Mom update...what to expect the next few days

It was Chuck, Miles, and myself again at the hospital today. Chuck met with Dr. Anyanwu before Miles and I arrived but he shared the important information with me. Here is what to expect the next few days.

Mom's fever went back down as well as her white blood cell count (which is why they expected an infection of some sort). Dr. Anyanwu decided not to move the central line to the opposite side of her neck after all. That was reassuring news to hear.

Unfortunately, the EEG showed that she is having seizures. They are continuing with the plan to switch seizure medicine since the other has caused a rash on her body. She is receiving it now, and it is a locked box above her head...guess it must be some "good" stuff.

She is still having trouble being coherent enough to remove the tube. Pulmonary still remains confident in her ability to breathe. So, Dr. Anyanwu is meeting with the respiratory team to decide on a course of action. Most likely, meaning pretty definitely, Mom will be getting a trach put in as well as a feeding tube to her abdomen. Now, I know this sounds scary, and we were hoping to avoid these things from happening but this does not mean horrible things for Mom. Dr. Anyanwu agreed that it seems nerve racking but spoke of positives for both of these medical necessities. First, we need to remove as much as we can from her head. She is trying to get better, and by taking away all these extra tubes and lines, she will fight possible infection in those areas (because they have been there so long), and she will look a whole lot better. She will be more comfortable with the trach in, and it should not effect her ability to communicate when she starts talking again.

He believes that she is trying to squeeze his hand when he asks for it. That's wonderful news because, it would mean she is understanding the instructions and the valuable "real estate" in her brain has been spared. An MRI was ordered today, and we will hear the results tomorrow. It should confirm where any injured areas are from strokes.

So, tomorrow is a big day. Dr. Anyanwu wants to meet with us to talk about what the immediate future looks like. I like that we have a vision of the next days and week. It is so much better than hour to hour, day by day.