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.