Category Archives: friends

by | February 26, 2012 · 12:14 am

“There will be Blood”

This morning started with a 75-minute nosebleed. Lucy was to start using Afrin nasal spray but her bleeding started moments after the first spray. She then switched over to a saline gel. Diane visited Lucy this afternoon. It really helped Lucy’s mood. Diane can get Lucy laughing which is really needed now. Thank you, Diane! She also suggested the title for tonight’s post (it was originally “Let It Bleed”). Between the nosebleed and the blood draws, Lucy could have supplied the blood for this season of “Dexter”.Lucy is still running a temperature of around 101°F. They are running an IV antibiotic and she is getting Tylenol for her temp. They also drew blood to see if her blood thinner dose needs adjusting. Blood thinners are very touchy. Then they drew blood again looking at her Heparin Factor A, and then drew a third time for blood cultures (again). She also received two large heparin bolus doses.

It sounds like Suzy is going to visit Lucy tomorrow. Unfortunately, when Suzy called tonight, Lucy had a lab tech wrapping a tourniquet preparing for a blood draw and two nurses reviewing the heparin bolus double-check and co-signing procedure. Things do get a little hectic in the hospital.

Keep Lucy in your thoughts and prayers tonight. Thank you for all your support!

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by | January 31, 2012 · 10:11 pm

Slowly becoming untethered

Lucy is continuing to make progress. Her calf diameter is another ½ cm. (0.2″) smaller. She no longer needs her pain pump and is taking oral pain medication. Her hemoglobin dropped very slightly from 8.1 to 7.8. However, her white count is now in the normal range. She still needs assistance getting out of bed and cannot walk more than a couple of steps on her right leg. Physical Therapy will be by tomorrow to see what else they can do. Lucy would like more mobility. She has always enjoyed walking for recreation and exercise.

Lucy’s friend Diane visited us this afternoon and brought a little stuffed “Hug Me” elephant. That really brightened Lucy’s day. Yesterday’s delay in Lucy’s procedure precluded her sister Julie from coming to visit. Julie and Lucy have been on the phone a few times. Those calls also brighten her day. We know her sister Suzy is under the weather and we hope she feels better soon.

We don’t have a firm idea of when Lucy can go home. The two main milestones are getting her off IV heparin and they would like to see her calf less swollen and red. Her Coumadin restarted yesterday. Since the INR test will not be accurate, they are using a Chromogenic Factor X test instead.

Molly and Dr. Nashawaty from Minnesota Oncology checked in on Lucy this afternoon.

Lucy has a “Braden risk” bracelet. That means she is at risk for pressure ulcers (“bed sores” is the archaic term). She tries to change her position in bed regularly and so far has no signs of pressure ulcers. The risk will vanish when she is more mobile. It is not a cause for alarm.

Cellulitis is a concern. She is still getting Levaquin once per day as a preventative. And yes, the medical term for “preventative” is “prophylactic”. Lucy is not showing any symptoms of cellulitis.

That’s all for tonight. We’re very touched by the number of people reading the blog. It means the world to us!

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