Monday, October 09, 2006
I am home a little early this evening--waved at Gordy as he was heading to St. Cloud and I was heading home. Katie and I spent the day at the hospital with Sally--arrived to find her laying down with a damp towel on her forehead and hands folded weakly over her stomach. Apparently, she began bleeding internally, the blood in her stomach was causing significant nausea. X-rays were done to determine what was happening in her lungs and another Echocardiogram was performed to see the status of her damaged heart. Good news: The fluid in her lungs is diminishing, Less than good news: Her heart damage is not regenerating. After several hours, we were able to speak to the Cardiologist; the bottom line: she has had a significant heart infraction and the muscle is now stiff. I don't know exactly what a stiff heart means--Katie believes it means it is stiff in it's contracting. There is a medical term that she used--to which I have completely forgotten--but remember enough to understand that her heart is contracting stiffly.
We spoke with the Hospital Social Worker--and it was decided that Sally would go on the waiting list for St. Benedict's Sub-cute care unit. St. Benedicts is a beautiful facility--resembling nothing of the nursing home in her home town. We have approached Sally that this stay will be for rehab.....however, we are unsure of the duration of her stay there because everything is still in the wait and see mode. Wait and see if her heart responds at all.....wait and see what type of rehab Sally will be able to tolerate....wait and see. The Dr. did say that we will not know the total regeneration of her heart for 3 months. He says that we should expect, in all likelihood that Sally's heart, even should it not regenerate even one little bit.......should be able to sustain a reasonable life even at 50%. He said he has patients that have survived and thrived even with more damage to their hearts. This was very encouraging news.
For the past few days, we have been thinking in terms that if Sally's heart does not heal itself--she will live as she is now. He told us that was not the case. This is the period of time that will wax and wane...highs and lows.....and of course, Sally has suffered more than her share of complications. It is the complications that have made this week so difficult for her. Once she stabilizes and her heart has a chance to heal......we will know more. But the great news is this: Even if her heart does not experience any repair....she can live a normal, healthy, and happy life. She should be able to walk, although she may get winded. She should be able to live in her Senior Citizen apartment building, with some assistance. This is sometime down the road though. When she leaves the hospital, she will require sub-acute care. Pray that St. Benedict's will have a sub-acute care bed open!
We have begun to remind Sally--that the next few weeks are not representative of how she will always be. I think we all feared that this would be Sally's existence forever....this, however, is temporary. The work she does over the next weeks will only be a deposit towards her future. Hopefully, this will motivate her to eat once again--she is refusing food. She does not want to eat for a variety of reasons (no salt--no taste! and of course, she is on a low-fat heart friendly diet...which is a change for her German taste-buds!). Not too mention, with every bite she takes, she has been experiencing nausea...which is actually from the internal seepage of blood she has experienced due to the Blood thinner she has been on. They have taken her off the blood thinner. They will put her on it once again later....but for now, because this type of bleeding is normal after such an attack--she gets a respite from it now.
Bless you for your continued prayers!
We spoke with the Hospital Social Worker--and it was decided that Sally would go on the waiting list for St. Benedict's Sub-cute care unit. St. Benedicts is a beautiful facility--resembling nothing of the nursing home in her home town. We have approached Sally that this stay will be for rehab.....however, we are unsure of the duration of her stay there because everything is still in the wait and see mode. Wait and see if her heart responds at all.....wait and see what type of rehab Sally will be able to tolerate....wait and see. The Dr. did say that we will not know the total regeneration of her heart for 3 months. He says that we should expect, in all likelihood that Sally's heart, even should it not regenerate even one little bit.......should be able to sustain a reasonable life even at 50%. He said he has patients that have survived and thrived even with more damage to their hearts. This was very encouraging news.
For the past few days, we have been thinking in terms that if Sally's heart does not heal itself--she will live as she is now. He told us that was not the case. This is the period of time that will wax and wane...highs and lows.....and of course, Sally has suffered more than her share of complications. It is the complications that have made this week so difficult for her. Once she stabilizes and her heart has a chance to heal......we will know more. But the great news is this: Even if her heart does not experience any repair....she can live a normal, healthy, and happy life. She should be able to walk, although she may get winded. She should be able to live in her Senior Citizen apartment building, with some assistance. This is sometime down the road though. When she leaves the hospital, she will require sub-acute care. Pray that St. Benedict's will have a sub-acute care bed open!
We have begun to remind Sally--that the next few weeks are not representative of how she will always be. I think we all feared that this would be Sally's existence forever....this, however, is temporary. The work she does over the next weeks will only be a deposit towards her future. Hopefully, this will motivate her to eat once again--she is refusing food. She does not want to eat for a variety of reasons (no salt--no taste! and of course, she is on a low-fat heart friendly diet...which is a change for her German taste-buds!). Not too mention, with every bite she takes, she has been experiencing nausea...which is actually from the internal seepage of blood she has experienced due to the Blood thinner she has been on. They have taken her off the blood thinner. They will put her on it once again later....but for now, because this type of bleeding is normal after such an attack--she gets a respite from it now.
Bless you for your continued prayers!
# posted by Diane Viere @ 11:18 PM 
