DAY : 16 or 17 ANGIE’S JOURNEY 2 comments
DAY 15 : ANGIE’S JOURNEY 1 comment
Praise the LORD!!! Last night was a good night after 5 days we slept blocks of 3 to 4 hours. She had good pain control and was able again to walk halls which helps with strength and prevention of blood clots and healing. She decided that the Morphine short acting was too strong so she had them reduce it from 45 mg to 30mgs and it is going very well. Blood sugars were very stable all night. We are seeing progression, the Doctors said we would have 2 days forward and occasional 1 day back, so true so true. Our biggest learning lesson is with the medications she receives, make sure you write down every medication you are on, the dose, the time, and the name of these medications. These medications can change day to day or with each of your physicians. So it’s important that you also help the Doctor and the RN’s to know what has changed from shift to shift. In her room they have a bulletin board so we update with every change of the medication and the times it’s given. I also keep track in a journal. There are over 15 medications at this time which is actually less then previous days, so we are definitely gaining on recovery. Our nursing care has been excellent and our physicians are supreme. My other concern was about her abdomen and slow motility of the bowel. So when I inquired we found out that the bowels and stomach can take up to a month before it actually becomes fully functional. That helped with understanding and Angie not feeling so fustrated or fearing that something was wrong. It’s a beautiful day outside and Angie is determined to go outside, that is our goal for the day. God Bless everyone, keep the prayers a coming. Love to all, Beth
DAY 14 : ANGIE’S JOURNEY Leave a comment
Day 14 I can’t believe it, sometimes it feels like it flies, other times it seems to drag. This morning was the first morning with no vomiting, our big celebration was the bowels have began to move so the abdominal cramping is improving in that aspect. The hematoma in the abdomen around the gastric tube is very uncomfortable with every movement so walking is slow but very needed for healing and strength. The gastric tube is still occasionally obstructing but the RN’s and myself are diligent in flushing. With intervention radiology the radiologist will be able to retrieve what is a possible obstruction in the tube. The Dr.’s will be watching. Good news today, her blood sugars are beginning to show that her Islet cells may beginning to kick in so the Lantus which is your long lasting insulin was reduced, this is huge. Thanks for all your continued support and prayers, there is strength in numbers. God Bless!!!! Beth
DAY 13 : ANGIE’S JOURNEY Leave a comment
Sleep wasn’t too bad as long as she didn’t have to get up, unfortunately they get you up to walk a couple times a night. Did get some sleep though. Mom did sleep through most of it!!! Thank you LORD!!! Awoke with vomiting again this AM so this morning its CAT scan time. Praise GOD!! We are going to get some answers for sure!!! CAT scan at 10:00. Dr. Dunn was in room at 10:15 to show us and explain scan. I love technology!!! Great news !!!! She is healing inside and out just like they want. The scan was very informative due to the gastric tube obstructing, the contents of the stomach couldn’t flow, saw an obstruction in the tube so the problem was mechanical. Dr. Dunn flushed the Gastric tube she said she felt like a plumber and there was over 800 ml of gastric contents that came out. That helped relieve her pain and nausea!! Ct Scan also showed alot of air in the bowels so new medication added Reglan to enhance mobility in bowels. This helps every thing up stream to come out down stream and move air, stool etc. to help with cramping and nausea. To help with the gastric tube problem the RN’s will flush the gastric tube with water every 2 hours around the clock not much sleep if it doesn’t open on it’s on then she has to get up and move walk to help definitely and cycle. Little gains but were seeing small gains. Is a Journey but will be worth it.
DAY 12 : ANGIE’S JOURNEY 4 comments
Rough night again, hopefully day is better. Morning hasn’t gone real well Dr. Borja came in and injected lidocaine (a numbing medicine) all around area G-tube goes through stomach wall. Very painful but she is strong(small whimpers) GOD bless Angie!!!They were hoping for 6 – 8 hours of relief, she got maybe 2 hours. She did sleep the whole time. Dr. came in and told us CAT scan in morning to make sure there is nothing seriously wrong. They are thinking a hematoma bleed (bruise in muscle wall of abdomen) where tube goes through but want to make sure!!!! (so do we) very painful and has to heal on its own but not life threatening. Explained to us like a bad bruise on your leg (very painful but takes time to heal) only this bruise has a tube that runs through it so would be like me pressing my finger into that bruise on your leg. OUCH!!! We can live with that!!! Poor Ang, guess we will know in morning. Probably going to be another long night. Robyn, Angie’s roommate is having a bad day and they have decided to move her to another room, she may have an infection and don’t want them together. Prayer’s for Robyn please!!! Hopefully Angie and Beth get some rest!!!! Staff here is exceptional and we feel very blessed to be here. Thank you LORD!!!! Tomorrow will be a brighter day!!! GOD Bless!!!
DAYS 10 & 11: ANGIE’S JOURNEY 2 comments
Last couple days have been kind of rough. Seems if she has had a good night the days aren’t so good and vice versa. Dealing with lots of pain in area of tubing (G-tube and feeding tube) exiting her body. G-tube seems to be giving her the most discomfort but it is also larger than feeding tube. Keeping G-tube open has been a real problem. Dr. Kim(resident) came in and worked with G-tube for over an hour, he is very intrigued with it. He also made all of us smile with some card tricks. He is in his last week of rotation on transplant ward and we are going to miss him!!! Angie has always been unique and is getting real tired of it! Praise GOD !!! She has had quite a weight fluctuation also. Came in at 122lb after surgery, a few days with all the IV solution and meds 133lb, now at 115lb. Her blood sugar levels have been staying real stable now that they have her at 45ml of feeding an hour and long lasting insulin (once a day). They are checking levels now every 4 hours. Fingers are liking that a lot!!!! Praise GOD!!! Robyn her roommate is doing extremely well and is a saint dealing with all the ca motion next to her. No one said you were going to get any rest in a hospital!!! Angie has had bouts of diarrhea and vomiting with her pain. She is strong but wearing down a little. I think we all are but put on the game face!! Her mother is unbelievable and I know everyone knows where Angie gets her strength from along with the GOOD LORD!!! We leave it in his hands. GOD Bless!!!
DAY 9 : ANGIE’S JOURNEY 3 comments
Praise GOD!!!!! Angie had a great night and better day. It’s amazing how things work out when the A team(nursing staff) is taking care of you. Pain is good, food intake is good and general outlook is really good. They removed her staples from incision, upped food intake to 40ml and have her on oral meds only. Halelujah!!! Mom took her to outside court so got some fresh air. Big smile!!!! She did lots of walking and physical therapy. Walk out in courtyard kicked her rear. No more pumps life is good!!! The good LORD is taking great care of our girl!!! Keep those prayers coming!!! God bless all of you!!! Thank you for your continued support!!!
Special Thank You Leave a comment
Hey Everybody!,
Hi everybody this is Greg, I am home in Greeley but wanted to post a special thank you to Angies Mom and Dad, Beth and John :). They are awesome and have been by Angie’s side the entire time (especially Angie’s Mom) which is something very special. Thank you guys, your doing awesome, we’re getting closer everyday :). We love you guys, hang in there, you are in our prayers! 🙂 Greg
DAY 8 : ANGIE’S JOURNEY Leave a comment
It was an interesting night. Started out calm but needless to say it didn’t stay that way(imagine that). Angie had a reaction to the elixar they use to push morphine into G-tube(colored aqua). Think it might be the dye coloring, anyway it was a alergic reaction to something in it. Very anxious feeling and chest pain. Did EKG just to make sure it wasn’t heart related. Showed she has a very strong and normal heart. halelujah!!! Very long night for Angie and mom. Robyn’s surgery went very well last night. Praise GOD!!! Prayer’s were answered!!!! New life for her no diabetes now!!! Dr. Dunn and Dr. Borja were in AM. Dr. Dunn apologized about her calculations on islet count day of surgery. She had told us it was a normal harvest or a little above when actually it was a huge harvest and islets are extremely strong!!!! Praise GOD!!!!Removed J-tube!! Praise GOD!!!! also her morphine pump!!! halelujah!!!! Two more tubes eliminated!!!! Removed her central line in early afternoon!!! Thank you LORD!!! another tube removed. Rest of day was a nightmare. Nurse she had was a float nurse and should not have had Angie as a patient. Her pain and blood sugar levels got crazy!!! (I’m going to leave it at that). Evening nurse came on and had everything under control within a couple hours!!! Thank you GOD !!! and Jess. Picture is of her first drink of water after surgery. Doesn’t take much to make her happy! Small steps!! Thank you again for all your support and prayers!!
DAY 7: ANGIE’S JOURNEY 1 comment
Relief is a hair shampoo!!!
Long night again, just plain uncomfortable. Walked the halls alot. G-tube seemed to be the main culprit. Got it cleared around 4:00 am. Things calmed down along with pain. Lots of sleep (not) 4am – 7am. Dr. Dunn and Dr. Borja stopped in A.M. They are going to pull J-tube (one that drains fluids in body cavity) and morphine pump. Praise GOD!!!! 2 more tubes eliminated!!!They will now give her short term morphine orally through her feeding tube ( lasts 3 – 4 hours ). Hopefully she will get a little more sleep with this. Now we wait for the Dr. to come back and remove J-tube. Not a place to be impatient. She is snooring right now, hope that continues a while. Late afternoon get roommate (Robyn) she is getting a new pancreas, please add her to your prayer list, husband (Bret) have flown in from Kansas. Got a call early AM to fly in as they had a matching donor pancreas!!! Praise GOD!!! Angie told her all about her experience and what a fantastic surgeon Dr. Dunn is along with her team!!!! I think she helped calm her fears a little. Showed her what her incision will look like and all the tubes (don’t know if that part calmed anything) haha!! Dr. Borja came in and told us that they would remove J-tube in morning as they were preparing for Robyn’s transplant. We don’t mind, we want Robyn’s surgery to go as smoothly as possible and for them to concentrate only on her. GOD is watching over you Robyn!! I apologize for not explaining why they are watching Angie’s blood sugar levels so closely. They want to keep levels between (80 -120) so to keep the islets dormant, if BS levels get close to(200) islets will try to start producing insulin before they have had a chance to establish themselves in liver and die. This usually takes 2-3 months after islets transplant. Angie is getting bloated again, Mom is flushing G-tube, it sure is nice having your own personal nurse. Flush has helped some with bloating but not enough. They have upped her tube feeding to 30 ml an hour, (probably reason for her discomfort) but she needs to get to 45ml. I think its time for the E word again( poor Ang another enema). Time for Dad to head back to hotel. Just got word it worked, no bloating or pain.(hallelujah) Much more comfortable, should be a good night for both of them. Putting her back on Senakot and Colace (laxative). Nobody said life was easy!!! The good LORD is taking really good care of our girl and she is really progressing each and every day. The doctors, nurses and staff here are unbelievably fantastic!!!! We are so blessed. Thank you all for your support and prayers!!!!