Changing of the Guards

I arrived at the hospital at 8:00 AM this morning to relieve Amy of her over-night stay with mom. When Shannon and I left the hospital last night mom was sleepy and sort of goofy from the Benadryl that they gave her to control her itchy skin (caused by her new pain medication.) It was nice to see her doing better this morning. She was sitting up and more coherent. Apparently, mom slept all night except for when the nurses woke her to receive pills or to nebulize with an inhaler. The new pain control plan seems to be more tolerable than the previous pain patch that they tried. She controls her pain by pushing a button and the pain specialists track her needed dosage. This should better help them establish a plan once she returns home.

Yesterday we were informed of a pain block procedure that is a possibility for her. The doctors all believe that this pain is caused from the pleura of her lungs being inflamed and irritated but they also realize that her pain feels fairly isolated to a spot near her ribs on the left side of her body. This proposed procedure would consist of basically numbing that rib and the rib above and below it. There is no guarantee that this will decrease the pain at all but it is the only option other than controlling the pain strictly by medication. We had no choice but to think of this in basketball terms... if this is an option and we chose not to do it because it might not work, it is like losing a close game with an un-used timeout. We just can't wrap our heads around it. So, we will take them up on this procedure if it is still a possibility when they return today.

At this time mom has finished breakfast and is sleeping soundly in bed. I am waiting patiently for the doctors to make their rounds and will be asking many questions when they come in. I plan to get mom up and out of bed as soon as I am given the green light to do so. I will update the blog later today when I know more.

Thanks for loving us from afar....

Angie