kookykat
10-18-2006, 01:14 AM
This will be shortish and hopefully sweetish...I'm exhausted...think I've done too much too soon after being sick. That and it was nearly 80 degrees in Sharon's room tonight.
Met with the cardiologist tonight. He seemed to *have* a clue that people might understand what he was talking about. Of course, I asked some very specific questions, which sort of demonstrated that *I* had a clue, too. <G> He agrees that this needs to be looked at *before* Sharon undergoes such a strenuous procedure. Good. We all seem to be on the same page about that. He also was very respectful of the PoA arrangement after he asked Sharon a couple of questions, and she kept deferring to me to give answers. Dammit, what part of APHASIC do these people NOT UNDERSTAND???? And they wonder why I want to go with her during these procedures. Dopes. All of 'em. Dopes. Ooops. Sorry. Channeled my dad there for a sec. <G>
Sharon is going to have an angiogram in the morning. From there, they decide if there will be any angioplasty necessary and/or bypass surgery (which we all think is highly unlikely, given her complete lack of symptomatology). I *still* think she's got damage from that damned PICC line. He said it looks like she's got an old MI. Well, since she's never *had* one (not before we met and not since, so that kind of rules out her whole life, eh???), it's the only thing that makes sense. Apparently, she's got some ST elevations that are very suspicious for a damaged area of the coronary anatomy, but (from what I understood of what I was told tonight), not specifically the heart itself. I will be very surprised if they don't find some stenosis. I'm sort of hoping they'll do a bare metal stent...either that, or I'll have to find out who makes Plavix and see if they've got a patient assistance program.
Now, for anyone who might think I don't know what to look for in a heart condition, let me tell you a short story. My mother had her first heart attack before she came back to rescue me from the Wicked ***** of Muskego (a.k.a. the Stepmonster). I spent much of my high school years being educated about what to do if certain things happened to Mom. I had CPR training before it was chic. I came home one day from school to find a note that my mother had gone to the hospital. I think that's how we spent someone's birthday, too... My aunt also had heart disease and nearly died from her first heart attack. I'm very educated in that sense, at least in layman's understanding. Sharon. Has. Had. NO. Symptoms. Period. Ooooooooor, if she has, she hasn't *said* anything, which I find doubtful when I remember what my mom went through.
One of the respiratory therapists came in tonight and threw out the fancy EZPap and said that never should have been ordered to begin with. That's apparently only supposed to be used with regular use of nebulizers or inhalers. So, it's back to the non-mechanical spirometer. After I showed Sharon how to really do it, she was able to blow the thing about half-way up, which is pretty good for a first real try! :)
Not-so-good news: We discovered (meaning ME) a nasty-looking bruised area on her left side (think I mentioned that earlier). Tonight, I was doing some maintenance work on Our Girl (meaning shaving the pits and legs). She's got a raw area about the size of a quarter on the underside of her right arm and a very, very nasty-looking area right in the crease of the armpit. Apparently, there was a blister there last night. No padding, no nothing, so that skin's been rubbing since then. Ummmm, ever consider putting a gauze PAD in there, ya knobs??? I thought at first it was from powder - you know how it can get all doughy when you get sweaty? I started cleaning it gently and then realized that the skin was PEELING OFF!!! AAHHAAHHAAHH!!!!!! Her nurse
and the aide cleaned it gently and then put a towel under her arm to soak up any moisture. It was bloody - not red-red, more serosangineous drainage when I checked it before I left. I also had to change her gown. She was soaked. Yesterday, it was freezing in there. Tonight, it was so hot I couldn't stand it, and Sharon was all sweaty. Ick.
Good news: The right foot and leg are stronger tonight than they were earlier today! :) She's still having trouble wiggling the toes (that came and went, apparently), but she's able to lift her knee to bend the leg and keep the leg upright. She was able to roll the leg from side to side when I was shaving it, and she didn't even make a peep when I lifted it up. I think we might be on the up side, for a change!!!!
Bestest news: We've got a new hospitalist tonight. They switch off every three or four days between three hospitals, I think. So, tonight her doctor was one of the original jerkoffs...this one was her doc the *night* her stroke happened. He was one of the ones who told me Sharon would die. He was visibly rather shaken by her appearance, because he remembered how bad it was. He remembered telling me, too...so it's not just my imagination. Ahhhh, five apologies...<G> He did say that he was glad that I fought for Sharon, that I did know better than they did in this particular instance. Well, whaddya know...YA THINK??????
Okay, I'm off to take goobers outside and then head to bed. I've got to be at the hospital early. I'm going to stick around while they do the angiogram and see what happens after that. If she's going to have angioplasty, I'll come home. If not, I'll stay for a bit. If they do *not* do angioplasty, she might be able to have surgery this week. If they *do* angioplasty, she might not be able to have surgery until next week Tuesday (which is the earliest the surgeon thought he could get her back on his schedule).
Soooo, if she needs angioplasty, we're looking at life-time consumption of aspirin and possibly Coumadin, possibly Lipitor, and possibly Plavix for up to a year, depending on what kind of stent they use (I'm gonna laugh if it's a Cypher...got that my very first day of work...no one had heard of them, so I spent like half an hour looking it up...that was only 3 years ago, and now they're old news! LOL), *if* they use one. The cardiologist did say he prefers to use them, because they do tend to keep the vessels open.
I have to ask whether they have to ask her things during the procedure. I might need to be down there anyway. Won't *that* be interesting. Okay, now I'm repeating myself, I think...so nitey-nite, more tomorrow, as soon as I know what's going on.
Huggers,
Sleepy Mikki
Met with the cardiologist tonight. He seemed to *have* a clue that people might understand what he was talking about. Of course, I asked some very specific questions, which sort of demonstrated that *I* had a clue, too. <G> He agrees that this needs to be looked at *before* Sharon undergoes such a strenuous procedure. Good. We all seem to be on the same page about that. He also was very respectful of the PoA arrangement after he asked Sharon a couple of questions, and she kept deferring to me to give answers. Dammit, what part of APHASIC do these people NOT UNDERSTAND???? And they wonder why I want to go with her during these procedures. Dopes. All of 'em. Dopes. Ooops. Sorry. Channeled my dad there for a sec. <G>
Sharon is going to have an angiogram in the morning. From there, they decide if there will be any angioplasty necessary and/or bypass surgery (which we all think is highly unlikely, given her complete lack of symptomatology). I *still* think she's got damage from that damned PICC line. He said it looks like she's got an old MI. Well, since she's never *had* one (not before we met and not since, so that kind of rules out her whole life, eh???), it's the only thing that makes sense. Apparently, she's got some ST elevations that are very suspicious for a damaged area of the coronary anatomy, but (from what I understood of what I was told tonight), not specifically the heart itself. I will be very surprised if they don't find some stenosis. I'm sort of hoping they'll do a bare metal stent...either that, or I'll have to find out who makes Plavix and see if they've got a patient assistance program.
Now, for anyone who might think I don't know what to look for in a heart condition, let me tell you a short story. My mother had her first heart attack before she came back to rescue me from the Wicked ***** of Muskego (a.k.a. the Stepmonster). I spent much of my high school years being educated about what to do if certain things happened to Mom. I had CPR training before it was chic. I came home one day from school to find a note that my mother had gone to the hospital. I think that's how we spent someone's birthday, too... My aunt also had heart disease and nearly died from her first heart attack. I'm very educated in that sense, at least in layman's understanding. Sharon. Has. Had. NO. Symptoms. Period. Ooooooooor, if she has, she hasn't *said* anything, which I find doubtful when I remember what my mom went through.
One of the respiratory therapists came in tonight and threw out the fancy EZPap and said that never should have been ordered to begin with. That's apparently only supposed to be used with regular use of nebulizers or inhalers. So, it's back to the non-mechanical spirometer. After I showed Sharon how to really do it, she was able to blow the thing about half-way up, which is pretty good for a first real try! :)
Not-so-good news: We discovered (meaning ME) a nasty-looking bruised area on her left side (think I mentioned that earlier). Tonight, I was doing some maintenance work on Our Girl (meaning shaving the pits and legs). She's got a raw area about the size of a quarter on the underside of her right arm and a very, very nasty-looking area right in the crease of the armpit. Apparently, there was a blister there last night. No padding, no nothing, so that skin's been rubbing since then. Ummmm, ever consider putting a gauze PAD in there, ya knobs??? I thought at first it was from powder - you know how it can get all doughy when you get sweaty? I started cleaning it gently and then realized that the skin was PEELING OFF!!! AAHHAAHHAAHH!!!!!! Her nurse
and the aide cleaned it gently and then put a towel under her arm to soak up any moisture. It was bloody - not red-red, more serosangineous drainage when I checked it before I left. I also had to change her gown. She was soaked. Yesterday, it was freezing in there. Tonight, it was so hot I couldn't stand it, and Sharon was all sweaty. Ick.
Good news: The right foot and leg are stronger tonight than they were earlier today! :) She's still having trouble wiggling the toes (that came and went, apparently), but she's able to lift her knee to bend the leg and keep the leg upright. She was able to roll the leg from side to side when I was shaving it, and she didn't even make a peep when I lifted it up. I think we might be on the up side, for a change!!!!
Bestest news: We've got a new hospitalist tonight. They switch off every three or four days between three hospitals, I think. So, tonight her doctor was one of the original jerkoffs...this one was her doc the *night* her stroke happened. He was one of the ones who told me Sharon would die. He was visibly rather shaken by her appearance, because he remembered how bad it was. He remembered telling me, too...so it's not just my imagination. Ahhhh, five apologies...<G> He did say that he was glad that I fought for Sharon, that I did know better than they did in this particular instance. Well, whaddya know...YA THINK??????
Okay, I'm off to take goobers outside and then head to bed. I've got to be at the hospital early. I'm going to stick around while they do the angiogram and see what happens after that. If she's going to have angioplasty, I'll come home. If not, I'll stay for a bit. If they do *not* do angioplasty, she might be able to have surgery this week. If they *do* angioplasty, she might not be able to have surgery until next week Tuesday (which is the earliest the surgeon thought he could get her back on his schedule).
Soooo, if she needs angioplasty, we're looking at life-time consumption of aspirin and possibly Coumadin, possibly Lipitor, and possibly Plavix for up to a year, depending on what kind of stent they use (I'm gonna laugh if it's a Cypher...got that my very first day of work...no one had heard of them, so I spent like half an hour looking it up...that was only 3 years ago, and now they're old news! LOL), *if* they use one. The cardiologist did say he prefers to use them, because they do tend to keep the vessels open.
I have to ask whether they have to ask her things during the procedure. I might need to be down there anyway. Won't *that* be interesting. Okay, now I'm repeating myself, I think...so nitey-nite, more tomorrow, as soon as I know what's going on.
Huggers,
Sleepy Mikki