Jen’s back in the Medical ICU at Froedtert. She’s got very low blood pressure, severe swelling of the legs, and difficulty breathing from fluid in the lungs.
Jen went in for labs on Monday.
They wheeled her past my chair out in the waiting lobby and urgently
told me to follow. Once in the cancer
center, they explained that Jen was light headed and dizzy and had extremely low
blood pressure. They determined that the
pooling of fluid in her legs, feet, and lungs had reduced her blood fluid volume
dangerous levels. She was an ICU candidate
right then and there. BUT ICU policy won’t accept patients from anywhere but
the ER. Super. So she was wheeled into the ER for a 4 hour
stay.
In the ER we discussed the symptoms with the ER team. Their response? “At some point you have to
decide how hard you want to treat this.”
There’s a hopeful statement for you.
I bit my tongue rather than verbally tear the Dr apart for that. Finally,
after convincing them that we actually do want treatment, and that she was an “ICU
case”, Jen was transferred to the Medical ICU.
Once there the ICU doctors took over.
They determined that she should be treated as an infection case first
before they try to get Jen’s body to release all her fluid.
It’s now Tuesday Evening, and Jen’s out of the immediate danger zone. After getting antibiotics for 14 hours her
blood pressure is in the lower range of comfortable. She still requires quite a bit of
oxygen. Her legs are still VERY
swollen. Her lungs are still filling
with fluid. But she’s no longer a candidate
for the ICU. She’ll be transferred to
the regular oncology floor sometime this evening. When do we go home? I don’t know.
What I do know is that Jen wants me to be here with her, and I intend to
be.
Listening to the lung, heart, ER, or ICU doctors you’ll get various
statements including:
“At some point you have to decide how much treatment is enough”
“Her lungs and her heart are not as efficient anymore. She could get worse at any moment”
“The time left is precious, I don’t want to advise anyone NOT to bring
the family in and miss what might be last moments. You can’t get those back.”
“She might not go home”
Listening to the Oncology department you’ll hear:
“We just need to treat the secondary symptoms and let the Chemo do its
job”
“There’s a very good chance the chemo can affect this”
“These things are treatable, we can treat this”
“I’m hopeful that she can go home in a few days”
I keep telling myself that I won’t judge things hour by hour anymore. Sitting
here in the room and watching the heart and lung monitors doesn’t accomplish anything.
Doing that just throws you up and
down. We have to take it day by day
and week by week. The problem is that
when you taking the longer view, you can’t help but notice that the trend turns
downward.
I’m mentally tired, and fried emotionally. With everything that’s
happened and the continual "it’s serious/it’s not serious" events and
discussions, I can no longer determine what’s serious or not. Do I let everybody know or not. Do I say it’s serious or not? Is a particular fact
important/telling/indicative or not? I can no longer make these decisions
easily.
4 comments:
Praying for all of you.
Kristy
Chris -
Very frustrating on all fronts particularly with the comments and perspectives that you hear. Stay strong mentally and stand by your convictions. Both you and Jen want to treat this aggressively, and she intends to fight and win. She's young, vibrant, and not willing to back down. Make it known to those that question that. I heard nay sayer comments when I was in the ER with Daphne after her strokes. It's easier for them to presume the worst than presume the best. Know what you want and stand by what you believe. All of us are standing right behind you.
-Chris (& Daphne)
Chris
Only you and your kids can give the strength that Jen needs at this point of time. Keep the positive vibes flowing and continue to be the brave person you have been all along this journey.
Sreekanth Bala
We are thinking of you and praying for Jen, you and the girls. We love you all. ~ Sandie, Robb, Chris, Megan and Morganne Shorey
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