Family Meeting...

Before we had the family meeting, Dr. Solomon came in and told us that they had results of the CT scan from yesterday.  Mom has had at least two more strokes - this time on the right side of her brain.  He said specifically in the right middle area and the right posterior area.  This can be part of the reason that mom is not waking up and responding as we would hope for her to.  That being said, she did open her eyes a couple of times last night and today. 

He thinks that bloodclots caused by the cancer thickening her blood are the cause of the strokes.  The thing is, they can't really treat her anymore for this because she is already receiving the maximum dosage of blood thinnner that is safe for her to take.  He mentioned that they could send her to Saint Anthony's for an MRI to better determine the exact source, but even with that he doesn't believe there is any alternative treatment.

They have taken her off the last antibiotic she was on called Zosyn and have ordered a couple of new ones, Doripenem and Vancomycin, intended to treat a new infection as well as her pneumonia.

They also have weaned her completely off of the ventilator and she is using what is called a "trache-collar" to offer oxygen support.  So far, she's doing well on it.

The family meeting was held with Dr. Solomon, Dr. Waddell, our Patient Advocate, a nurse and a respiratory therapist.  Basically, Dr. Solomon said that they really have done everything that they can do for mom, he doesn't think she will ever get to the point of being able to leave the hospital, and the chances of her getting any better than she is right now are very low.  There's no guarantee either way, but he offered up the decision for us to choose if and when we might want to put mom in a "Comfort Care" facility or a Hospice center.  The choice is either to treat her "aggressively" or just try to make her comfortable.

We have decided, for right now, to continue to treat mom.  Aggressive is a bit of a reach as they are unable to do any surgeries and won't transfer her even for the MRI, knowing that it won't change the current course of treatment.  They will, however, continue to administer antibiotics and pain medication.

We are very hopeful that we'll have some more time with mom, but we just don't know how long that will be.  We understand that some of you might want to visit and want to let you know that she is in the ICU ward at Colorado Acute. If you come, please go to the 2nd floor and come into the Family Waiting room first before you head to her room. 

Thanks for all of your thoughts, love and prayers.

xox,
Tommy