Hopefully this week

This is Brian with another update on Wendi. She is still recovering in the hospital. She was originally on track to be discharged from the hospital on Thursday, October 1, but I suspect that will probably end up being delayed. She has an elevated temperature (100.6 deg), which could be indicative of a developing infection where the IV line is inserted. To deal with the infection, her IV line was taken out last night and replaced with a fresh one. If she turns out to have an infection, it's not life-threatening, but her doctor is concerned about the infection spreading to her kidneys and complicating her recovery. She is receiving antibiotics through her IV line until her condition improves. Her doctor won't even think about allowing her to go home until her temperature drops and stabilizes in a more normal range.

More delays

This is Brian with another update on Wendi. Her release from the hospital appears to have been delayed again. I'm not completely sure why; I'm not aware of any complications or problems with her recovery. I'm only speculating here, but my best guess is that her doctor is becoming reluctant to send her home with all those tubes hanging from her. It's quite a chore for her to crawl into and out of bed with them, and she can only sleep on her back (which becomes very uncomfortable after a while). I know my preference is for her to have all the tubes out prior to coming home. Time will tell.

Wendi's recovery is going nicely. She is eating solid food every day (but limited to "soft" items for now), and today was supposedly the last day she would receive any nutrition through her IV. She's complaining of being very bored at the hospital, and she really wants to come home. Aside from the obvious problem of the tubes that are not ready to be removed, she is also very weak from being bedridden for nearly two weeks. It's all she can do to walk around the hospital floor a few times each day; for her, it's about the equivalent of the rest of us jogging several miles. She has quite a bit of physical therapy in her future.

Right now it looks like she will be discharged from the hospital towards the end of this week. As always, I'll post an update when I know more.

Getting better one day at a time

This is Brian with another update on Wendi. She is still in the hospital, although she is slowly improving each day. She did not get the kidney stent removed after all; there were scheduling problems so her doctor decided against the procedure. There is no harm in leaving the stent in place for the time being. She is more alert, and she doesn't have a CNA in the room watching her nearly as much as she once did. She started eating solid food on Friday, but she ate such a small amount that she still has to receive most of her nutrition through an IV bag. She probably needs a few days to work up to normal amounts of food.

Wendi has spoken with the discharge planner a couple of times. Right now it looks like she will be discharged next Monday or Tuesday. She will still have some tubes in her for another week or two, but no IV bags (we hope).

Patience is a virtue

This is Brian with another update on Wendi. She's still in the hospital, and she still has a CNA watching over her most of the time. She is improving slowly from both a physical and mental standpoint. Her doctor is taking things slow; she's still on an all-liquid diet, and her main source of nutrition is a bag of sugar water pumped through an IV. She's scheduled to have one of her kidney stents removed on Thursday, but the tubes have to stay in there for a while... possibly another week or two. Her doctor told me that she will still have tubes in her when she is discharged from the hospital; that will make it difficult for her to sleep. Once she comes home, she will be very weak, so she will need to build up her strength over time. Right now it's all she can do to go on short walks around the hospital floor with the aid of a walker.

I have to admit, I would feel much better about the situation if she had all the tubes out of her before being discharged from the hospital, but I suppose it can't be helped. Better safe than sorry... We're not exactly sure when she will be discharged; best guess, it will be early next week. At the very least, she will need to be eating solid food, which she has not done since the surgery.

Out of the ICU

This is Brian with another update on Wendi. I'm happy to report that I was wrong about how much time she would need to spend in the ICU. She was transferred to the surgical recovery section this afternoon. She is still not completely coherent, but she is improving slowly. From a physical standpoint, she is doing quite well. She keeps trying to stand up and walk around without telling the nurses, so she has a CNA watching her most of the time. If she accidentally pulls any tubes, she could subject herself to additional surgery and extend her hospital stay. She has her cell phone in her room now, so feel free to call her. She also has a landline phone in her hospital room; send me or Wendi a private message on Facebook if you want the number. (I'll get the message either way, at least until she comes home.)

On Tuesday, she is scheduled to begin physical and occupational therapy. That makes sense, considering that she has been bedridden for almost a week. She is most likely not coming home until all the tubes are out; best guess, that will be towards the end of the week.

Driving the nurses batty

This is Brian with another update on Wendi. At the rate she's going, I think the nurses are personally going to insist that she be moved out of the ICU. She's driving them batty. She's moving around quite a bit more, rolling around in the hospital bed and trying to sit and stand up. There's nothing wrong with any of that; the nurses have been helping her do all that, but she's trying to move around when they're not there — bad idea when she has about half a dozen tubes and IV lines in her.

Wendi has always been very self-reliant, and I was certainly seeing that today. Since she is still on a bunch of medications, she is not entirely coherent, but she is improving slowly. From a physical standpoint, she seems to be making excellent progress. She wants to leave the hospital entirely, but she can't even leave the ICU until her doctor is happy with the condition of her kidneys. My suspicion is that she will end up spending most or all of her remaining hospital recovery time in the ICU. Time will tell.

Slow and steady progress

This is Brian with another update on Wendi. She is doing better overall; she occasionally has trouble communicating, but that is more the exception than the rule. She is awake more often, and she has asked for a television set in her room. She has also asked for her cell phone, but the ICU will not allow that. I mentioned the other day that she had a procedure called percutaneous nephrostomy on one of her kidneys. Today she had the same procedure done to the other kidney, since her doctor did not notice any improvement after the first procedure. Determining which kidney was damaged, and where, is apparently a tricky business.

Barring any more unexpected complications, it looks like Wendi will be moved out of the ICU within a day or two. Most of her vital signs are in normal territory, but she is still anemic because of all the blood she lost. (She received a transfusion of two units of blood during the surgery, which is just under two pints.) To be transferred out of the ICU, she will need the consent of the attending physician in the ICU, who I'm sure will check with Dr. Bahador to get his input. After that, she will remain in the hospital, probably in the surgical recovery section, for at least a few more days.