DAY 45: Improvement
Mom improved a small amount today. This morning on rounds, Dr. Sipple put it this way: "The optimist would say she's a tiny bit better; the realist would say we have yet to see a trend." We'll go with the optimist's take.
She's on new antibiotics to combat bronchitis, but she is not on steroids. She appears to be able to improve without steroids, which run the risk of letting an infection spread throughout her body due to her white blood cells being less able to do their job in blood that's over-saturated with sugar. As you've undoubtedly realized by now, every day brings another re-assessment based on current data. For now, all we know is that she looks a tad better.
The outward signs are that her respirator oxygen is down to 50% from 100%, and her PEEP is down to 28 from 30. Anecdotal signs are that she's moving more, although that may not be good if she uses too much of the oxygen that her organs need. It's never just a simple observation, is it? There's always a good angle and bad angle with each new piece of data.
Some non-medical good news is that Mom's sisters Terri, Barbara, and Laurie arrived safely yesterday. We're sad that her sister Janine could not join them, but hope to see her in the future. Here are the three of them at Mom's bedside:
From the left, that's Aunt Terri, Aunt Laurie, and Aunt Barbara. They've spent much of the last two days in Mom's room. Here's Aunt Barbara putting lip balm on Mom's ever-chapped lips:
Today, I arranged for a harpist to come play for Mom. She soothed us with rapturous renditions of Christmas songs, "Scarborough Fair," "I Wonder As I Wander," and others. Here she is playing, with Aunt Laurie and Mom in the background:
Later, Dain, Colleen, and Rosita joined us at the hospital. We spent time with Mom, then went downtown to see the Christmas lights at the Denver City and County Building. There, we met a fine photographer named Girish Ram who agreed to take photos of us, and was kind enough to email this one to me:
We're happy to have our aunts here, and know that Mom must be comforted by their voices, their touch, and the mere presence of people who've loved her since Eisenhower was president.
She's on new antibiotics to combat bronchitis, but she is not on steroids. She appears to be able to improve without steroids, which run the risk of letting an infection spread throughout her body due to her white blood cells being less able to do their job in blood that's over-saturated with sugar. As you've undoubtedly realized by now, every day brings another re-assessment based on current data. For now, all we know is that she looks a tad better.
The outward signs are that her respirator oxygen is down to 50% from 100%, and her PEEP is down to 28 from 30. Anecdotal signs are that she's moving more, although that may not be good if she uses too much of the oxygen that her organs need. It's never just a simple observation, is it? There's always a good angle and bad angle with each new piece of data.
Some non-medical good news is that Mom's sisters Terri, Barbara, and Laurie arrived safely yesterday. We're sad that her sister Janine could not join them, but hope to see her in the future. Here are the three of them at Mom's bedside:
From the left, that's Aunt Terri, Aunt Laurie, and Aunt Barbara. They've spent much of the last two days in Mom's room. Here's Aunt Barbara putting lip balm on Mom's ever-chapped lips:
Today, I arranged for a harpist to come play for Mom. She soothed us with rapturous renditions of Christmas songs, "Scarborough Fair," "I Wonder As I Wander," and others. Here she is playing, with Aunt Laurie and Mom in the background:
Later, Dain, Colleen, and Rosita joined us at the hospital. We spent time with Mom, then went downtown to see the Christmas lights at the Denver City and County Building. There, we met a fine photographer named Girish Ram who agreed to take photos of us, and was kind enough to email this one to me:
We're happy to have our aunts here, and know that Mom must be comforted by their voices, their touch, and the mere presence of people who've loved her since Eisenhower was president.
Posted by Jason Kelly | 11:45 PM
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