DaneHaven
Posted : 11/17/2013 8:22:59 PM
November 15, 2013 Written Nov 15, 2013 9:57pm
9:30 p.m. Hello everyone!
Well many of you might have heard through the grapevine that Mom is in the hospital and this is true. We came in last night around 12:30 a.m.
She woke me up saying that she couldn't breathe, so we came right in to the ER in Kerrville.
Upon arrival, the ER team fully assessed her and diagnosed her with CHF or Congestive Heart Failure. Through several different blood tests and a CT of her chest they also discovered that she possibly had pneumonia, and that she was about 3 units short on blood. We are now in ICU and they are treating the pneumonia with antibiotics. We have learned that possibly the pneumonia-like symptoms could be caused by her new Chemo treatment, and while difficult to distinguish between a drug-induced type of pneumonia and the regular type of pneumonia, they will treat with a like treatment of antibiotics. So on to the next issue: her blood. Since she has had a transfusion in the past and probably from all the treatments she has had, her blood has developed antibodies that will attack foreign blood that is not matched perfectly. So while they had her blood type to give, that particular blood was not compatible because of the antibodies that have built up in her blood. The hospital staff began searching for blood around 4:00 this morning and we did not have a match till around 5:00 this afternoon. She began her first of 3 units at around 5:30 this afternoon.
As for the CHF, her Oncologist in Houston doesn't seem to think that it is a result of the drug, but he is not ruling that out completely. He is going to do some more research.
I have to report that our nursing staff and physicians here at Peterson have been over the top fantastic, and have really taken such good care of Mom. They have been in contact with her Oncologist in MD-Anderson and that is a really good thing. She is very stable now, her vitals are good, and slowly improving. She is off of the oxygen and maintaining a good oxygen level on her own which is great! She certainly looks better and I know she is feeling better.
So for now we are stopping the oral Chemo until she has fully recuperated at which time we will decide what our next step in fighting this cancer is.
I do want to apologize for not getting this update out sooner, but I needed to run it by Mom first, as this is her site and she's in charge! Lol, besides, she is the journalist after all!
Thank you all for all the prayers, they are so appreciated!
I will update daily until Mom is ready to take it back over.
Again thanks for the prayers, goodnight.
November 16,2013 Written 21 hours ago
11:45
Good Morning to all of you
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I have just a quick update, and then I'll update further tonight
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The doctors do not think that Mom has CHF. They think possibly that was just a premature diagnosis somewhere... so this news is good. They think they have a handle on the pneumonia, and her hemoglobin is back up in the 9's, after receiving her 3 units of blood last night. We have a new room now, ( we'll be headed there shortly) and out of ICU.