July 28, 2012 (really late)
Hi friends and family,
I wanted to let you know that my
mom is in the ICU right now. I am sorry we did not make a lot of calls
as all of this was happening, and it is now almost 1am and we are just
gathering our thoughts, so an email it is. Late this morning she was
having super severe pains. My dad was going to drive her to the ER, but a
few minutes in to the drive, she had him pull in to the fire station
and had an ambulance take her the rest of the way. They gave her a pain
medication called Dilauded for the pain and Zofran for the nausea. It
helped her a bit, but not much. They did an MRI, X-Ray and and
Ultrasound. After 5 hours, she was diagnosed with Pancreatitis.
From the Web:
The pancreas is a large gland located behind the stomach and next to the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine). The pancreas has two primary functions:
- To secrete powerful digestive enzymes into the small intestine to aid the digestion of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat.
- To release the hormones insulin and glucagon into the bloodstream. These hormones are involved in blood glucose metabolism, regulating how the body stores and uses food for energy.
Pancreatitis is
a disease in which the pancreas becomes inflamed. Pancreatic damage
occurs when the digestive enzymes are activated before they are secreted
into the duodenum and begin attacking the pancreas.
Treatment for acute pancreatitis
People with acute
pancreatitis are primarily treated with intravenous fluids and pain
medications in the hospital. In up to 20% of patients, the pancreatitis
can be severe and patients may need to be admitted to an intensive care
unit (ICU). In the ICU, the patient is closely monitored, since
pancreatitis can cause damage to the heart, lungs, or kidneys. Some
cases of severe pancreatitis can result in death of pancreatic tissue
(pancreatic necrosis). In these cases, surgery may be necessary to
remove the damaged tissue if a secondary infection develops.
An acute attack of
pancreatitis usually lasts only a few days, unless it is complicated by
necrosis or fluid collections in or around the gland. An acute attack of
pancreatitis caused by gallstones may require removal of the
gallbladder or endoscopic surgery of the bile duct. After the gallstones
are removed and the inflammation subsides, the pancreas usually returns
to normal.
(The internet suggested that
people with pancreatitis go to Alcoholics Anonymous, because most cases
are alcohol induced. Those that know my mom well, know that she HATES
alcohol.)
Unfortunately, in my mom's
case, there is fluid around the pancreas and she has been admitted to
the ICU at Rancho Springs Hospital in Murrieta. (The same place my dad
was almost 2 years ago) My dad left the ICU around 11ish tonight and
said that they have her on a machine that is forcing IV fluids in to her
system at about a bag an hour.
We will not have an update
again until morning when she meets with a GI specialist. I will update
again then. Please keep my momma in your thoughts and prayers tonight.
She originally had her cell phone with her, but the ICU did not allow
it(?) so it is back at home with my Dad.
July 29, 2012 (again, really late)
Hi all,
Its late, so this will be short and sweet. I
talked to my mom this evening. She is still on the intense pain
medication Dialauded. This is going to be a tough drug to come off of
due to its extremely addicting nature, but right now she still needs it
to mange pain. (It is basically morphine times 10)
She was moved out of the ICU late this afternoon and
in to progressive care/critical care unit. From here, she still has to
move one more grade down before she can be released from the hospital.
The earliest will be Tuesday.
Overnight last night, her pancreas was struggling to
regulate and she ended up having to have an insulin shot early this
morning. There is still fluid all around her pancreas. (This is still
not good)
They have not determined a cause yet. The doctor said that a few people are just unlucky.
The treatment for this is heavy fluids, so she is very swollen right now but in good spirits.
She had trouble sleeping last night because the ICU
is so noisy/busy. Hopefully, tonight she will be able to get more rest.
She is in a private room.
She is asking to not
have visitors as she is very tired from the drugs and feels like she
needs to entertain them. Maybe after a good nights rest, she will feel
up to some company.
She still has not had anything to eat or drink and wont be able to for a few more days. She is okay, just "parched".
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We will keep you updated as we get more information.
July 31, 2012
Hi all,
Due to the fact that I have skipped some emails to some people and I just happened to find a few more emails to add to the list, I will include the other emails I have sent to the bottom of this email to help get you up to speed. The last email I sent out was Sunday night and my mom had just been moved from the ICU to the PCU, so I will pick up from there. Again, I apologize for lagging on the updates.
Okay, so she was downgraded to the PCU on Sunday night which was a good thing. And we were talking about her coming home Monday or Tuesday. Well overnight on Sunday>Monday, she developed a fever. It was later determined that the fever was from a partially collapsed lung & pneumonia. She also had an insulin regulation problem in the early, early morning and was given a shot of insulin. This worried her really bad, but I was able to remind her that pregnant women need insulin sometimes and that she is not "diabetic". Its just that her pancreas is not working.
I spoke with her around 9am on Monday morning and she complained about her nurse not being attentive (its a 1-1 or 2-1 ratio in the PCU) and that she was not getting her pain meds or antibiotics on time. She also said that the nurses were SO loud outside her door all night long that she was unable to sleep. Unfortunately, the hospital is switching computer systems and the new computers are outside the patients' rooms. No one knows what they are doing, so it takes forever for them to enter information...this means that doctors and nurses are queuing up outside in the halls and having side conversations while they wait for the computers.
I spoke to her around 11am again and she was really, really upset; like on the verge of tears upset. She STILL had not seen her nurse since before the sun came up and was in serious need of her pain meds. The nurses were not answering the call buttons either. Ugh! I later found out that her nurse was supposed to be monitoring her insulin levels every hour...and well, that did not happen until around 7pm! when a new nurse took over. She asked me to call the hospital and complain, and I told her I would just come up...and bring Lauren with me. Well that did not sit well with her...and magically 10 minutes later, her nurse had been in, it was quiet and all was well in the world.
I called my Aunt Lori to get a second opinion on the matter and we agreed that I should still go up there...and boy am I glad I did. Lauren and I got there around 2:30pm and it was HORRIBLY loud in the halls. Even with her door shut, which they refused to do, it was too loud to sleep. Lauren and I went on a little walk and found someone who got me in touch with the house supervisor who apologized profusely and immediately ran a bunch of extra people that were just standing around off and quieted the staff members that belonged there. Hallelujah! She then came in to apologize to my mom and right then, Lauren was in rare form and screaming at me because she wanted to play in the faucet. I was humiliated. So we got my mom settled in. I brought her an iPod to listen to, so she put that on and a neck pillow too and we left her to finally get some rest.
My dad arrived at 4ish and took Lauren home with him at 5 and I waited with my mom because she was getting downgraded to regular med/surg that night! Yay! It is the final stop on the road home. We got her moved around 6:30, got her cleaned up and comfortable and she was happy. She had a room mate, but she was sent home a few hours after she moved in, so that was great. They checked her insulin and it was good as well. (102) I left to go get Lauren and that was that for the night.
Now, on to today (Tuesday) Here are the notes from my most recent call with her.
- Once she is off the painkillers, she can start on sugary liquids, like juices. No broths.
- Unfortunately, she is still not comfortable enough to go off the Dilaudid just yet and it is the only drug she is allowed to take for discomfort, not even Tylenol.
- Once she is off the painkillers and starts the liquids, the doctors will monitor her lipase levels to make sure that her body will tolerate the fluids.
- She has not had anything to eat or drink since Saturday morning.
- She says that her ice chips are the best tasting thing she has ever had.
- I was concerned about her body becoming dependent on the painkillers, but her doctors are not concerned.
- Her blood sugar levels are stable, so that is a great milestone!
- Her lung is improving, and she is doing breathing exercises to help it.
- She is avoiding visitors right now, because she needs to catch up on her rest.
- We do not have an ETA on when she can come home yet, but once she is home, she will need around the clock care/monitoring per her doctors for 7 days. We are working on getting people lined up since Kendall and my dad both started new jobs. I will be able to fill in a lot too. Its just hard with a toddler, who is proudly showing me just how terrible the twos really can be :)
- She says her sinuses are killing her so she is hoping to get a spray to help with that in the morning.
- She is now allowed to get her self up and walk the halls to start rebuilding her strength.
- The nursing staff in med/surg are great and she is just very happy to be out of the PCU!
- She is at the end of the wing, so there are no computers and no noise. It is very quiet and she is able to rest.
- She still does not have a room mate.
- We are working on getting her signed up for disability. (Thanks for reminding us Aunt Lori!)
- She does have her cell phone with her now, in case any one needs to reach her.
Okay, sorry that was lengthy, but a lot has happened in the last 36 hours. Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, and concerns. She is slowly and steadily on the road to recovery.
Due to the fact that I have skipped some emails to some people and I just happened to find a few more emails to add to the list, I will include the other emails I have sent to the bottom of this email to help get you up to speed. The last email I sent out was Sunday night and my mom had just been moved from the ICU to the PCU, so I will pick up from there. Again, I apologize for lagging on the updates.
Okay, so she was downgraded to the PCU on Sunday night which was a good thing. And we were talking about her coming home Monday or Tuesday. Well overnight on Sunday>Monday, she developed a fever. It was later determined that the fever was from a partially collapsed lung & pneumonia. She also had an insulin regulation problem in the early, early morning and was given a shot of insulin. This worried her really bad, but I was able to remind her that pregnant women need insulin sometimes and that she is not "diabetic". Its just that her pancreas is not working.
I spoke with her around 9am on Monday morning and she complained about her nurse not being attentive (its a 1-1 or 2-1 ratio in the PCU) and that she was not getting her pain meds or antibiotics on time. She also said that the nurses were SO loud outside her door all night long that she was unable to sleep. Unfortunately, the hospital is switching computer systems and the new computers are outside the patients' rooms. No one knows what they are doing, so it takes forever for them to enter information...this means that doctors and nurses are queuing up outside in the halls and having side conversations while they wait for the computers.
I spoke to her around 11am again and she was really, really upset; like on the verge of tears upset. She STILL had not seen her nurse since before the sun came up and was in serious need of her pain meds. The nurses were not answering the call buttons either. Ugh! I later found out that her nurse was supposed to be monitoring her insulin levels every hour...and well, that did not happen until around 7pm! when a new nurse took over. She asked me to call the hospital and complain, and I told her I would just come up...and bring Lauren with me. Well that did not sit well with her...and magically 10 minutes later, her nurse had been in, it was quiet and all was well in the world.
I called my Aunt Lori to get a second opinion on the matter and we agreed that I should still go up there...and boy am I glad I did. Lauren and I got there around 2:30pm and it was HORRIBLY loud in the halls. Even with her door shut, which they refused to do, it was too loud to sleep. Lauren and I went on a little walk and found someone who got me in touch with the house supervisor who apologized profusely and immediately ran a bunch of extra people that were just standing around off and quieted the staff members that belonged there. Hallelujah! She then came in to apologize to my mom and right then, Lauren was in rare form and screaming at me because she wanted to play in the faucet. I was humiliated. So we got my mom settled in. I brought her an iPod to listen to, so she put that on and a neck pillow too and we left her to finally get some rest.
My dad arrived at 4ish and took Lauren home with him at 5 and I waited with my mom because she was getting downgraded to regular med/surg that night! Yay! It is the final stop on the road home. We got her moved around 6:30, got her cleaned up and comfortable and she was happy. She had a room mate, but she was sent home a few hours after she moved in, so that was great. They checked her insulin and it was good as well. (102) I left to go get Lauren and that was that for the night.
Now, on to today (Tuesday) Here are the notes from my most recent call with her.
- Once she is off the painkillers, she can start on sugary liquids, like juices. No broths.
- Unfortunately, she is still not comfortable enough to go off the Dilaudid just yet and it is the only drug she is allowed to take for discomfort, not even Tylenol.
- Once she is off the painkillers and starts the liquids, the doctors will monitor her lipase levels to make sure that her body will tolerate the fluids.
- She has not had anything to eat or drink since Saturday morning.
- She says that her ice chips are the best tasting thing she has ever had.
- I was concerned about her body becoming dependent on the painkillers, but her doctors are not concerned.
- Her blood sugar levels are stable, so that is a great milestone!
- Her lung is improving, and she is doing breathing exercises to help it.
- She is avoiding visitors right now, because she needs to catch up on her rest.
- We do not have an ETA on when she can come home yet, but once she is home, she will need around the clock care/monitoring per her doctors for 7 days. We are working on getting people lined up since Kendall and my dad both started new jobs. I will be able to fill in a lot too. Its just hard with a toddler, who is proudly showing me just how terrible the twos really can be :)
- She says her sinuses are killing her so she is hoping to get a spray to help with that in the morning.
- She is now allowed to get her self up and walk the halls to start rebuilding her strength.
- The nursing staff in med/surg are great and she is just very happy to be out of the PCU!
- She is at the end of the wing, so there are no computers and no noise. It is very quiet and she is able to rest.
- She still does not have a room mate.
- We are working on getting her signed up for disability. (Thanks for reminding us Aunt Lori!)
- She does have her cell phone with her now, in case any one needs to reach her.
Okay, sorry that was lengthy, but a lot has happened in the last 36 hours. Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, and concerns. She is slowly and steadily on the road to recovery.
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