Day 19: The Hospital Again

Today I headed up to Everett again to be with mom while she got her stomach drained.

I will say this for Everett/Providence Hospital. They are timely. Every time I've been there with mom, they get her right in at her appointment time. Today was simply an outpatient procedure in Radiology. However, I don't think it went exactly as any of us had hoped.

I went back with mom while my boys stayed out with my dad. We got back into the room and the ultrasound tech asked mom a couple of questions. Then the radiologist came in to do the procedure and I mentioned the fact that when mom had her stomach drained in the hospital 3 weeks ago, her blood pressure really dropped. The ultrasound tech and the Radiologist both stopped and looked at each other and said they'd be right back.

They apparently went and pulled my mom's file (why hadn't they done this sooner?!) and then the ultrasound tech came in and said that the Radiologist was calling mom's Oncologist. The tech said that in mom's file, they could see that mom's blood pressure dropped to "dangerous" levels when they drew the fluid last time.

No one had taken mom's blood pressure. There wasn't even a cuff in the room and that's why I asked the question. I am convinced that the reason mom had to be in the hospital for as long as she did was because her blood pressure was so low and I didn't want that to happen again.

Finally, after about 1/2 hour, the Radiologist came back and said that the on-call Oncologist (mom's Oncologist is gone this week), said to only remove a liter and a 1/2 of fluid. This isn't nearly as much as we'd hoped. The Radiologist had 5 one-liter bottles ready initially. Mom was disappointed and I felt terrible. But I didn't want mom ending up admitted again. I didn't want to see crash carts. And the tech and the Radiologist both reiterated that they didn't want mom's pressure to drop.

They did bring in a portable blood pressure cuff. Mom's initial reading was 116/67. They said it was constantly running, but that number never changed the entire time...so I'm not sure what was up with that...

But the one and a half liters were removed pretty quickly. Mom said she felt some relief, but I don't think it was near enough. The Radiologist then informed us that there is a procedure that can be done where some fluid is inserted to keep the blood pressure stable and then they can remove more of the nasty fluid that is causing mom's bloating and pain. So, I called the cancer center to talk to them about this. I'm expecting a call back in the morning. If mom does go back for that procedure, she is admitted and it takes a few hours, but it shouldn't be an overnight sort of thing.

So, although I think today was somewhat successful, it was maybe not as successful as we hoped. I'll see what the nurse says in the morning and we'll take it from there.

I'm getting to know my way around that hospital. The staff has been very helpful and nice. I just don't understand why in the 21st century things can't be a little more in sync. But that's why I intend to be there every time she goes to the hospital. I'll be her mobile medical file. ;-)

It's time for bed. I had to work tonight too. Came home, dropped off the boys, ran back to work, just getting home. I'm not sleeping well, but "some" sleep is necessary, so it's time to get the boys to bed (they were SO good today) and see if I can rest my bones a little too.

And we'll see what tomorrow holds...