Thank you everyone for your well wishes, gifts, thoughts and prayers. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Your thoughtfulness, prayers and support really helps make this difficult journey a little easier and kicks the Finnish sisu in high gear.
Lucy
Filed under administrative, cancer battle
Her nosebleed started at 1:30 and finally let up around 3:00. The nurse practitioner at Minnesota Oncology helped Lucy with her nosebleed. Anticoagulants are so fun. Dr. Thurmes also contacted her while he was at Fairview Southdale on rounds.
She was admitted to Fairview Southdale as a precaution. Lucy also had some extra blood work drawn along with blood cultures. They need to wait 18 hours after her Lovenox injection before they can start IV heparin. That means she will get awakened at 4:30 am. She just had completed an IV antibiotic because they suspect cellulitis. An ultrasound of the left leg found that the clot in her groin was solidifying. We are hoping she will not need a TPA catheter tomorrow. In the past few hours, she started running a fever, which is at about 102°F right now. The Tylenol will help reduce the fever.
It is frustrating that this clotting problem flared up again. More than likely, she is here until Sunday. We were looking forward to a nice quiet weekend at home and having her leg continue to heal. Now it’s back to a wait and see mode. Keep Lucy in your thoughts and prayers this weekend. It helps us get through these setbacks.
At least I don’t have to play Nurse Ratched with the Lovenox while she’s in the hospital. See, I did manage to find something positive.
Filed under cancer battle, DVT, hospital
We know that nosebleeds are a side effect of blood thinners. Lucy had one that lasted for almost 45 minutes. She had another this morning that stopped in about 10 minutes.
We arrived at Fairview Southdale IV Therapy at 7:30 am for her transfusion. The type and match took a little longer than usual, so her transfusion started at 9:00 and finished at 12:45.
She is still extremely tired. Last night she had problems sleeping and she woke up several times. Now she’s home, warm, fed, and relaxing. Her leg isn’t quite as sore as yesterday and the swelling has abated somewhat.
Lucy’s next blood test is Monday afternoon. There may be no updates until then. In the meantime, give your loved ones hugs from us, and thank you for your support!
Filed under cancer battle, clinic, DVT, transfusion
We started today with about two inches of snow. That is normally boring news but this has not been a typical winter. The snow was like the mashed potatoes served in the school cafeteria. The snow blower had problems with it because the discharge chute kept plugging. I think the snow lovers might be disappointed with the sloppy stuff, too.
Lucy’s leg puffed back up a bit by almost 2 cm though her pain is about the same. She is really run down today. We had suspected her hemoglobin was dropping and it has. She is at 6.8. Her two-unit transfusion will occur tomorrow at 7:30 am. It will probably take four hours to complete.
She also has to change her injection schedule before the next labs. We were targeting her injection for around 6:00 pm. This would avoid conflicts with work schedules, dinner, and TV. Now she is to get her injection at 11:00 tomorrow and work towards 10:00 by Monday’s lab appointment. The lab appointment also moved to 4:30. Of course, she’s going to be at Fairview Southdale IV Therapy at 11:00 tomorrow.
One thing we are happy about is she is down to daily Lovenox injections rather than twice daily. We also enjoyed Julie’s stew tonight. OK, enjoyed is an understatement; devoured is more like it.
Here’s hoping we have a dull and boring day tomorrow.
Filed under cancer battle, DVT, family, weather
Lucy couldn’t visit her dad today. Her thigh was too painful. This happened the last time she had a clot in her left leg. The good news is her calf diameter was almost a full centimeter smaller and the erythema is almost gone. Her right calf diameter also was 0.8 cm smaller.
It is astonishing at how painful a blood clot is. Her clots are maybe the diameter of a single piece of couscous. At times, she rates the pain as worse than her post-surgical pain. I’m hoping her leg pain is better tomorrow.
I visited her dad today. On my way there, I saw three bald eagles soaring over Highway 100 at Minnehaha Creek. He’s in pretty good spirits and enjoyed having company. Suzy and Steve also came by. Lucy’s family has treated me so well through the years and I enjoy being with them. I’m very lucky because I know too many people who have issues with their in-laws.
Her first Lovenox injection went well today and her second one was OK. I am either getting the hang of it or she’s learning to lie really well (just kidding!). I picked up one of her favorites from Qdoba on my way home tonight. That helped brighten up her day.
Lucy’s next blood testing will be on Tuesday. She was originally scheduled for one test on Monday and another test on Tuesday, but the two blood tests are combined now. We can’t wait for Tuesday because that is when her Lovenox cuts back to one injection per day. It appears she will be receiving injections for at least 30 more days. I do hope that she eventually goes back on Coumadin.
Filed under cancer battle, DVT, family