First, thank you all for your comments, concern, and love. I would reply to you each individually but just no time or energy but every one of you, those whose names I know and all the anonymous, have touched my heart.
They wouldn't let me stay overnight in the ICU so I would go home every night and come back in the morning but it was only a 30 minute drive. After the first day on IV antibiotics it appeared to be starting to bring the white blood cell down and very minor improvement in the infection but the second day it was all going back up again. This hospital didn't have a pulmonologist on staff so Tuesday they brought in a teledoc pulmonologist to confer. He still wasn't eating, no real change. By Thursday he was feeling a little better but still wasn't responding to treatment which involved IV antibiotics, breathing treatments, oxygen, etc., still not eating, heart rate still high so they brought the teledoc back in. He recommended a bronchoscope, a procedure where they put a tube down his throat and into his lung for a look see that can also collect phlegm and tissue and flush out the lung. The problem was, this hospital couldn't do it so Thursday night, Feb. 2, they transferred him to a hospital in Victoria that agreed to admit him.
Victoria is an hour away from home so I didn't get there until late morning on Friday and missed the initial consult with the pulmonologist who didn't think that the procedure was immediately necessary, that the bacteria causing the infection is very virulent and aggressive. So he changed the IV antibiotic, continuing the treatments and meds, adding others. I've been staying there with him since he's not in the ICU, just acute care. I've been home for just for one night during his second week in hospital and came home Thursday (the 9th) to take care of some things, pay some bills, love on my dog and cat, etc. My sister has been taking care of them during the day and my grandgirl has been staying at night.
So long story short, he is slowly responding to treatment. While the phlegm he was finally able to cough up didn't produce any bacteria the doctor surmises it's already dead and is just a matter of clearing the lung from the solid consolidation of gunk and the small pockets of bacteria that might remain. White blood cell count is slowly coming down, heart rate slowly coming down, still on oxygen. Finally started eating Saturday the 4th, every day feels a little better, a little stronger, every day a little more himself, every day his mental acuity improved.
Thursday (the 9th), his 12th day in one hospital or another, the bottom half of his lung is starting to show some clearing, top half still dense. The pulmonologist feels he's on the right track, wants to keep him on IV antibiotics through Sunday and settled on an oral antibiotic he felt would continue to fight the infection which they will start on Monday and which he will have to take for at least 6 weeks but he figures it will take 3 months for his left lung to be completely clear of the infection.
They started physical therapy last Wednesday and Thursday the pulmonologist and the floor doctor both recommended in house intense physical therapy, 3 hours a day spread out over the day, for 7 – 10 days which they can do there on a different floor, still a medical floor but with the focus on PT but it depends on if our insurance will pay for it and we are still waiting to hear. I'm headed back to the hospital tomorrow (Sunday). The pulmonologist will be back doing rounds after the weekend off, it will be 4 days between x-rays and I want to be there when the doctor comes by.
Prognosis is good, the doctor expects a full recovery from the pneumonia and then he can start treating him for the emphysema. He'll have to be on oxygen at home but we expect that to be a temporary measure. If he gets to do the in house PT, he should be strong enough not to need a walker when he's released. He is fully committed to doing whatever it takes to regain his health.
I'm doing my best to take care of myself, being good about eating even when I don't feel like it, and getting as much rest as I can, one of the reasons for coming home now and then because no one is getting much rest in the hospital, in fact I slept most of the rest of the day after getting home on Thursday.
Well, this is far too long, I had thought to break it up into two posts, but didn't so next: trouble comes in threes.
Oh no! More trouble? I sure hope some relief is in sight for you all. I'm very impressed with his progress, and do hope he is able to get the PT.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'll wait to hear the next trouble and concentrate on Marc tonight. I don't think or speak so well at night, so you can take all of this with the usual load of salt. I think the treatment is good; not aggressive but getting the job done. Physical therapy will be important, to open lung cells (sacs?) as much as possible. Thank goodness for your sister and your granddaughter.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking of you and Marc and am relieved to read this update that things are going in the right direction with a good prognosis. It's so good that your sister and grand-daughter can help out with the dog and cat. Good support means so much. I hope all goes well in every way. Please take care there.
ReplyDeleteEllen, thanks for the update. So good to hear Marc is making progress. PT will definitely help but sounds like they are really going to sock it to him hard and heavy. Thinking of you both, Barbara Richman
ReplyDeleteThanks for the updates x two. Self-care is equally important and news of progress/improvement is relief and good news for everyone. Be well.
ReplyDeletePlease Goddess, I hope it's not too bad. You have been through so much. I'm hoping that nothing bad happens again for a long, long, long, long time. Take care of yourself, the hospital will take care of your husband. When he comes home you will need to be strong for him so don't forget yourself.
ReplyDeleteI've had pneumonia twice in my life but never so bad, "only" needed rest and antibiotics. Still took me weeks every time to get going again. Be patient with each other, recovery may be a long road but it gets easier every day. And works best with supportive company. You'll get there.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a general pattern. Never had a day's ill health, never been off work, never seen the doctor. And then old age (let's say older age) makes a difference and the body starts playing catch-up with all those missed visits for prophylactic reasons.
ReplyDeleteI never smoked but I was brought up in an unhealthy industrial city in the north of the UK. Later we lived fairly close to London in a densely populated sub-suburb with lots of traffic. Each year on the dot I caught a cold which became a racking cough and on one occasion developed into what could have been pleurisy or even pneumonia. Twenty-five years ago we moved into Herefordshire, under-populated, agriculture the prime county-wide earner, a house on the very fringe of the countryside. No more racking coughs. But I was able to pursue diagnostic tests in comparative good health.These revealed bronchiectasis, coupled with various recommendations.
Mid-sixties I was still ski-ing. Seventies I had to give that up for long-distance swimming (based on proper breathing crawl). That too went. When cancer came a calling two years ago I was in my mid-eighties and I felt forced to shrug my shoulders. If not that, then something else? I've been incredibly lucky. But if I hadn't left the North, hadn't left the London-centric south... might I have written this comment?
My sympathy goes out to you. One marries with "sickness and in health" acknowledged. How much influence may one - should one? - attempt to exert? Are we true individuals or must we bend to others' individuality? These are unanswerable questions. You done good when it mattered. Consider that.
Glad to hear that Marc is making progress. So exhausting for both of you. Sorry to hear that you might have more trouble. Hope all calms down soon.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't any 'fast' recoveries from something like this, but things clearly are going in the right direction. I'm so glad you've been able to get good care, and I'm especially glad you're giving yourself those necessary breaks. When my mom was in and out of the hospital for this and that, it was hard to come home and not worry about her, but I eventually was able to take a mental break from it all, too. As one nurse told me, "You don't need to worry about her when you're at home. We'll do that for you." I sure do hope that the next trouble isn't your health.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad Pam and granddaughter are helping the home front, but what an exhausting time for you both, at different hospitals. I'm praying your insurance covers his care. That's the last thing you need to be concerned about right now.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you posted an update and I'm glad Marc is better. I hope your insurance comes through on the PT. I'm also glad you're taking care of yourself! I've been wondering and worried about you both -- I hope things get more or less back to normal soon. I'm looking forward to more posts about Big Mama and your porterweed! (AKA life as usual!)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update, it does sound as though there is some improvement. Pneumonia is scary stuff. Do continue to take care of yourself, important not to lose sight of the need to do that.
ReplyDeleteWell your last sentence sounds ominous. I am so happy to read that he's improving.
ReplyDeleteThings do sound a little better! My dad had a bronchoscopy & that's how they determined what kind of bacteria he had. They gave him antibiotics and steroids - I think the steroids helped clear things up faster.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you're taking care of yourself. And I await with trepidation this third thing!
On the bright side, Marc is more than halfway to quitting smoking cold turkey. No more cigs, Marc.
ReplyDeleteThis must have been terrifying, but good to know he is on the mend. What a time you have been through, with the hospital an hour away. Obviously, you do what you must, and you do it with so much heart. I am sorry I am only just now catching up here.
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