A Quiet Day

Another day in the hospital...Compared to yesterday, today has been nice and quiet. Esther tolerated the blood transfusions last night without complications and some of her lab values looked much better this morning.

Early this morning, Esther had an echocardiogram. The machine was brought right to her bedside so she was able to pretty much sleep through the half hour procedure. It was scheduled yesterday even before the flip-flopping episode in the recovery room. Bacteria in the body can sometimes migrate to the valves in the heart. No one is expecting there to be any problem with Esther's heart, but the doctors thought it would be wise to double check. I haven't yet heard the results of the scan.

Despite the Meropenem and Tylenol, Esther continues to sometimes act feverish, even when her temperature is normal. At one point today when she wasn't registering a fever, Esther was sleeping on her back with the blankets pulled up to her chin. As usual, a floor fan at the side of her bed was blowing directly on her head. Her cheeks were bright pink and hot to the touch. Her tousled hair framed her freckled face. She looked very peaceful, even angelic, lying there in the bed. If you knew how miserable and unhappy she was yesterday, you would appreciate today's angelic look even more. (smile!) When she woke up, both she and her bed were soaked with sweat.

The infectious disease doctor dampened my excitement a bit today. I was very glad to finally have an explanation for the weeks of sickness. I was ready to take it on, conquer it, and get Esther home and healthy. After yesterday's findings, the good doctor was still not confident that we know everything that is going on with Esther. Sure enough, this afternoon we got results from yesterday's fecal culture. Esther has C. diff. That is discouraging news! They have added a second antibiotic to her list of medications to try to knock it out. At this moment, it appears that the C. diff is in addition to whatever is causing the infection in Esther's gut. Hopefully more time and information will reveal all.

The other troubling issue that needs clarification is the cause of Esther's canker sores. When I say that Esther has canker sores, I am not referring to everyday, run of the mill canker sores. These puppies are huge! And they hurt a lot! She has recently developed some new ones. This often makes eating and drinking difficult for her.

Someone asked about sending emails to Esther in the hospital. I can't get the in-text link to work right now, so look for a link down in the column on the far right. From there you can follow the directions and send an email to Esther. I'm sure she'd love to hear from many of you. Esther's room number is Baird 586.