June, 2005

Tuesday, June 2nd... The therapists came in to evaluate you once again. They are not saying much so I have to wait and see. You are doing more each day and getting stronger as each day goes by.

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Friday, June 3rd... The hospital called and you are spiking a temp. You had been doing so well. They are sending you to the hospital for tests. They need to check the pictline and do a catscan. There is a concern there may be something wrong with the shunt. After spending much time there, we went back to Hartwyck. They drew blood, did a chest x-ray and urinalysis.

The next day your temp was 103.5 and they had to put you on a cooling blanket. You were so sick and I was so worried. You have been through so much and my heart aches every time this happens. I put my faith in God but it is so hard sometimes, and I constantly ask why?

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It is now June 6th... You continue to run a temp and the tests now show your liver enzymes are elevated. They called Dr. Medina and he believes it is your gaul bladder. We have to go to the hospital for more tests.

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June 8th... We are going to JFK for further tests and you will be admitted by Dr. Medina. He is trying to get in touch with the surgeon to discuss your case and set up surgery. Unfortunately, they cannot do laproscopic, it will have to be major surjery in the operating room.

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June 9th, 2005 we are now in 2 East at the hospital which is a gastro floor. Dr. Medina wanted you here because you will get special care. We are in a private room which makes it very nice. Dr. Medina is setting up surgery however there are some issues that they need to work on. Your blood coagulation is off and they need to give you injections to correct it. Also, you are having nose bleeds due to the oxygen and they need to correct that as well. So many things to watch for but they are so careful with you and monitor all your vitals and give you so much care.

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June 12th, Mom took the day off and left it up to the men to come down and care for you. I had a bridal shower for my niece and Dad, PopPop and Uncle Tom were here to spend time with you.

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They are continuing to monitor you carefully, today they did more ex-rays of your chest and abdomin. Dr. Hebbe the pulmonary specialist came in to evaluate you for surgery. He is concerned about your blood gases for surgery and wants to do a special blood tests. It means extracting blood from your artery and it is very painful. He asked for my permission and I told him he would know what is best for you and if this is important for him than he had to do it. I did not want to be there so I left and went to the chapel to pray.

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Today is June 16th and the surgeon came to evaluate you and discuss the surgery with me. Dr. Medina was in as well and he is so compassionate and patient. He takes his time and tries to put all my fears to rest. Today you sat up in the chair for 4 hours and you were very alert and vocal. You did very well and seem to be very comfortable. They are giving you Vitamin K injections to increase your blood coagulation so there are no problems in surgery.

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June 17th and you are scheduled for surgery at 3:30. Dad is coming down and PopPop and Grandma as well. They took you to the holding area at 2:30 and the surgery took several hours. You were then taken to recovery for an hour and a half. I stayed until 10 p.m. because you were in a lot of pain from the surgery. The nurse came in to give you pain medication and then you fell asleep.

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June 20th, you are getting stronger and can now sit up again in the chair. You have no temp and your liver enzymes are back to normal. Today they took you for a neutron hydrascan that takes 4 hours. They needed to be sure you were free of all stones and blockages.

The doctor’s are consulting about putting in a porta-cath. You are having such a hard time with pictlines and IV’s and you need to be on antibiotics for quite a while.

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Wednesday, June 22nd, you started out feeling well and very alert. After being up in the chair for a while you seemed uncomfortable and warm. They put you back in bed and your temp was 102.7. I was very concerned and worried about what was going on with you. The nurse was very upset and put a call into the doctor. They had the infectious disease doctor come in and Dr. Medina ordered a battery of tests.Your cat scan was good but you were not doing well. I left at 7:30 to go home and called the nurse and she said you were not doing well. I then called Barbara and she decided to come and pick me up and drive me back down to see you. We stayed until midnight but it was very re-assuring knowing you were okay. The next day you were still running temps and they decided to do all kinds of cultures. They are all very worried about you and so am I.

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Saturday, June 25th, one day at a time and now they have diagnosed you with blood clots in your legs. Thank God you have a green filter so they need to give you lovenox injections to thin your blood. All of this is due to you being bedridden and not able to move.

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Sunday, June 26th, your hemoglobin level dropped drastically and they now have to give you blood transfusions. The doctor’s have decided to put a porta-cath in to prevent any more problems with pictlines and IV’s. You are scheduled for the 28th of June.

You went in at 9 am and the procedure took 40 minutes. It is June 30th, and after careful evaluations and all tests coming back with positive results they are going to discharge you back to Hartwyck. Only time will tell Aaron, hopefully you will move forward and be able to get stronger and more stable.