Sometimes the Road is Longer than You Expected

I apologize in advance for the long post.  I usually try to keep them short. :)

Well, the recovery road for my husband has been much longer than we ever expected with a lot of ups and downs and curves and rarities thrown at us.  After 2.5 weeks in the hospital he was finally released.  He'd been in the hospital since July 30th. 

He came home on Wednesday, August 15th with an IV antibiotic to help with a rare blood infection that affects the heart valves. Home Health nurses were assigned to come over and show us how we would need to change out the antibiotic every day.  They also take his vitals with each visit and in addition, I was to weigh him every morning, take his BP and temperature and record it all. The first night he came home, the nurse was there a couple of hours later and he already had a temperature high enough that it had to be reported to the doctors.  The instructions they gave were for me to take his temp 3 times a day rather than just once.

The next morning his temp was fine, only slightly elevated and nothing they would be concerned about, but as soon as the afternoon rolled around his temps started to spike and by the time the nurse came again, it was okay. That was Thursday. On Friday, the same thing started happening.  Fine in the morning, afternoon it started spiking.  By the time the nurse came it was 103 on one thermometer and 104 on another.  The nurse had to report it and we had to take him back to the hospital.  It turns out he had a blood clot in his leg and they attibuted the fevers to that. 

Finally on Monday, they released him again.  Fevers still came and with blood clots, they give you shots in the belly twice a day and a coumadin tablet, which doesn't take affect immediately so that's why they give the shots - it's a bridge until the coumadin takes affect.  Now I had to learn how to give shots. :(

With coumadin, they have to check your blood levels several times a week to see when you can go off the shots and to adjust the coumadin dosage level.  On Tuesday he had blood drawn to check that and also a very dear friend who is a cardiologist at the hospital who has been watching his case closely took another blood sample to check the CBC levels. 

By Tuesday night, he was back in the hospital still with fevers, still not feeling well.  He went back this time because his white cell count was extremely low.  His potassimum and magnesium were also low.  They finally figured out that he was having a rare, yes I said rare again, reaction to the antibiotic he was on that was supposed to be treating the 'rare' infection he had. 

They switched him to another antibiotic and gave him a boost of white blood cells, magnesium, and potassium and all kinds of other meds.  Each day they check his blood and the white cells and everything else seem to be trending up finally, but now his hemoglobin is trending down.  I am hoping beyond hope that it was part of the reaction he had to the antibiotic.  Last night they gave him two units of blood to help increase his hemoglobin levels.  I hope it works.  I am praying it works and there is nothing else going on. He's still in the hospital and the word is that he'll be there until at least Monday. 

It's been tough, especially since I had initially expected to have him home four days after the surgery. And he would be well into his recovery by now and doing things with me, with his family, with his friends. The ups and downs of being so excited that he's coming home each time only to quickly return to the hospital have been a crushing experience. 

It makes me think about all the little journey's we experience in life - not everything is easy. Of course, but sometimes we get close, so close - only to be let down. But we don't quit and eventually we find the end of the dark road we've been travelling and the journey onto a new and exciting one begins. :)

Happy writing all,
Kimberly


P.S. I still owe a story on the special moment I had with my husband after his surgery.  Coming soon. :)

Hug and Kiss Your Loved Ones Often...

A quick note to remind everyone to hug and kiss your loved ones often. :)

I came back from Australia a week early when I found out my husband was going to need open heart surgery on Wednesday.  He had it, they took him to ICU to watch him which is normal, and then right after the doctor came out to tell us he was doing good and the surgery went well, he almost died.

They had to shock him 8 times total to get him back. All the arteries in his heart were clamping shut, cutting off his blood flow. He was really unstable and the surgeon quickly came out and explained they needed to take him back into surgery. It was the longest night of my life. He's okay now, thank goodness and I have been on an emotional roller coaster all week. I burst into tears several times a day and everytime I think about it. But I'm doing all right.

Take care everyone and I'll post again about a special moment I had soon after his 2nd surgery. :)

Kimberly