Temp 104.7

Mom was uncomfortable yesterday evening when her night shift nurse came in (about 7pm). Mario was staying with her as my dad went home for the evening and he had been trying to get her some pain medication for a while. He was told by the day nurse that they would alternately be administering Versed and Fentanyl every half hour. At 8:10, she got her first doses. About 8:30 two nurses came in to set up a Fentanyl drip so that they wouldn't risk missing a manual administration of the prescribed dosage.

At 9:00pm the drip was just finishing being set up, when Mario asked the nurse if she knew what mom's temperature was because she felt hot. She didn't know so she started to take a reading and before the thermometer was done, she confirmed that she did have a temperature and then left the room to get a doctor. Her temperature was 104.5.

Five minutes later Dr. Patel, the hospitalist, came in and checked her stomach. He said it was not acute. He was concerned of a distended abdomen. He told Mario that if there was a perforation it might cause her stomach to harden and swell. If this happens, Dr. Patel says that they probably will not be able to treat it as she is not likely to be a surgical candidate.

At 9:15pm her temp was 104.7. They iced mom up pretty good - ice bags under her neck, arms and legs and treated her with Tylenol, Ibuprofen and Vancomycin. At 11:20pm her temperature was 99.6. The nurse said she had never seen a temp go down so quickly.

Blood labs were drawn and showed that her white count was up. Dr. Patel said that it was good that they had already ordered and administered antibiotic to treat.

At about 4:40am, mom's blood pressure started getting low and her temp was at 96 so they turned off the Fentanyl drip. There's a fear that in such a sedated state, mom's brain might not be allowing her to "take care of herself". After that it seemed to be okay as she rested well through the rest of the night and most of the morning before needing another dose. (At 5pm this evening, the drip was put back on and they will be monitoring it closely. )

At 7:30am, her heart rate went crazy. It got up to 155 and they acted fast to get that under control by administering Lopressor and Cardizen. At 10:50am it stabilized and has been okay since then. Likewise with her blood pressure.

It's been a whirlwind of medications today and I will have to look them up to get it straight in my head. They kept a really good eye on her and I think she rested well. It's hard to know since she is unable to communicate with us at all. It's very hard to see her like this, but I am faithful and hopeful that the tracheostomy will happen next week and put her on a road to recovery. Please pray for this.

xox,
Tommy