Move day, full day Tuesday

Hi friends and family,

What a day we've had, full of activities.

Starting last night at 5pm we got word that MMC would be ready for Anne at 10:30am. 

I arrived at Springbrook at 9:30am to get Anne ready, then like clockwork, at 10am today the ambulance vehicle pulled into Springbrook and Anne was taken from there to Room 575 in Gibson Pavillion at Maine Medical.

Anne was having a nice morning before leaving Springbrook, doing well, but tired.  I asked if she was keyed up about moving back to Maine Med and she said 'yes'.   She said she hadn't slept very well overnight.

It is making such a difference to be here.  It's brighter, cleaner, there are professional nurses everywhere.  Anne is pretty psyched to be here.  The transition here was good, at least until they tried to install Anne's IV.  It took 4 tries.  Perhaps her veins are worn.

Dr. Ebrahim came in around 3ish.  He had waited for blood testing results to come back.  He was totally encouraged about Annes blood testing results this afternoon.  He said the blood protein numbers were much better than he expected, which was encouraging as an indication of her liver function. He said lots of her numbers looked good.  What a relief to see him.

He wants to remove at least one litre, or 2 pounds of fluids from Anne's body every day.  He may stop when 20 odd pounds are reached.  It will be done methodically.

Shortly after getting here and settled I had asked the nurse to replace the catheter that Anne came here with from the other place.  I was never happy with how it was working, we had asked to have it checked several times last week, and it seemed every night that Anne would call for the nurse to tell her that she had an urge to pee.  That didn't make any sense. Anyway, the catheter has been replaced with a shiny new one. 

Dr. E. has ordered lasix via the IV.  And another diuretic drug he called Bumex.  I haven't looked up the official spelling.  Our nurse also said they're going to use a diuretic called Spironolacton.  Maybe that is the Bumex.  Everything has 2 names ya know.  None of the Ethacrynic Acid will be used anymore.  I was told the IV lasix is way more effective than the pill form.

I can't tell you how pleased I am, and emotional too.  The fluid is flying thru this catheter into the bag.  I can litterally see the fluid rising in the tube.   The bag was emptied once already, only 1 1/2 hours after it was set up.  It holds 2500 ml, and it was almost half full, filled up to the 1000 level.  For the past week we've been waiting for something like this to take place, but it never did at Springbrook.  We don't know if it's the catheter, IV lasix, or a combination, but we're so relieved about what is going on here.

Today it was good to have some of Anne's friends and co-workers from Town Hall come in to visit her.  I actually asked them to come in and they couldn't wait.  Anne was glad to see them.

Dr. E. had ordered a Picc Line for Anne this afternoon.  That was after the IV had been installed, oh well.  The Picc line is like a central line, a fixed IV near her bicept that is sort of like a medi-port in that it can be used to administer meds, blood can be drawn from it, and it can be used for up to a year according to the tech who installed it.  They did it with ultrasound machine (?) and it took about 45 minutes to complete.  It is working like a charm, so the IV that was so troublesome to install has been removed. 

Laurie has been spending tons of time with Meme this past week, and we're so grateful for the help she's been.  She is so nurturing and loving.  It's been great.

Dana and Laurie have teamed up to take care of our pets Dixie and Beasley every day since end of November, and I am so grateful for that.  I don't know what we'd have done without that help.  I don't have to worry about it, and the pets are very important to Anne and me.  What a relief.

Tonight Anne ate her supper of haddock, mashed, green beans, and a tossed salad with ranch.  I think she enjoyed her dinner a little too much, and now she's complaining about belly pain.  It's getting worse by the minute.  She must've had that 'one or two bytes too many'.  Poor kid.

Another thing about today, the Dr. didn't order her the the oxycodone.  Anne's been living on it for months.  But, this afternoon when Anne had pain they offerred Tylenol 650, and, low and behold, it did the trick.  I like the thinking.  The fewer narotics the better.  We'll see.

It's 8:20pm now and I'm ready to head home on this icy night.  It'll take me a while to get there this day.  I'm so much more comfortable leaving Anne for the night than I was last week.  I hope she'll have an ok night, but right now she's fighting thru alot of belly pain.  As soon as it starts to calm down I'll say goodnight.