Day & a half off vent, Visiting hours, No Amphoterrible

Denise has been off the vent since early yesterday morning... well over a day & a half! When I visited earlier today, she was talking so much, it's gotten to the point that I can't remember all that she's said. I contrast this to about three months ago when Denise was sedated and I felt her squeeze my hand ever so slightly. She said she slept well last night (the doctor said he didn't). Her vision is blurry (might be due to blood pressure meds, doctor is having opthomology check her eyes tonight). She told me that she feels loopy, almost like she's in a dream, and said that she'd like to stay off the drugs because she's had weird hallucinations. I'm glad that she recognized these things (tonight's nurse said that Denise was a little concerned about being harmed, but calmed down with a little gentle conversation & reassurance). Today she was asking about the kids, we talked again about our scheduling & whether I was visiting her enough. Being that she's all about being mommy, she liked that I was spending as much time as possible with the kids. She also echoed advice to not wear myself out, since that would be bad for both her and the kids. Considerate as she is, she was apologizing to the nurse for having to be cleaned up so much. Usually I've had to leave during a cleaning, but Denise asked the nurse if I could stay this time. I assumed that it might be out of paranoia that she'd be harmed, but Denise later said that if I left, she'd have to wait longer to be cleaned up. Since I stayed, I got to help and she got cleaned up faster. She thanked me for all I've done for her during this ordeal. There were so many other things she said... as I stated before, I can't remember all the things we talked about. It was glorious!

VISITING HOURS: Effectively 8am-7pm
Call ahead 323-442-8893, Room 714
The doctor is trying to confine Denise's activity to the daytime so that her day/night cycle will kick in.
This morning I saw new sign on Denise's window:
8am to 8pm: Lights on, curtains open, call O.T. & P.T. (occupaitonal & physical therapy) on demand in between procedures.
9pm-7am: Lights out, curtains closed, sleep (ZZZZZZZ), no visitors.
Please note that between 7-8am and 7-8pm, no visitors are allowed due to the shift change.
Also, a nurse said that visiting between 8pm and 9pm may be iffy, since there will probably be a mad rush to get things done before they give her the meds to go off to sleep.

The stats for the scrub jockies that are following Denise's progress:
Heart rate 101-108, blood pressure 91-108 systolic, temps 100.2-100.6, hemoglobin 11 (was 8 yesterday before the units of blood), white count 8, hematocrit 33, creatinine .4, I believe I heard that the nasal oxygen hose is set to under 2 liters.

Other accomplishments & developments today:
-She signed her name into some birthday cards.
-With some help, she sat at the edge of her bed for 8 minutes. At first, she felt light-headed. I thought overheard the doctor say that before they sit her up next time, they'd try to give her a bolus of albumin. I could well be wrong on what I heard, because I remember albumin being an indicator of kidney problems.
-I asked about the status of the Amphotericin and found out it was discontinued a couple days ago. No wonder she wasn't feeling the shivers, shakes, aches, etc. The doctor said that the thought came up that maybe her problems are that she's been on so many antibiotics. So they stopped them, excepting the voriconazole for the valley fever. By the way, Denise's parents just told me of another person they know that died of valley fever at the age of 41, after battling it for about two weeks. That's the third person we've heard of that's died from this since Denise came down with it.
-And now, you finally get to find out why there's a picture of a toilet at the top of tonight's post. Denise got to see the fancy toilet in her room for the first time. It's built in under the sink. When you open the cabinet door, this stainless steel beauty swings out with it. If they start carrying these things at Home Depot, maybe I'll install one in the kitchen. Of course you want to see a picture, so there it is.

Posted in: