This morning Anne was discharged. She still has some labored breathing and shortness of breath if she over does it with physical activity.
Dr's did not want to do anything else to try and solve the problem. They think Anne needs much more time to recover from the esophagectomy.
Anne has some new anti-inflamatory meds to take too.
The majority of time in the hospital the past 5 days was used in taking xrays, ekocardiograms, etc, etc, and with various Doctors analyzing those test results and discussing those together. At the same time Anne was taking meds to reduce the amounts of fluid in her body.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Long Weekend In The Hospital
Anne will be in Maine Medical Center all weekend. She is being treated with diaretics and monitored. The diaretics are being used to try and reduce fluid around Anne's lungs and heart.
This morning Dr. Poulan came in and told Anne that he thinks these diaretics will work. All of the Drs working on this problem agree that there is fluid near the lungs and heart, but the amount of fluid doesn't alarm them. They do not want to do anything to invasive at this time.
We learned that Anne's diaphram is out of place, higher than it should be. It may be a result of the esophajectomy. It is keeping one of Anne's lungs from filling to capacity, thus the shortness of breath and chest pain.
Other than that there isn't much news to report. Let's hope and pray that this plan is going to help Anne feel better.
Thanks for reading.
This morning Dr. Poulan came in and told Anne that he thinks these diaretics will work. All of the Drs working on this problem agree that there is fluid near the lungs and heart, but the amount of fluid doesn't alarm them. They do not want to do anything to invasive at this time.
We learned that Anne's diaphram is out of place, higher than it should be. It may be a result of the esophajectomy. It is keeping one of Anne's lungs from filling to capacity, thus the shortness of breath and chest pain.
Other than that there isn't much news to report. Let's hope and pray that this plan is going to help Anne feel better.
Thanks for reading.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Anne Hospitalized again
Yesterday we went to Maine Cardiology Associates for a scheduled appt for an EKO Cardiogram. This was a follow up to the one done 2-3 weeks ago which showed a small amount of fluid around Anne's heart. Drs weren't concerned with the amount of fluid found at that time, but scheduled this EKO Cardiogram so as to do a comparison.
A bit more fluid was found yesterday, and the Dr. (Dr. Z) (Sze) was concerned. He arranged for Anne to be admitted to Maine Med for additional testing which would determine whether a procedure would be necessary to remove fluid from around Annes heart or lungs.
Anne hasn't complained very much (I wish she WOULD complain more and sooner), but she has had chest pain and has been unable to exercise due to shortness of breath. She felt that she had pulled a muscle getting into the pickup last weekend, she was wrong. Now, this fluid is suspected to be causing the pain and shortness of breath.
If you remember, Anne has sufferred from both plural effusions (fluid near the lungs) and paracardial effusions (fluid near the heart). Now, several Drs are analyzing lots of numbers and test data, and they work as a team to share ideas and to agree on the best approach.
This morning Anne went to the 8th floor for a test where they inserted a catheter/wire thru the groin and pushed it up thru a vein near to her heart in order to check for pressure (from fluid), and determine how the heart was performing. This test did not 'hurt'.
Dr. Poulan completed this test and spoke with me and he said there was pressure around both sides of the heart. With that, he would recommend a procedure be scheduled asap to remove or displace the fluid from the area around the heart. It would be done via a small incision (a simple surgery). A 'window' would be made in there so fluid could escape from around the heart, and move to other areas of Anne's body where it can and should dissipate on it's own. Some of the fluid will be captured and sent away for testing, i.e. for pneumonia, bacteria, etc.. the fluid is said to be caused by inflamation from the surgery, i.e. just like any wound drains fluid.
At this point, the latest plan that the Drs have agreed to is to use a needle this afternoon, bedside, to remove fluid from the area near the left lung. They concur that this is the least invasive thing that will do Anne the most good at this time. They will observe her afterwards and this weekend to see how she does with that. If she worsens, there are other more invasive things that would be considered to solve the problem (alleviate the pain and eliminate the shortness of breath). At present, we wait for the bedside procedure to happen. The team of Drs are interested in doing this as soon as possible. Anne is resting comfortably.
A bit more fluid was found yesterday, and the Dr. (Dr. Z) (Sze) was concerned. He arranged for Anne to be admitted to Maine Med for additional testing which would determine whether a procedure would be necessary to remove fluid from around Annes heart or lungs.
Anne hasn't complained very much (I wish she WOULD complain more and sooner), but she has had chest pain and has been unable to exercise due to shortness of breath. She felt that she had pulled a muscle getting into the pickup last weekend, she was wrong. Now, this fluid is suspected to be causing the pain and shortness of breath.
If you remember, Anne has sufferred from both plural effusions (fluid near the lungs) and paracardial effusions (fluid near the heart). Now, several Drs are analyzing lots of numbers and test data, and they work as a team to share ideas and to agree on the best approach.
This morning Anne went to the 8th floor for a test where they inserted a catheter/wire thru the groin and pushed it up thru a vein near to her heart in order to check for pressure (from fluid), and determine how the heart was performing. This test did not 'hurt'.
Dr. Poulan completed this test and spoke with me and he said there was pressure around both sides of the heart. With that, he would recommend a procedure be scheduled asap to remove or displace the fluid from the area around the heart. It would be done via a small incision (a simple surgery). A 'window' would be made in there so fluid could escape from around the heart, and move to other areas of Anne's body where it can and should dissipate on it's own. Some of the fluid will be captured and sent away for testing, i.e. for pneumonia, bacteria, etc.. the fluid is said to be caused by inflamation from the surgery, i.e. just like any wound drains fluid.
At this point, the latest plan that the Drs have agreed to is to use a needle this afternoon, bedside, to remove fluid from the area near the left lung. They concur that this is the least invasive thing that will do Anne the most good at this time. They will observe her afterwards and this weekend to see how she does with that. If she worsens, there are other more invasive things that would be considered to solve the problem (alleviate the pain and eliminate the shortness of breath). At present, we wait for the bedside procedure to happen. The team of Drs are interested in doing this as soon as possible. Anne is resting comfortably.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Home Again !
On Thursday Anne was looking and feeling better. A pulmonary Dr came to evaluate Anne. He did some breathing tests. He didn't find anything of concern.
Anne came home late on Friday.
There was no pneumonia, and no concern for any fluid around Anne's heart or lungs.
Anne came home late on Friday.
There was no pneumonia, and no concern for any fluid around Anne's heart or lungs.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Hospitalized once again !
Hello all readers,
Anne was hospitalized this morning.
This all started at 1am Tuesday (yesterday) morning. That's when she awoke with breathing difficulties at home. After a couple hours with no improvement we called the 'rescue' and I followed Anne into the ER. After ER found nothing they sent us home around 10am and we needed to try to catch up on our sleep.
We followed up with Dr. MacGillivray's office in the afternoon and he ordered a CT Scan. With that, we headed into Brighton Medical for the CT scan at approx 3pm. We understood that the CT would help rule out any blood clot problems in the chest area. Dr. MacGillivary left word that we were to stay at Brighton until he had a chance to call and speak with Anne directly, however he was still in surgery. At about 7pm he was still busy in surgery, so his office sent us a message saying that he wanted Anne to go to the ER. We headed to the ER and then Anne was admitted to the hospital from there by 1am.
The word on the CT scan is that there are problems in Annes chest. There are questions about a potential for pnemonia in her lungs, also fluid around her lungs, and also for fluid around her heart. It's now about 1pm and we don't have a plan of attack yet.
Dr. MacGillivray was here this morning and told Anne this was unusual for this recovery. He referred us to a cardiologist due to his concern about the fluid around the heart. The cardiologist was here and ordered an EKO Cardiogram, to get more information about the fluid around Anne's heart. We do not still have any results from that or a plan of attack as of yet.
Anne is resting, I would say less than comfortably, because she can only get small breaths. She isn't visibly complaining or visibly in trouble, but I know she would be much happier if she could take a deep breath. She's also be happier if we had a diagnosis and a plan. Before much longer we should know what might happen from here on.
The cardiologist just told me that if there is much fluid around the heart that they can go in with a needle to drain that. I asked him about the pneumonia and fluid around the lung linings. He said that there was nothing crucial regarding those concerns. He said his team of residents will be making their rounds shortly, and thay they hoped to have the results of the EKO cardiogram by then.
Anne was hospitalized this morning.
This all started at 1am Tuesday (yesterday) morning. That's when she awoke with breathing difficulties at home. After a couple hours with no improvement we called the 'rescue' and I followed Anne into the ER. After ER found nothing they sent us home around 10am and we needed to try to catch up on our sleep.
We followed up with Dr. MacGillivray's office in the afternoon and he ordered a CT Scan. With that, we headed into Brighton Medical for the CT scan at approx 3pm. We understood that the CT would help rule out any blood clot problems in the chest area. Dr. MacGillivary left word that we were to stay at Brighton until he had a chance to call and speak with Anne directly, however he was still in surgery. At about 7pm he was still busy in surgery, so his office sent us a message saying that he wanted Anne to go to the ER. We headed to the ER and then Anne was admitted to the hospital from there by 1am.
The word on the CT scan is that there are problems in Annes chest. There are questions about a potential for pnemonia in her lungs, also fluid around her lungs, and also for fluid around her heart. It's now about 1pm and we don't have a plan of attack yet.
Dr. MacGillivray was here this morning and told Anne this was unusual for this recovery. He referred us to a cardiologist due to his concern about the fluid around the heart. The cardiologist was here and ordered an EKO Cardiogram, to get more information about the fluid around Anne's heart. We do not still have any results from that or a plan of attack as of yet.
Anne is resting, I would say less than comfortably, because she can only get small breaths. She isn't visibly complaining or visibly in trouble, but I know she would be much happier if she could take a deep breath. She's also be happier if we had a diagnosis and a plan. Before much longer we should know what might happen from here on.
The cardiologist just told me that if there is much fluid around the heart that they can go in with a needle to drain that. I asked him about the pneumonia and fluid around the lung linings. He said that there was nothing crucial regarding those concerns. He said his team of residents will be making their rounds shortly, and thay they hoped to have the results of the EKO cardiogram by then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)