ER #4/14

When we left the ER last night we made a deal with Mom; if the pain got worse or she had difficulty breathing or she developed a cough or she developed a fever, she had to not argue with me and go back to the ER immediately. When she woke up this morning she had pain on her right side but she said it wasn't any more sore than last night. When I had her do her breathing exercises, she had to repeat 7 out of the 10 reps to hold it for the right amount of time; normally she might have to repeat 1 or 2 of them. About 15 minutes after the breathing exercises she called me back in to her room and said the pain was worse, twice as sore as the broken rib on the left side. That is, until I said I was going to take her to the emergency room; then she said it wasn't sore! Her temperature was 97.7 degrees F; she had no cough. So she was showing 2 out of the 4 criteria for going back to the ER, so here we are again!


Since Sarah, Kaia, David, & Randi were leaving today about mid- to late afternoon, they said their good byes as we were getting ready to head to the ER.

What's that over there?

You lookin' at me?

We are not amused  :<

L to R: Mom, Sarah with Kaia, & David (Randi was busy making breakfast, she popped in later).

I checked Mom in to the ER and even though they were very busy they got her in to a room right away. Dr. Fujiwara was her ER doctor again; he saw Mom on 02/01 when she broke her rib on the left side. Nurse Alika was Mom's main nurse, assisted by Nurse Natalia. By the time we got to the ER Mom had developed a low-grade fever of 101 F. Dr. Fujiwara started a series of tests to sort out what is going on with her. In the meanwhile Nurse Alika started an intravenous fluid drip to keep Mom hydrated. Dr. Fujiwara also cleared Mom for eating, so I ordered breakfast for her from the cafeteria. I had a bag of the Cuckoo for Coconut Trek Mix. And Mom's leftovers. (I am avoiding the QuestBar Double Chocolate Chunk free sample for as long as possible!)

Eggs over easy with white rice, mixed fruit cup, vanilla yogurt, & chamomile tea. (She wanted green tea but its not allowed at this time.)

Nurse Trixie took Mom for her CAT scan and Nurse Nancy brought her back. Rowel the phlebotomist took blood for the tests to find out whether there was an infection and other things. Of course, she kept saying she could go home after each one of them finished doing their portion of the work. As it turns out, the CAT scan showed she had developed pneumonia in spite of the prophylactic levels of levofloxacin & acyclovir that Dr. Chan has had Mom on and the incentive spirometer breathing exercises. Dr. Fujiwara had her checked in to the hospital; she will stay at least overnight while she gets vancomycin & zosyn intravenously to fight the pneumonia. Dr. Chan has told us that due to the acute myelocytic leukemia Mom needed to avoid infections since she does not have the ability to fight them off herself. Hopefully we have caught it early enough.

Dr. Tamiya, the internist that was the primary person working with Mom for the transfer to the hospital & the day shift, gave me some additional information. Although Mom has had the pneumonia vaccine, getting pneumonia now doesn't necessarily mean she did not produce any antibodies. It could be a different strain or it could be caused by a fungus; they will know more after the 1st round of antibiotics.

Because I was at the ER with Mom, Curtis took David & Randi to the airport around lunch time. They stopped to pick up some snacks for the plane & Curtis bought some things for the house also. Later he took Sarah & Kaia to the airport. They have a long trip ahead of them; they will arrive back home around 10 am on Tuesday.

At the hospital end of things, Mom started out with Nurse MJ and Nurse's Aide Irene. The room was warm and toasty because it faces southwest and also has a familiar view! We have actually seen this view from the other side; it overlooks the walkway from the parking garage elevators to the main entrance. In fact, last Thursday as we were leaving after Mom's transfusion, she asked me about this specific tree in the center of the photo.


Darn! They had to move Mom because the original room they put her in was a double room & today space is at a premium. She's in a private room now because she can't have a roommate due to the neutropenia; they want to minimize her exposure to others. Everyone coming in to her room has to wear a mask, everyone doing a procedure around her, including just changing sheets, has to wear gloves, the door is closed and has a sign alerting people to the neutropenia. Unfortunately this room is on the opposite side of the wing and is very cold. Plus the window is broken so it won't close properly & is allowing cold air to come in; they have called for Maintenance to come & fix it.

Trees on the shady side of the building, Tripler Army Hospital in background.

I had a late lunch. Since I was trying to avoid the QuestBar I waited until after they transferred Mom to the hospital side. The Double Chocolate Chunk flavor was just a little bit better than the chocolate peanut butter last night. I think having the double chocolate in it provided a hint of chocolate flavor.

Also NOT recommended for ER snacking.

Well, if anything can go wrong with the physical aspects of the room, it did. First, they put Mom in a double room though she is neutropenic. The new room was cold & drafty because the seal on the window was broken; they taped it shut. The machine that powers the leg massagers kept beeping, indicating the battery was low even though it was plugged in; they reset it 3 times to no avail so they got another machine. And finally, the transfusion pole would not stay in the extended position to lift the bags high enough for a good gravity flow; they got another one of those, too. This is very unusual, we have never had problems with the room in any of Mom or Dad's hospital stays before.

Another use for red tape.

One of the last chores David did before leaving was to spread the last 5 bags of red cinders. The chore was to finish off the last corner of the area that I had started and extend it around the water meter.


Happy Birthday to Chris, Gus, & Rebecca! Happy Love Your Pet Day, Happy Cherry Pie Day, and  Happy Presidents Day! Get ready to celebrate Sticky Bun Day tomorrow with a batch of sticky buns, recipes included in link.