Note: June 30's entry will be contributed by Kelsey, Amanda, and Carl (Carl's contributions interpreted by Judy) and posted when the granddaughters return home to New Jersey and New York from their trip.
July 1, 2008
This was a good day today! The ups and downs continue, and this was an up. Doreen was awake all day except for a short nap. and most of the time her eyes were open, she was engaged in conversation, and she was alert. Her temperature was basically back to normal. She saw the occupational therapist, who had her work on filling in a calendar. She saw the physical therapist, who had her stand up and use a walker to move to and sit in a chair for about 15 minutes. She saw the wound specialist, who checked out a yeast infection that is getting much better and the infectious disease specialist, who was encouraged that her fever was gone (at least for now). She also worked on crossword puzzles with Judy.
When Dr. Kachmann came in, he was also pleased about the disappearance of the fever, and he was glad that he had not moved too quickly to replace or remove the shunt. But he is not guaranteeing that it will not need to happen in the future. Because Doreen is on antibiotics, the blood culture could be less than accurate. The antibiotitics may attack any germs in the culture. So he wants to give the culture another day or two to see if anything grows. His plan is to see of the progress continues. He is suggesting they take away the antibiotics for a couple of days, and if the problems return, it is likely that the shunt is infected and needs some attention. In spite of these problems, though, he believes things are going very well.
Unfortunately, some of the issues with eating have not improved. Doreen continues to have very little appetite and has had trouble keeping her stomach settled. No one has a final answer for that problem (although it is common for hospitalized people), but everyone keeps encouraging her to eat in order to build up her strength and get her digestive system back to being close to normal. She says everything tastes like the hospital. That could be in part because of the IV fluids and medications she is getting.
As Doreen becomes more aware of what is happening, it has been interesting to see her attempts to come to grips with the situation. One statement she made this evening was interesting. She said she sometimes feels like she is outside of the situation and watching things that are happening to someone else. That seems to be consistent with all of the experiences of sleeping, half-sleeping, dreaming, being in an unfamiliar place, and so on. She also asked if the hospital would allow her and Carl to just go home overnight and then come back. It would be great if she could have a break like that from the stresses and strains of her hospitalization. Gradually, we hope she will be able to understand the situation without being overwhelmed by it or becoming depressed.
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