Up and Moving

Beth continues to amaze us. She got up today with the help of PT and walked across the hall with a walker. She's so determined to do everything she can to improve. She's had 3 Ensures today, a bottle of water, pasta, broccolli and Wendy's chili - how about that?? This morning she felt good enough to put on make-up and REAL pajamas. She looks beautiful.



Dr. McCoy told her yesterday that she'll most likely be here for another week, he doesn't want to release her too early. We're encouraged with her progress.



She says to tell you all thanks so much for all the cards and prayers!

Out of ICU!!

I went to see Beth at lunch today and it was so good to see that she was out of ICU. Cindy Finney was visiting with her for the day and encouraging Beth to eat and drink. In fact, Beth ate one-half of a BLT sandwich! She had been up in a chair for an hour and a half and had her bandage changed, so she was ready for a long nap. She promised she would eat more when she woke up - I'm heading back out there now to make sure she did that!!

She looked good and was told by the nurse that if she continued to eat, they would probably take away the nutrient bag - that seemed to make her very happy.

Keep the prayers and good wishes coming!

Exciting News!!

We are having another great morning with Mom.  Dr. McCoy is very encouraged and all her numbers and blood levels are normal.  He even suggested that Mom can be transferred back to the regular hospital floor and out of ICU.  We are currently waiting on an open bed, so it may not be today, but it will happen soon.  Everyone is excited about this news to say the least! :) 

Mom just finished her morning routine with the Physical Therapists.  We were so proud of her when she sat up in bed, stood up, and then shifted into the chair.  She showed even more improvements from yesterday morning.  It is amazing to see Mom work her arms and her legs almost completely on her own.  

We will continue to encourage Mom to EAT EAT EAT today.  She had some cereal for breakfast and a couple bits of a banana.  We will still try the Ensure shakes with Mom, but I think we might have to think about other high protein foods, or at least another favor. 

We are very encouraged and excited with all the great news today - lets keep it coming! :) 

 

A GREAT weekend

When we walked in on Saturday and saw mom awake in bed and smiling, we were hoping for a good weekend.  Well.... she had a great weekend!  

The amount of pain she is having has decreased significantly from last week, and she is receiving less pain medicine now than in almost a week.  Her vital signs all look good, and the abscesses that she developed last week are looking much better.  All of the infections on her body and in her lungs are under control right now.  

Mom has been through a lot of physical therapy this weekend, and was moved into a chair both Saturday and Sunday.  This is exhausting for her, but each day since Saturday has gotten easier.  She has difficulty sitting up without help, but we're moving in the right direction.  She stood up today with considerable help from PT and moved into a chair.  This picture was taken of her this morning, and she wanted us to put it on her blog so everyone could "see" her.  

Her physicians showed more optimism this morning than they have in a while.  Her orders are to EAT EAT EAT EAT and move.  She doesn't really feel like eating, and this has been interesting. We have been shoving Ensure protein drinks and anything else we can down her throat.  There have been multiple battles between her and us to get food in her mouth.  We are the "Ensure Nazis", and she's told us on several occasions that we "are evil and must be destroyed".   She is out-numbered and our collective stubbornness is greater than hers (most of the time).   

We are very encouraged by her recent improvements, but mom is still very sick.  Anyone who has been through this with a loved one knows about the roller coaster ride.  To all of you out there who are thinking, praying, lighting candles, wishing, hoping for mom... keep doing what you are doing.  

Friday Morning Update

As we know, Beth was usually more upbeat as the weekends got closer. Today appears to be no different. She is more awake than usual but still in pain, which is being managed by the medications. David and Heather have adorned 'virtual' drill sergeant hats and have made her do a few arm and leg exercises. While these were painful, they are necessary. They will continue to attempt to push her today for more movement. She has also consumed an entire protein shake which consists of about 700 calories of much needed nurishment.
Keep your thoughts and prayers coming.

Resting Peacefully

Mom is resting peacefully this morning.  She is experiencing intermittent pain, but she is being kept comfortable by the medicine.  She is drifting in and out of sleep.  Moving is very painful, so the nurses give her bath and change her wound dressings all at once to minimize her pain.  Her temperature and vital signs are all good this morning.  

No Major Updates

There is nothing new to report.  Mom has been in a "holding pattern" for the last 2 days.  Nothing has gotten worse, but she is not improving either.  She is eating a little now, and we hope that continues.  Please keep her in your thoughts.  I know she draws strength from the amount of support she is getting.  

Friday Update

Mom has been up most of the afternoon, and managed to eat some tomato soup.  Her pain is pretty significant, so they have upped the strength of her pain medication.  She has gotten pretty sassy this afternoon due to the strength of the pain meds, and we've all had some good laughs together.  Despite all she is going through, she's still got her quick wit.

Pneumonia is still a worry.  She received 2 vials of gamma-globulin today, with another set for tonight.  Some positive momentum would really be nice right about now.  

Thursday Update

Mom is not feeling well this morning.  She had a good afternoon yesterday, and even managed to eat a half a bowl of soup.  Her pain has increased through the night and now they have upped her pain medicine.  Accordingly, she is really drowsy.  

She is running a slight fever, but other than that is about the same as yesterday.  Her physicians are becoming concerned that she isn't getting better.  She isn't getting worse, but she is still not able to move much at all, and it's very painful for her to be re-positioned in her bed (which they do to prevent bed sores).  Despite eating a little, she is receiving nutrients through her i.v. but still does not have any energy.  As is to be expected, her 4th round of chemo has been postponed indefinitely. 

Emotionally she is down this morning.  I can't imagine how frustrated and scared she must feel.  We are encouraging her constantly when she is awake.  Mostly we will just allow her to rest this morning and maybe this afternoon she will feel a little better.  

Wednesday

Mom had a good report this morning from Dr. McCoy.  He was pleased with her all her numbers.  Her kidney and liver levels are back to normal.  The infection in her arm seems to be better.  Mom does not have a temperature this morning which is great news.  

Dr. McCoy wants her to move around a little bit today and eat some breakfast.  The nurses are trying to get her to sit up so she can enjoy some breakfast.  She had a couple bites of cheerios and some slips of Ensure (her favorite).  This is painful for Mom, but I will say she looks great sitting up.  

The nurses also brought in her breathing tube.  Our goal is to get her to blow about a 1250.  She reached 500 this morning.  David and I have been recruited as  her "Team in Training" so we will be helping her every hour to help her reach her goal. 

More to come later. 

 

Tuesday

Mom had a good afternoon yesterday, and was talkative.  Her voice is coming back a little, and we knew when she whispered to us that we "get the hell out of here and go get something to eat" that she was feeling stronger than yesterday morning.  

This morning she is not feeling as well.  Her breaths are becoming more shallow, and we need her to cough and take deeper breaths to prevent pneumonia.  She appears to be fighting an infection in her right arm and right side of her chest.  Her white count spiked yesterday, and has fallen some today.  The fall may be due to the newer anti-biotic (vancomycin) started yesterday morning.  She is running a slight fever this morning but not as high as yesterday.  

Her blood pressure is better this morning.  Her kidney function levels continue to improve, and they have taken her off of the bicarbonate (since her acid/base balance is better).  Accordingly, they are going to start pushing some of the fluid off of her with Lasix.  She has developed significant edema (swelling) from all of the ivs given to wash her kidneys out.

She had a bath and a change of clothes this morning, which was painful for her, so she is sleeping now from the pain medicine.  

Monday Update

Mom is not feeling very well this morning.  She has a temperature, and her white count is up.  There is a worry that her body is fighting infection, so she has been put on another anti-biotic (vancomycin).  Infection is the biggest worry today.  

She is feeling significant pain in her right arm, and this may be where the infection risk is the most serious.  She has received pain medication periodically to keep her comfortable.  

Her kidney and liver function both look better today, but her levels are still too high.  They have been trending downward, and this is encouraging.  

Right now Mom is resting comfortably. 

Sunday Update

Mom looked better this morning.  Her color was good, she was more talkative, and she had her eyes open for a good part of the morning talking to us.  Her kidney and liver numbers were better this morning than yesterday.  We were encouraged this morning, as were her physicians.  

This afternoon she started feeling significant pain in her right arm and chest.  Right now we're not sure what is causing the pain.  It has gotten significant for her, so she has been put back on morphine.  She is resting peacefully.  

Her blood pressure is holding steady.  Her heart rate is still elevated.  She has a slight temperature, and right now we are worried about infection somewhere in her chest or arm.  

Transferred to ICU

Mom has been transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.  Her physicians are concerned about the function of her kidneys, and she has reached a point where they felt she needed 1-to-1 care from her nurses.  A nephrologist (kidney doctor) is coming in this afternoon to assess her kidney function.  This is a big worry right now.  

The blood clot on her leg has not changed and is still painful for her.  She continues to be on heparin to keep it at bay.  Her liver is functioning ok, about as well as yesterday; that needs to improve.  Her abdomen wound is not looking very good, and there is talk that the wound-vac may have to go back on.  She has been placed on iv nutrients to get some protein and nutrients into her body as her blood protein levels are very low.  Without adequate protein, her body is having a hard time healing itself.  

Her red blood count is too low again, and she'll get 3 units of red cells today.  

She went for a CT scan this morning as there is a worry about internal bleeding.  They can't understand why her red count is low.  The scan results were negative - she is not hemorrhaging internally that they can see.  They had to do the scan 'without contrast' because her kidneys are not functioning properly enough to clear the dye needed for contrast.  The scan did not indicate bleeding in her head either.  

Obviously we are all concerned, as is she.  Her energy is low, but she was clearly upset at this news.  This is the best place for her right now, and we're glad she'll get such close attention, but our fears have been elevated a little.  Her cell phone has been turned off and her visitors are now limited.  Mom is really in a battle right now.  

No More Wound-Vac

Mom is doing ok this morning and has more energy than she has over the last few days.  I drove down yesterday and am sitting in her room now.  The most exciting news is that the wound-vacuum was removed from her abdomen last night.  She's had a tube coming out of her abdomen since Thanksgiving, and it's finally gone.  She said she even slept a little on her stomach last night, and I'm sure that felt good.  They replaced the vacuum with a wet-to-dry dressing, similar to the one that is still on her collarbone.  

Concerning are the function of her liver and kidneys.  Her blood tests yesterday indicated that her liver and kidneys were not functioning well, so she's been put on a saline drip to wash as much of that out as possible.  Dr. McCoy's report this morning was encouraging - the levels have stabilized - but now they need to start going down.  Due to significant bruising from all of the sticks in her arms, establishing an iv is a challenge.  Yesterday they put a main line in her jugular vein to draw blood and administer meds. 

Her motor function is still depressed.  She has trouble getting a drink to her mouth or scratching her nose, for example.  No change with the clot, and the swelling in her right leg remains.  

Mom is also still lethargic, but I'm told that is improving when compared to a few days ago. She drifts in and out of sleep most of the time.  She can barely talk, but the thrush seems to be going away.  She has to gargle and swallow some medicine a few times a day for this.  

She really needs to get out of bed today.  We will try and get her in a wheelchair and take her around the hospital for a change of scenery.  It was even mentioned that she can go outside and get some fresh air if she wants (and if it warms up).  She can also eat anything that she wants, so we'll do what we can to get what would taste good to her.  She really needs to eat. 

Her spirits are ok.  She's happy that the wound-vac is off, but scared of the battle still ahead of her.  What she needs more than anything is some positive momentum - something good happening without being 'cancelled out' with another complication.  She has also mentioned her mother a lot.  Mammy (Libba) left us one year ago today, and she is on mom's mind.  This morning I asked, "What do you think Mammy would tell you if she was here".  She said, "She'd tell me to quit thinking about her and to only think about getting better."  

That sounds about right.  

Wednesday night update

I'm Beth's little brother and I'm in technology but have never posted a blog before.. I apologize upfront for any confusion (multiple posts, wrong spellings, etc.) that may be included.In terms of good and bad days, I would classify this day as both. As written before, we received the good news that the tumor size has been reduced. This will require 3 more chemo sessions. As the doctor had hoped, the chemo appears to be working.The bad news is that the blood clot has not reduced and the pain in her leg continues. Her medication will be adjusted in an attempt to reduce the size of clot. (It currently runs from her thigh all the way down to past her knee.)She is also very groggy and sleepy, which could be a symptom of the multiple pain medications. The doctor is going to adjust the medication again.More to follow tomorrow.

Staying Put

Mom's hematologist/oncologist (Dr. McCoy) came by for his morning rounds and was pleased with the CT scan results indicating tumor shrinkage. His major concern is the blood clot in mom's right leg. The blockage is significant - from her hip down to her knee - and there is substantial swelling and pain in her right leg. She'll continue to receive coumadin and hopefully we'll see results from the blood thinners over the next few days. Although it is very painful for her, she will need to get out of bed a few times today.

Her physicians have indicated that she'll need at least 3 more rounds of chemotherapy, and she is disappointed at that news. We'll continue to encourage her that "it's working, so keep going", but as all of us could imagine she's more-than-ready for the end of chemo to arrive. She still has the wound-vac on her abdomen, and we have not heard when they will be taking that off.

Mom is pretty groggy from the pain medication, and her voice is very weak. Communicating directly with her is a challenge on the phone right now.

Given the clot, mom will be in the hospital for quite some time. We can't say for sure, but likely another week. Accordingly, the family are going back into "shifts" mode. Howard (mom's youngest brother) is driving down today, and Jim (mom's younger brother) is coming in on Thursday. Heather will be in this weekend, and I'm driving down early next week. Mom has such a solid support network of friends, too. So many people have stopped by, and we especially thank Cindy for everything she has done for mom. Mom is so fortunate to have such loving friends.

We discourage calls to her room (so she can rest), and she can't really talk anyway due to the thrush. If you would like to send her a card, she is in room 205 of Montgomery Regional Hospital, 3700 South Main St, Blacksburg VA 24060.

Some Good News

Mom was really groggy today from the pain medicine, and she hasn't been sleeping too well.  They did a CT scan today on her abdomen to see if the tumor has decreased in size.  I just got off the phone with the nurse, and she said the tumor has decreased from 11cm in November down to 6cm today.  This is really good news.  

Mom will find out tomorrow - she has been asleep ever since the results came in, and the nurse did not want to wake her.  Mom was really worried today about the results of the scan.  I asked her how she felt, and her words were "terrified".  Her fear was that the CT scan would indicate that the tumor hadn't decreased, yet she's been through so much since November.  

I can't wait for her to find this out tomorrow.  Dr. McCoy will probably do his rounds between 7 and 8.  

She is still feeling significant pain and swelling from the blood clot in her right leg, and they will continue to monitor the clot.  The ultrasound of her leg was painful today, and we should know more tomorrow about the status of the clot.  

But for Mom, any piece of good news is a huge moral victory.  I can't wait for her to hear this news about the tumor size.  

Holding Strong... Except for the Voice!

Mom had a good weekend in the hospital and is beginning to bounce back after the latest round of chemo. She continues to receive heparin to decrease the blood clots in her legs, and has been able to move around a little.

She has developed a bit of infection in her mouth (thrush), and I'm guessing that it may have come about from her week immune system after Chemo #3. It hurts her a little to talk, and she's really hoarse - hopefully the infection will subside after a few days. She can barely talk, though, so calling her on the phone may be futile!

Other than that, things are fine. Still has the wound-vac in the abdomen, and her clavicle wound continues to heal (slowly). Physical therapy is set to come this afternoon, and they will get her out of bed and walking. No talk of letting her leave in the hospital in the near future, so she'll be in MRH for a few more days at least. She's in good hands with Dr. McCoy and the progressive care team at Montgomery, and we are thankful for all of their compassion.