Skip to main content

recovery day

Today Carmen spent most of the day laying in bed. She was still tired from yesterday and the procedure. Her fluid retention is slowly dissipating, but of course it takes time. She had put on almost 10 pounds of weight during this, so you can only imagine. Her liver and kidney enzymes are stable, which is good news as always. Her potassium levels were a bit high in the morning and a little less high in the afternoon, but still high enough to cause some concern preventing her from being released. Because she wanted to rest, we didn't stop by to see her today.

Hopefully tomorrow we will know what is the deal with her potassium and maybe get released from the hospital. Fingers crossed!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

to 2011 and my butterfly of the universe

2011 was a roller coaster of year with amazing highs and depressing lows. It all began with my four month adventure around the world with one of my best friends followed by a month long vacation with my boyfriend. This adventure had been almost a year in the making, and after quitting my job in January I was off to experience the world. During my travels however,  unbeknownst  to me for the most part, my mom was fighting her battle against cancer for fourth time since she had originally been diagnosed six years ago. Looking back at those months now after my mother's passing, I of course wish I had been able to be there with her, helping her with her fight. It's hard not to think that maybe if I had been there with her, things would have gone differently. I know that if I had decided to stay and not go on my travels, Carmen would have been upset and disappointed in me for passing up such an amazing once in a lifetime experience, especially since...

no bad news is good news

The doctors at Suburban decided to transfer Carmen to Johns Hopkins, and oh what a transfer it was--her ambulance got a flat tire, and her backup ambulance got lost so 2 hours after leaving Suburban she finally arrived at 5am at Hopkins. At Suburban they suspected an infection, but after a CT scan saw that the tumors were slightly compressing the inferior vena cava, which became the prime suspect of the fluid retention. If this was the case they would put in a stent to help keep the vein open. But, luckily the medical oncologists at Hopkins decided to do a scan of the legs to see if anything else was going on.  The scan showed that she has two blood clots one in each of her legs. So, the doctors have decided to do a de-blood-clotting procedure, where they stick a catheter in each of the affected veins and introduce a medicine that will dissolve the clots. Unfortunately, she will have to be in the ICU after this procedure to monitor the effects of the blood thinner closely. Hopefu...

The Best Birthday Present

My mother gave me the best birthday present ever—her release from the hospital! We took one last walk to the administration building to visit the massive Jesus statue and say a few words together before heading home. Carmen looked wonderful today after a good night’s rest (she was able to sleep through most of the night yay!) and another solid breakfast. The cortisone has been really effective in reducing her discomfort and nausea, so she is able to actually move around during the day. Unfortunately the cortisone is also responsible for some water retention, which is a little worrisome for Carmen because of the additional weight and the liver/kidney function implications. On the bright side, Carmen does look better with the extra weight. We all went out to O’Donnell’s in the Kentlands for a delicious birthday “lunch” (which really was at American dinner time). Having my entire family and Tom together to celebrate my 25 th birthday, was the best thing I could have ever asked for...