2.17.11

AYNSLEY:
Mom was admitted to Overlake last night/this morning around midnight. They started an IV of antibiotics, but don't know where the infection originated or where it is now. Later tonight she'll have a CT scan to check things out. Tomorrow the port will come out of her chest-there's definitely some infection going on around there, so the doctors feel it's best to get the port out. They put a line in her arm that is supposed to do much of the same thing the chest port did, except be used for drawing blood.

I'm not sure how in depth I've gone about the chest port, but it was put in to eliminate the need for any IVs in her arm. She would get all IV medicines (including chemo) and fluids through it and any time she needed to have blood drawn, it came out of that. It was a really great thing while it lasted because she wasn't tethered to lines by the arm and she didn't have to have any needle sticks.

Mom also needs to have an EKG to make sure the infection isn't in her heart valves, which is a very rare possibility. But this cancer is pretty rare and her blindness as a result of it is really rare, so I take the "it's a very remote possibility" assurances with heaps of salt.

I'm not sure what this means for the chemo schedule; I am assuming that it will be disrupted and re-evaluated. I'm also not sure if the CT scan can also tell us anything about the state of the cancer and the effects of the chemo so far. We were going to have a CT scan after her next chemo treatment, so maybe this will double our investment? Or not, I really have no idea about these things. And when I was asking my dad a little bit tonight, he told me I sounded like an attorney and not in a good way. It's hard to be a control freak when the situation you want to control is 3000 miles away and 3 hours behind.

I'm learning.

Despite the obvious setbacks and discomfort, I think both of my parents aren't terribly unhappy to be back in their old Overlake wing. They know all of the staff (who, of course, have all been stopping by to say hi and check in), they know the routines, they like the food-seriously, this little hospital stay may be the best my dad's eaten in weeks. I mentioned that while he was there, he might as well enjoy a bagel and lox and he replied that he'd already had it. They think they'll probably stay through Saturday, but everything is still up in the air. I'm sure we need all of the test results to be in before any decisions are made. In the meantime, Mom's room at KGH is being held for them.

In other, personal news, I've decided that being paralytic about Gary's and my wedding isn't doing anyone any good (okay, I had some help deciding this-I'm very blessed to be surrounded by brilliant people who can help me see beyond my own myopic little world) and we've decided to just set a date and hope for the best. It's not ideal and the venue may still change, but I realized that plan it or not, the time will pass and I'll have to do something eventually. So, it will be much smaller scale in all factors: guest list, celebration duration, festivities, food, etc. Well, it won't be smaller scale on the emotion level: I think the conscious love and appreciation for family and friends in that room will far exceed any of the original plans we ever could had made.

http://www.aynsleyandgary.com/