The long and winding road. Like all roads, Laurie's road to recovery is leading somewhere. After what feels like a four-day weekend at the hospital, I can report that Laurie is going uphill, albeit in first gear and but finding her way into second. An important element in her gradual improvement since Friday has been the presence of her sister, Lisa. Lisa arrived on Friday about noon and has sat with Laurie and I up until late this evening (Dec. 11). Laurie gave us a smile when Lisa arrived. So many brain activities had to happen for her to do this. It is nice for both Laurie and I to have Lisa with us and we hope that she may be able to return to Ottawa soon.
Laurie has remained in the same single bed room in the NOA ward. I am very pleased with the level of care that Laurie received from both the day and night nurses on Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 11). If I ever find myself needing hospitalization and nursing then please send her weekend nurses my way. They were compassionate, understanding, professional and practical. They understood Laurie's needs and Lisa's and mine as well. The weekend doctor was also very helpful in many ways. Everyone involved in Laurie's care, including the orderlies, were excellent over the weekend. I sincerely hope that tomorrow will be a continuation of this.
On Saturday Laurie had another MRI scan. This involved transferring her to a gurney from her nice hospital bed and being taken down one floor in a small elevator. She is not comfortable in getting the MRI due to the length of time that it takes and the noise it creates. I sit just outside of the room and could use some ear protection myself. She does receive a headset that minimizes the bass noise. The scanning procedure takes about 45 minutes from the start of the bed transfer to the return to the NOA. After the scan was done, Laurie was wheeled down a hallway with varying light intensities and noises. She showed signs of becoming sick at one point and a friend of ours who happened to be there resourcefully found a little baby washing pan (think Christmas turkey) and Laurie used this. My heart breaks whenever something like this happens to her.
Laurie's swelling and facial colouration were greatly reduced, if you contrasted between Friday morning and Sunday night. This improvement has also allowed her to reopen her left eye and at times it is more open than her right. Her bandage was removed that covered her suture involving 35 aluminium staples. She is still tethered to numerous pieces of equipment including one or two IV drips, a heart monitor, a blood oxygen monitor, blood pressure equipment and a nasal feeding tube. The PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) was removed on Saturday but she still has, intermittently, a urinary catheter. With all of these wires and hoses coming from her one would think that she was a character in a movie involving cyborgs. The multiple daily visits by the nurse included an assessment of her strength. Her arms, hands, legs and feet are slowly getting stronger. This is due in large part, I think, to the fact that she is receiving a highly nutritional beverage on an ongoing basis. As she was not able to physically chew and swallow, this method of feeding was started and with some early success. Her memory is slowly getting better. She does not speak very much but when she does it is done purposely. For instance, a "good morning" and a "good bye" were said today but with very little spoken in-between. Although her speech is very limited, it is cognitive speech and fully understandable.
She remains in her bed throughout the day. The weekend staff ensured that she was as comfortable as possible and were particularly interested in addressing any issues related to headaches. Laurie does give an indication when she is experiencing pain and this was responded to using codeine or Tylenol. I am pleased to say that these administrations are not that frequent and they appear to be effective.
Laurie will likely have a CT scan early in the coming week. I have not talked to the doctor about her Saturday MRI but will likely hear something on Dec. 12th or 13th. She continues to take medication for the reduction of the swelling in her head and for reducing the chance of having a seizure. These are drugs that she been taking at home but now they are given in higher dosages. She continues to wear the "squeezers" and is on a blood thinner too. Both of these measures are in place to reduce the chances of a blood clot occurring. So, as you have read, there are many things taking place at this point. Perhaps the most intrusive is the twice daily taking of blood samples. This is something that I have a great deal of difficulty with. Tonight, Laurie had three samples taken from each arm using needles. The nurse was excellent at finding the veins but it does create a lot of stress for Laurie. I understand that these samples will likely be obtained once per day beginning shortly. If Laurie has any sign of a fever then the blood is also subjected to culture testing.
The one big difference between Laurie's first post-operative time and this one is that she is much weaker. I attribute this to her having had thirty radiation sessions along with chemotherapy followed by a recent five day period of high chemotherapy treatment. These must have reduced her strength in multiple ways and her recovery is affected by this. Thus, as the surgeon said, Laurie needs more time to heal. The surgeon did see Laurie on both Dec. 10th and 11th. He asked her a few questions and seemed to be satisfied with Laurie's responses, whether verbally or physically. I am hoping that the therapists take it slowly with Laurie this coming week. I realize the need for her to begin to move about and talk but these must be approached carefully and respectfully.
I have received many emails recently asking how Laurie is doing. I hope that those who have written and those who are reading along about Laurie's Road to Recovery find the some comfort in this update. I know that I am feeling better as Laurie undoubtedly is about her progress. Minute by minute, hour by hour and day by day, I see just how much courage Laurie has in her.
A Brief Note From Lisa: Mark had asked me to proofread this and said I could add something if I notice that it was missed. (Hopefully that means he won't delete it after he sees it ! ) Spending the past 3 days at the hospital with Laurie has made me realize how amazingly patient and selfless Mark has been throughout this entire ordeal. Day after day of sitting, waiting for a few minutes of awake time to exchange a smile, worrying, asking questions, making sure the level of care never falters and feeling Laurie's pain everytime blood is taken or a bandage is removed (the weekend nurse called it "a free wax job") has taken a toll on him as well.
At one point Mark was leaning on the rail of the bed, holding Laurie's hand and he nodded off. At that point Laurie opened her eyes and looked at me. I pointed at Mark. She looked over at him, looked back at me and smiled, then continued to watch him until he woke up and realized he had 'been caught napping". That she was able to see the humour of the situation was a good indicator to me that she is on the right 'winding road', albeit slow with some construction along the way. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
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