Good Friday the 13th

Granny had her heart cath procedure this morning and came through with flying colors. The doctor found the blockage and put in a stint to open it up and the blood is flowing through now. Granny has to lie flat on her back for four hours afterwards and right now has about an hour to go with this. She has already had some jello and frozen sherbert following this procedure, and she's still hungry!

I am typing this on Barbara's pc through the wireless connection at the hospital, so will update more later tonight. In the meantime, visiting resumes in the ICU in about an hour. We plan to be here to help Granny eat her supper, and then we are going to go out for our own celebration dinner. Thanks for all the prayers--I think they worked! Later.....

November 12

Finally some progress to report! This morning was pretty miserable--Granny was still struggling with the ventilator, although she was breathing on her own. Gagging, and wanting to cough with the tube down her throat, the soreness & dryness, unable to talk... We were waiting for a procedure in which they would "go in" with a big needle/syringe (I guess) and remove as much fluid from the lung as possible. When we were kicked out at 10am for "quiet time" in the ICU, the pulmonary doctor apparently decided to remove the ventilator--YEA!!!! At 11am, the nurse found us in the waiting room to let us know and allowed us to see her briefly after that ordeal. She was in bed, but smiled and waved at us immediately. Then, when we got back at noon after going for a bite to eat in the cafeteria, we found her sitting in a chair and she smiled at us right away! YEA!! She still had the feeding tube which goes from the nose to the stomach, but it was quite obvious she had really improved after that ventilator was removed.

She told us she had even walked down the hallway a bit! For the next two hours she sat up in the chair and we hung out. She dozed off a few times in the chair and by the time we were kicked out for another "quiet time", she was saying she wanted to lay down in bed because she was very tired. We also got a visit from the cardiologist during this time and he was very impressed with her progress in such a short period. She still had to do the fluid removal procedure which the doctor found out was scheduled for 3pm, but he said if she did well with that and it did not appear to be an infection, and if all went well over night and tomorrow morning, that we may go ahead with the heart cath to test what we needed to do for the heart. Haven't heard yet if she still has an infection, but when we got to go back in at 4pm after this last procedure, she was looking fine and ready to go home!

See how happy she looks? Her feeding tube had been removed and she said she could breathe better after the fluid was off (although it was a rough procedure). She was given the "clear liquid" diet for supper and she scarfed it down! Beef broth, grape juice, Sprite, cherry jello, and cherry sherbert. Her job now is to continue to rest and get ready for hopefully the last big procedure, which is to go up through a vein into the heart, insert dye, see where blockage/damage is, and then to possibly use stints or balloons to open up the closed veins/arteries.

November 11

Another long day with not a lot of progress. Granny was breathing on her own for over 6 hours, but the ventilator was still attached, however, the doctors don't want to remove it completely at this time. So, to alleviate some of the effort with breathing & discomfort, it was turned back on and she was given some calming medicine. The ventilator has a tube going down the throat and it is very uncomfortable, and makes you want to gag.

Tomorrow they are going to do a procedure to remove more fluid from around the lung which had accumulated since yesterday, then see if they can remove the ventilator later on in the day.

The heart cath is still scheduled for Friday, however, it is very likely it will be cancelled and rescheduled for later next week as Granny has not improved her condition enough for the cardiologist. So we are looking at a few more days of just trying to sustain and improve Granny's condition.

Barbara & Bill are here with me now. Granny was lucid and responsive most of the day so she is aware and was happy to see them (although she still cannot talk with the ventilator).

November 10

There was not a lot of progress in Granny's condition today, but there was some and no worsening. There were no "episodes" last night. A lot of the fluid has been removed from the lung, the xrays are looking much better and the chest sounds clear (according to the primary care doctor). They have not been successful in removing the ventilator--when they try, Granny has trouble breathing. So, they have been trying to "ween" her very slowly off of it....was 100% Monday morning, then that evening went to 60%, 40% this morning and 35% oxygen when I left this evening [meaning they were giving her that percentage to maintain her oxygen levels]. They want her to maintain as close to 99% oxygen levels on her own before they take it away. I was told by the respiratory technician that they had to go slow and careful with Granny on this. The ventilator is not breathing for her entirely, but it is helping her to breathe easier.

Granny was obviously very tired today and not as lucid (communicative) as she was yesterday, however, she is responding with head nods and hand squeezes and toe wiggles, so she is aware of things. She is being fed by a feeding tube as of this evening. And her blood pressure has been relatively stable. Although I did not see the pulmonary or cardiologist (despite being there from 7:30am to 5pm--growl), the heart cath is still planned for Friday.

Keep Granny in your prayers!

November 9

Granny had a bad night last night and had to be re-admitted to the ICU early this morning. She had been put on a ventilator to help her breathe and will probably remain on it throughout the night at least. A port had to be put in her neck (what they call the main line) to give her meds and whatnot. They were unable to do any more sticks in her one good arm (the left arm has lymphodema so cannot be used for this).

Granny cannot talk or swallow with the ventilator, not to mention is very uncomfortable, but she was able to write a couple of sentences for me tonight--wanted me to wash her mouth, and let me know she had been given a pill to help her sleep (although I don't believe it could have been a pill since she can't swallow).

The nurse told me that the doctor was planning to do the heart cath on Friday. I plan to just stay at the hospital tomorrow to be sure I can talk with the doctor and to follow what is going on more closely. (I had gone to work today and I think I missed out on too much that was going on.)

Granny's Health

For those who may or may not know, Granny was taken by ambulance to the hospital early Friday morning. She couldn't breath, was sweating profusely, highly agitated, and had chest pain. After emergency treatment, spent rest of day and night and most of next day in ICU. She has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and pneumonia (this part due to the elevated white blood cell count, meaning some kind of infection is present).

At this time, she is in a regular hospital room, getting lots of meds and attention from the hospital staff, and has stabilized for the most part. She is feeling better, although gets tired with very little exertion, including lifting her arms when eating. I spoke with the cardiologist today (Sunday) and he says she has a very weak heart--part of it is working, but some of it is not. He was able to hear the heart malfunctioning after Granny had just gotten back from walking with a therapist in the hallway, so he knows for sure she has some blockage.

The next procedure is to have a cardio cathetor (? spelling) which is a line put through a vein I think from the leg up to the heart. Then they put in dye to see where and how much blockage there is. During this procedure, they can also use balloons or stints to open up blocked areas. Some people require open-heart surgery for severely blocked areas, however, Granny is NOT a candidate for this option due to her age & overall condition.

The cardiologist also told me that Granny is currently NOT in a condition to undergo this cardio cathetor procedure yet. SO, she will stay in the hospital until she is well enough to have this procedure. The cardiologist was saying, 24, 48, 72 hours...just wasn't sure how long it would be before she is ready. Granny is in a private room with a phone, however, she cannot easily answer it nor hear well, so is not a good idea to call. If you'd like to send her a card--I'm sure she'd like that. (just send it to the home and I'll take it to her since not sure how long she will be in the hospital)

If you really need to know the hospital info: Baptist Health Medical Center, 3333 Springhill Dr., Room 204, North Little Rock, AR 72116 501-202-3000

Mother's Day at Granny's

Surprise is waiting.......but wasn't until about noon before Granny found it in her chair.

Frustration sets in---can't get the box of chocolate covered cranberries opened!

Hey--what's going on in there????

Ah---finally! And lunch was made without Granny lifting a finger! Perfect Day!