
Showing posts with label post-op. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Home (again)
Karen's doing well. She was discharged today and is home from hospital. She has a drain in ( a needle attached to a tube attached to a bag attached to her leg ) that'll remain until next Wednesday. Her appetite is good, no nausea and no vomiting which is a huge win. She'll have yet another CT scan next week along with a repeat chest X-Ray and a consultation with Chamberlain.
After a stressful week we're all breathing a sigh of relief to have her back home where she belongs.
After a stressful week we're all breathing a sigh of relief to have her back home where she belongs.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Re-Admitted to St Barnabas
Karen has been re-admitted to St. Barnabas due to an abscess on her liver. She's currently doing well.
It's been three weeks since surgery. In that time she has not had much of an appetite and her nausea has steadily increased. She spent much of the past week throwing up. This morning she had a scheduled CT scan and consultation with Dr Chamberlain (who has provided tremendous support to us in post-op).
The CT scan showed an almost fully regenerated cancer-free liver (a true medical miracle). However it also showed an abscess close to Karen's lung. As a result she was immediately admitted to hospital. This sucked as we weren't able to prep the kids and K didn't get to say goodbye to them. They're fine though.
Because the abscess was so close to her lungs, they didn't give anesthetic during the procedure as this would've impacted her breathing. So, lucky Karen had to suffer through the insertion of the drain "commando style". Very very painful.
Karen also has fluid in her lungs which is a minor cause for concern also. The team is monitoring this also.
In any case she's good now and will hopefully return home on Friday.
It's been three weeks since surgery. In that time she has not had much of an appetite and her nausea has steadily increased. She spent much of the past week throwing up. This morning she had a scheduled CT scan and consultation with Dr Chamberlain (who has provided tremendous support to us in post-op).
The CT scan showed an almost fully regenerated cancer-free liver (a true medical miracle). However it also showed an abscess close to Karen's lung. As a result she was immediately admitted to hospital. This sucked as we weren't able to prep the kids and K didn't get to say goodbye to them. They're fine though.
Because the abscess was so close to her lungs, they didn't give anesthetic during the procedure as this would've impacted her breathing. So, lucky Karen had to suffer through the insertion of the drain "commando style". Very very painful.
Karen also has fluid in her lungs which is a minor cause for concern also. The team is monitoring this also.
In any case she's good now and will hopefully return home on Friday.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
New Year Post
Karen's doing well. A Happy New Year to all for 2008. We hope everyone had a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas holiday.
I have not posted in a while and it's time for an update; Karen's incision opened as I mentioned in a previous post, just about an inch or 1.5 inches, not bad for an 8" incision.
Chemo cannot start until the wound is closed. We are being visited every two days by a nurse and Karen is wearing a VAC or Vacuum Assisted Closure device. Essentially a pump about the size of 3 VHS tapes side-by-side. It is attached to the opening by a long line of tubing. The pump maintains a negative pressure on the wound by sucking every few mins. That stimulates blood flow and so on. It seems to be working despite the incredible inconvenience.
We got a short-notice appt tomorrow with Dr Moriarty to discuss who know what. There's not much he can say until the next round of scans and they have not been scheduled just yet. Another couple of weeks and we'll have a plan to move forward.
The waiting is not easy but we continue to receive strong support from all around us.
I have not posted in a while and it's time for an update; Karen's incision opened as I mentioned in a previous post, just about an inch or 1.5 inches, not bad for an 8" incision.
Chemo cannot start until the wound is closed. We are being visited every two days by a nurse and Karen is wearing a VAC or Vacuum Assisted Closure device. Essentially a pump about the size of 3 VHS tapes side-by-side. It is attached to the opening by a long line of tubing. The pump maintains a negative pressure on the wound by sucking every few mins. That stimulates blood flow and so on. It seems to be working despite the incredible inconvenience.
We got a short-notice appt tomorrow with Dr Moriarty to discuss who know what. There's not much he can say until the next round of scans and they have not been scheduled just yet. Another couple of weeks and we'll have a plan to move forward.
The waiting is not easy but we continue to receive strong support from all around us.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Continued Healing
Karen's doing better. Her body is slowly detoxing from Morphine which is translated into more sleep. Still not a full night but any improvement is still an improvement.
Her wound had opened about an inch which led to a visit to Overlook's Wound Center yesterday. They patched her up and we'll return on Friday to see how it's doing.
She is moving around, still quite weak. Picking up the kids is still out of the question. Coughing or laughing sends searing pain into her side. It's going to take some time to heal up completely. I think the addition of some sleep makes everything easier to deal with.
Thanks once again to all for the good-will, kind thoughts and sincere prayers that continue to flow our way this holiday season.
Her wound had opened about an inch which led to a visit to Overlook's Wound Center yesterday. They patched her up and we'll return on Friday to see how it's doing.
She is moving around, still quite weak. Picking up the kids is still out of the question. Coughing or laughing sends searing pain into her side. It's going to take some time to heal up completely. I think the addition of some sleep makes everything easier to deal with.
Thanks once again to all for the good-will, kind thoughts and sincere prayers that continue to flow our way this holiday season.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Post Operative Recovery
Karen's having a very tough time. On Saturday night she cut back on the morphine as the pain from the surgery had become more manageable. Soon after going to bed she began having uncontrollable muscle spasms in her legs and body, apparently a withdrawal symptom from the narcotics. This didn't quit and the thrashing kept her up until 3AM.
The following day her incision began opening up and "weeping". This resulted in a trip to the emergency room at Overlook. What a difference from LIJ!! The incision is otherwise healing well and this opening is nothing to worry about. Unfortunately each night since then has resulted in more and more jitters and less and less sleep. Last night she was up until 6AM.
The kids are sick too at the moment which isn't helping either of us get any sleep.
With some care Karen's wound should close up soon. Her mobility is slowly returning, still not very steady but able to get around. Picking up Ethan is way way out of the question.
Today we met with Dr Moriarty at Overlook. He was a sight for sore eyes and despite the circumstances, it was re-assuring to be back meeting with him.
He and Dr Ravikumar have spoken and essentially he agrees with everything that was done during the surgery. Unfortunately the detection of additional tumors in Karen's left lobe alters her prognosis for the worse. This is something we already knew but Moriarty confirmed. These have been ablated now so essentially Karen is in a better position today than she was before surgery.
We will have another consultation with Moriarty in two weeks. After that Karen'll have a repeat CT Scan to see where things are (hopefully clean scans) and we'll decide on a plan to move forward. Some potential options are more/new chemo or SIR Spheres which I'll discuss in another post.
We wish everyone a joyous and peaceful Christmas season.
P.S. Happy birthday to our amazing son Ethan who turned 2yrs old last Friday, Dec 7th.
The following day her incision began opening up and "weeping". This resulted in a trip to the emergency room at Overlook. What a difference from LIJ!! The incision is otherwise healing well and this opening is nothing to worry about. Unfortunately each night since then has resulted in more and more jitters and less and less sleep. Last night she was up until 6AM.
The kids are sick too at the moment which isn't helping either of us get any sleep.
With some care Karen's wound should close up soon. Her mobility is slowly returning, still not very steady but able to get around. Picking up Ethan is way way out of the question.
Today we met with Dr Moriarty at Overlook. He was a sight for sore eyes and despite the circumstances, it was re-assuring to be back meeting with him.
He and Dr Ravikumar have spoken and essentially he agrees with everything that was done during the surgery. Unfortunately the detection of additional tumors in Karen's left lobe alters her prognosis for the worse. This is something we already knew but Moriarty confirmed. These have been ablated now so essentially Karen is in a better position today than she was before surgery.
We will have another consultation with Moriarty in two weeks. After that Karen'll have a repeat CT Scan to see where things are (hopefully clean scans) and we'll decide on a plan to move forward. Some potential options are more/new chemo or SIR Spheres which I'll discuss in another post.
We wish everyone a joyous and peaceful Christmas season.
P.S. Happy birthday to our amazing son Ethan who turned 2yrs old last Friday, Dec 7th.
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