November 24, 2008

LISA GOES HOME!!! Clay and Ria June picked up Lisa around lunchtime and took her home. I do not have many details but will fill you in as they become available.

November 23, 2008 Update

Lisa continues to improve. Her catheder was removed as well as the drain. They anticipate her getting to go home Monday. Ria June says she is still tiring easily and has not yet built up her appetite. Her CT scan went well with no signs of vasospasm or fluid. Clay was to arrive late Sunday night. I will know more on Monday morning and will report then. Continue to keep her in your prayers!

November 21, 2008 Update

It was a great day for Lisa. When I arrived at the hospital they were just finishing the Doppler Scan. It was very good news that that vasospasms were gone!!!! Lisa was so excited to hear the great news. They could not however do the CT scan as during the night last, Lisa was experiencing a bad headache so they had to unclamp the drain and reclamp it which they call "burping" it. The CT san will probably be done sometime Saturday morning. They also told her she may go home Monday. Saturday they are going to decrease her fluids so they can remove the catheder and remove the drain (which will require a couple of stitches). They are going to monitor her blood pressure as it is still elevated and she may have to go home on blood pressure medicine. Lisa got up to use the restroom (cathader and all) and found herself to be very very weak from having spent two weeks in the hospital. Before she is released she will be assessed by physical therapy. It is not clear yet whether she will be moved to the floor before being released. She had her favorite nurse two days in a row which kept her spirits very high as they joke back and forth with each other. Once again Lisa sent me on a mission to obtain food that sounds good to her. This time it was guacamole and chips ffrom Whole Foods!!!! At about 7:00 I picked up Ria June from the airport and took her back to the hospital. Lisa was so happy to see her and Ria June was amazed at how good she looked!!! I will be going home today so we might not have as much information to post but will do our best. I will close by saying just how lucky Lisa is! Her doctor (Dr Meracle) said yesterday that of the patients with Sub Arachnoid hemorages like Lisa's, that 50 percent die at the point of the bleed. Of the remaining 50 percent that make it to the hospital that only 50 percent usually survive the complications caused by the aneurysm. It is a big miracle that Lisa has healed and the family gives a big thank you to everyone for their prayers. About two weeks before it happened, Lisa found a rosary in a parking lot. That rosary has either been in her hands or very close by during this entire ordeal.

November 20, 2008 Update

It was the best day yet for Lisa. They did discontinue the Tylenol Study but they explained that she will only be missing 3 doses and they will still be following her and including her data in the study. The also clamped off her drain. She had a good lunch (salad and artichoke for Bricktops) and gave herself a sponge bath. She even changed into her new light blue pajama bottoms which she loves!!! In the afternoon she didnt doze much. Dr. Meracle came in the afternoon and told her how well she is doing and hopes to send her home on Monday. He says it depends on the drain, the Doppler Scan, and Cat Scan that will be done Friday morning. The Cat Scan shows greater detail than the Doppler Scan and must be done before she can go home. The procedure takes at least an hour. Jack came to the hospital again and will be leaving for his frisbee tournament Friday. Ria June is flying in on Friday and I know Lisa will be very glad to see her. For dinner Lisa was craving P.F. Changs dumplings and beef/broccoli. She had quite a bit left that she said would be her midnight snack. She had me buy a deck of cards :) In the evening we played one hand of Battle. She says she is getting bored (ANOTHER GOOD SIGN). I will try to post something as soon as I know something on the Cat Scan. Just depends if I can get to the computer or not.

November 19, 2008 Update

There is not a lot that is different to report for the day. When I arrived at the hospital in the am Lisa was sleeping so I went to get some breakfast. When I returned she was just finishing her doppler ultrasound and she was crying. One of the nurses had just told her that the overnight blood work had come back and they may have to discontinue the Tylenol Study once again. They took blood once again and said they would have results in an hour. Depending on these results they would either move forward or suspend the study. The woman doing the doppler ultrasound said the vasospasm's were still present and the that they might have "Slightly" improved. The bloodwork came back and Lisa was able to continue the study. They are taking it on a day by day basis but normally the study only last 12 days anyway. In the study they have seven participants, one of which receives a placebo. Lisa keeps swearing that it is her that received the placebo. I tell her that if she had recevied the placeobo they wouldnt be worrying about her liver function and blood clotting factor. I bought her a nice green scarf for her hair and she put on a little makeup. Some very good friends visited and brought her one of the edible fruit arrangments. It really cheered her up. Jack came up and did some homework. She didnt sleep much during the day and had a minimal apetite. The nurse did say that they had the okay for her to sit in the chair a little each day but Lisa does not want to till the catheder comes out. Also, the doctor said the drain in ther head is slowing down which is good. He made the comment that it will permanently stay there with the contents (spinal fluids) draining in to her stomach. This suprised her. I will have to get more information on this!!!!

November 18, 2008

Got to hospital about 9:30. Lisa acted very tired like she had not slept very well. She would be talking and fall asleep. I let her sleep for a little while. When she woke up so was starving and didn't want to wait for her tray. I went to cafeteria and got her a green salad and some chicken salad which she really enjoyed. We got to visit for a little bit and she told me they had removed the morphine pump completely and was just taking the Oxicotin pain pill by mouth. The doctors had visited her before I got there and told her that they may have to discontinue the Tylenol Study due to liver function and blood clotting factor. They were going to continue it until they had results of nightime blood tests. I will know more later about that. The dopler scan on wednesday morning will give us an indication of when she may be able to go home. She has to have back to back scans (done on Mon/Wed/Fri) that are free of vasospasms and removal of drainage tube. Once those two milestones have been met it will take them an additional 2 -4 days to get her ambulatory. Ambulatory means catheder out, eating well, able to walk without assistance etc... She has not been out of bed at all since vasospams were first detected so she will be very weak. They put pressure cuffs on her legs to increase circulation and help to prevent clots. The high point of her day was me visiting the Dillards where she works, meeting all the nice people she works with and buying her a soft pink robe, pajamas, new night gown and some boxers. She had a couple of new do-rags for her head!!!!! One note that I did not mention in the beginning was when when I arrived in the morning, the nurse had posted a sign on the door reading "Please see nurse before entering". The note was put up to enforce the 2 person rule and to keep visitation times to 20 minutes with breaks of 20-30 minutes in-between so she can get the rest that is necessary to her recouperation.

November 17, 2008 Update

I arrived at the hospital about 9:30 this morning. They were doing the doppler procedure to check on the vasospasms. They were also giving her potassium in the form of this nasty tasting stuff that she does not like at all. She had made a bandanna type hat so that it would cover the shaved portion of her head and hide her hair that she has not been able to wash. Very good sign as she cares about how she looks!! I almost forgot to mention that they had put in a "pic" line (not sure of the spelling) so that she can have all iv's go in the same port. She did have multiple iv's and it was getting hard to find a vein each time they had to change it. The ultrasound study showed no additional signs of vasospasm while the doppler showed two vasospasms described as mild to moderate. The two are the same vasospasms dected in the doppler friday and have not changed. I walked again to her favorite deli and got her some soup and chicken salad. Her appetite is pretty good today and her headaches were also better. Her blood pressure went very high on a couple of ocassions but they leveled it off by adjusting her medicine. A doctor came in while I was there and she got a couple of her questions answered, mainly what has to happen before she can go home. He said first, she will have to have the drain out of her head out. This is a procedure that takes time because it has to be done gradually. It is not even close as it is still draining. Second, there can be no evidence of vasospasm. So, it will be a daily improvement with no time limit. She had several visitors today which she really enjoyed.

November 16, 2008 Update

This morning started out as a bad day for Lisa but ended on what I think is a good day. When I got to the hospital I think she was a little upset that a certain nurse was back so I think that started the day off wrong. She was up during the night with some bad headaches etc... and she was also worrying about things she DIDNT need to be worrying about. Not sure If I said earlier but they added a new pain medication that she can take every four hours and she still has the pump. There were a lot of visitors and the nurse was kicking people out which had not happened in the past. I went at lunch and bought her a chicken salad sandwich which she said tasted very good. A nurse came in and explained quite a bit about why she was feeling like she was with headaches and all. She explained that Lisa was doing very well and the headaches were actually the veins repairing themseleves. She also said that most people that have been what Lisa has gone through are not as aware of what is going on and therefore do not not feel the pain like she has. At about 3:00 they took her down for a ct angiogram which is where they put dye though her veins. She actually acted excited about going as she was calling it a field trip and asked if she needed a permission slip. When she returned she said she felt really good about it. Also, right before they took her down they switched her nurse which made a big difference in her attitude. The new nurse was excellent!! It then calmed down and it was only Caroline and I at the hopsital. She was watching a little football and in good spirits. She did not eat anything on her hospital tray and couldnt think of anything I could go get her except a Fanta orange drink. At one point a nutritionist came in to talk to her about the importance of eating to get her strength back. About 6:00 she said she was very tired and asked for us to go home that she was going to sleep. She called me twice at home (a good sign) and that she wanted me to bring Jack's laptop tomorrow. They will not have the results of the CT angiogram till tomorrow. In addition, the nurse said that it normal for a patient to be in the hospital 21 days from the first bleed in the brain but that Lisa was doing so well it could well be right before Thanksgiving if she stays on the course she is on. The said they normally do not move to the floor before coming home because they dont have the equipment to monitor so she would go straight from ICU to home!!

November 15, 2008 Evening Post

I arrived at the hospital about 5:30 while Jamie and Lauren ran some errands...Jamie has really done a lot around her house...Lisa will be very pleased when she gets home. Lisa was very alert and starving. They brought her tray and she actually ate some (pork chop, potatoes and salad). I helped her fill out her menu for the next 3 meals. I think she is slowly getting her appetite back. They had hooked up her morphine pump but funny thing she kept loosing the button that she had to push. Her bl0od pressure had dropped quite a it but they said that was due to the medicine they were giving her for the vasospasm. Slowly it went back to level where it should be. Every couple of hours they check her pupils and ask her a series of questions that she should be able to answer. Nicky and Jack came up to visit then we all left (except Nicky). We met Will for dinner and all went home. Jamie and Lauren are leaving very early Sunday morning.

November 15, 2008 Morning Post

We got to hospital about 10:30 and her head was really hurting. They had decided to not continue her Adavan (anti Anxiety medicine). Lisa was not happy at all as she really felt it was helping. They said it could mask some of the side effects they may be looking for. They agreed to give her a morphine pump rather than wait for the shot every two hours. They are continuing to keep he blood pressure elevated. Jamie got her another strawberry shake. The doctor came in and talked to her for a while and said she was doing well but that she needed to continue staying very quiet....keeping lights dimmed etc. Her head was hurting and she was a little drowsey so we left her for several hours to sleep and stay quiet.....She loves to talkkkkkkk!!!

November 14 ,2008 Evening Update

Sorry to be late in posting as I was traveling all afternoon Friday to get to Nashville with Lauren and then had no internet connection. We arrived at the hospital in the early evening. She was in good spirits and happy to see us. He temperature had elevated (third day in a row) to 101.5 and they put an ice blanket on her. She was very chatty. Will brought her some steak for dinner which she seemed to enjoy. Her head was really hurting so we left her to sleep and went for dinner.

Novermber 14, 2008 Afternoon Update

It doesn't mean she's going to have the worst possible side effects. So they're increasing her blood pressure to 160-180. She's calmed down and wants an omelet which Nicky is bringing.

November 14, 2008 Morning Update

Lisa just had her ultrasound and it showed the beginning of vasospasm so she is very upset. I'm trying to calm her but she's fearing the worst.

November 13, 2008 Evening update

Lisa was feeling OK this evening. She was trying to get them to increase her pain medication however because of constant headaches. She had a really great nurse today that just finished her 12 hour shift at 7 pm. Nicky and Jack spent a lot of time with her this afternoon. They were able to hook up a DVD player today for her and we rented the 3 movie set of Bourne Identity by her request. You'd think she want to watch a more mellow chick-flick. Anyway, I also got her an FM clock radio so she could listen to NPR and know whether it's am or pm. She really has no windows and sleeping off and on, becomes disoriented as to daytime or night

November 13, 2008

Lisa seems to be feeling really good this am. They said she didn't sleep all that well last night with headaches so she's been sleeping off and on this am. She's visiting with her friend, Vienda, who came to visit and Nicky just came back, he was here this am early. Her temperature is back to normal as they started her on antibiotics last night, not knowing yet where infection might be. X-rays showed no pneumonia. She is really talkative which is a good sign of how she's feeling.

November 12, 2008 Evening update

Lisa was running 103 deg temp tonight so they took an x-ray to see if she had pneumonia. May not get results until in the am. Just gave her something for extreme headache and nausea. She's feeling a bit better now and will try to go to sleep.

November 12, 2008 Afternoon Update

The ultrasound looked good, no vasospasm at this point, which ought to give her a little comfort for now. I talked to the nurse about why her head hurt so much today and she said it was because of all the bleeding that had occurred. She was a 3 on a scale of 3 for bleeding. Because of that, she is more likely to have vasospasm according to the nurse. She described the first couple of days as the honeymoon period and now comes the challenging time. We just need to keep praying for her.

The address for the hospital for those wanting to send cards is
Vanderbilt University Hospital 1211 Medical Center Drive Nashville, TN. 37232

November 10, 2008

Hello. Lisa's doing pretty well today. She's very talkative, but head still hurting, and uncomfortable from the cathader(sp?). She's especially anxious about what's ahead for her with this vasospasm thing. She will remain in the neurology ICU for at least 10-14 days more so they can monitor her closely and treat her with this experimental method of super high doses of Tylonal. They try to thin her blood and keep blood pressure high to maximize circulation. I really don't have anything pressing this week and feel like there's some things I could do for Lisa's house to help her for when she goes home. I don't really know what to recommend as far as anyone coming in. She just needs to be calmed, not get worked up, and needs someone occasionally to get help from the nurse or talk to a Dr. This is a great place for her to be. Medical staff is much more accessable than Presby. She's got some great friends here which has really helped.

November 11, 2008

Lisa's looking very good again today. She's currently visiting with a friend who brought her a goody bag with all kinds of mini-makeup things, so she's in heaven. She started on the super-Tylonal doses last night and I'll get back with you as soon as I've spent some more time with her.

November 12, 2008

Lisa's sleeping right now, they said she had a bit of a rough night with constant headaches and nasaua. They have elevated her blood pressure to between 160 and 180. She is still anxious about the possibility of stroke. They are getting ready to do the ultrasound of her head, a doppler actually, and compare it to Monday's to look for vasospasm. They do all the patients M-W-F. I'll let you know what they say