Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Ready to move out of ICU

Big news today is that the doctor put in the order to get Denise out of the ICU. She would have moved out today, but there was no private room available to put her into. Hopefully she can move out tomorrow. So we're taking down the cards & pictures again, and will put them up in another room. Denise is worried that so many cards might make the other patients feel bad (she does have the most obnoxiously decorated room in the ICU).
She started a liquid food diet today. Vanilla pudding, squash soup, jello, juice... yummy stuff. Until she threw up tonight. She told me that because of throwing up, that may delay her move out of the ICU.
The MRI results were mixed. From an infectious disease department standpoint, the swelling decreased. Very good. From an opthomology department standpoint, there's no change. "No change," according to the notes that a nurse could decipher, included pupils being two different sizes and rechecking the retinas in 1-2 weeks, sooner if there's pain or a decrease in vision. This morning Denise told me that she thought the opthomologist told her that she had damage - lines in one eye - from a fever earlier on. I don't know if that's actually what she heard, of if she was confused. The aforementioned MRI notes didn't clue us in, either.
She got a new PICC line today, and an x-ray to verify correct placement. The bladder catheter was removed, then reinserted because she wasn't urinating. Immediately upon reinserting the catheter, the urine flowed. The nurse said that this is common with patients that have had a bladder catheter in for so long. But with some bladder exercises, she's expected to do just fine.
Sample vitals: Heart rate 111, blood pressure 134/65 (using a leg cuff), temps in the 99 range (spiked at only 101.2 last night). White blood cell count is normal, hemoglobin is 10 (no transfusions for several days, but is getting procrit), hematocrit 31.
We tried Denise's high-top sneakers, and indeed she said that they are a half-size too small. She felt this especially when PT tried standing her up. I trotted off to the women's shoe section of a department store and bought her a new pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All Star high-tops, black (no red or white in stock). The cashier said the total was forty-something dollars. I told her that I was only getting one pair. She said that the total she just stated WAS for one pair. What happened?!? When I was in high school, I used to buy these because they were about the cheapest things going... no pump, no gel, no hypercolor, no padding, no arch support... nothing! I should have guessed from all the hideous shoe colors the salesman showed me that Converse must be high fashion now. A friend told me that I could probably go to the men's shoe department and buy the same shoes for way less money. I'll have to try that.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I know it has been awhile, but if you haven't taken a look at the Pushpin map in some time, you should. I have a pretty good connection, and it still takes about 2-3 minutes for all the pushpins to show up on my map. Thank God for all the wonderful healing, and we pray daily for you and your family here in Oregon. Looking forward to the day when the blog says she is on her way home. Take care of each other, and the little ones.

October 27, 2005 7:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wanted to clarify my earlier comment. I wasn't complaining about the map, I was making a point of the number of pushpins that it has on it. There are a lot of people all over the place that are "Pulling for Denise", and I thought it might be a great way to perk up your day if you took a glance at it. Again, praying for you all every day. Take care.

October 27, 2005 6:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Denise,
Greetings from CT! I'm the grandmother of two children who are students at PCS (Jake and Kristen McCann). You and your family have been in my prayers daily since I first heard of your hospitalization a couple of months ago. Each day, I eagerly look for your husband's blog and his update on your progress. I thank God for the tremendous improvement that you have made in the last couple of weeks. It sounds as though you have a beautiful family-husband, children, and parents. I'm looking forward to the day when I hear about your being well enough for discharge from the hospital. Keep up the good work!

October 27, 2005 7:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What size Converse are you looking for? We had a PTF meeting at PCS this evening, and praises were given to God for the wonderful, recent changes Denise is making. You are all still in the forefront of many, many PCS families, and the prayers keep on flowing. Carol Berglund

October 27, 2005 10:24 PM  

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