Rachel Update
Rachel thanks everyone for the support you've given her - my friends here and her friends on the Wild Wolf Society. Thank you everyone!!
Rachel also would like me to update everyone on her condition. She is constantly on an IV of saline solution - water and a little salt to keep her body hydrated. We found out much later that when Rachel arrived at the ER, her pulse and blood pressure were high and she was very dehydrated. She took 3 bags of the saline solution in a few hours! And those bags are what, like a liter each?
Anyway, the doctors are suggesting she either has Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease, with them leading more towards Ulcerative Colitis - a sigmoidoscopy test will determine the answer and that is scheduled for Monday morning. (Rachel gets 2 enemas before her sigmoidoscopy - she must be rolling around in her hospital bed for joy!) Her large intestines and bowels are still inflammed as indicated by the cat scan. She also is having trouble eating, to the point where she is hungry but can not bring herself to eat as she knows sickness will occur. What has she been able to keep down? Jello, about two or three little cups and lunch today was beef broth which made her feel sick most of the day. Also she has been drinking water which is very good!
Rachel's medicine? Besides the saline solution, Rachel receives a narcotic through her IV for the pain. Once it wears off, she is back at square one with screaming pain. She is also on two different types of antibiotics as a just-in-case situation the inflammation in her intestines is from an infection. White blood cells were found in her stool - but hey, there was visable blood in her stool too. Guess what's in blood - white blood cells! D'uh! So testing for white blood cells to indicate infection proves nothing. Rachel is also receiving a drug - I forget what - for the nausea. She is constantly nauseas - another reason Rachel does not want to eat. Who wants to eat when it constantly feels like an up and down roller coaster? You? Well strap on the feed bag 'cause you're gonna HURL!! Okay, so that was a bad joke... It's all I can muster. Today the doctor's have also added an anti-coagulation medicine that is a shot to her tummy. Oh, and let's not forget the Nexium! Another drug through IV, but at dinnertime today they gave her a pill instead. HHmmm... Did she take that one before or after she threw up today? I honestly don't remember... Nexium is the purple pill for stomach problems - it will prevent some of the stomach acid production in the stomach.
What about me? I'm tired, but here. I've been by Rachel's side from 10AM to 8:30PM when visiting hours occur, but I have been staying later because no one kicks me out promptly at 8:30PM. Instead I stay a little longer until Rachel is calm and ready for sleep. The hospital cafeteria serves some good meals and they are really inexpensive to boot. Lunch was a salad topped with a large chunk of salmon, a banana, and turkey and sweet potatoe soup. Dinner was a chicken cesaer salad, a banana, and a piece of sugerfree cake (I think it was a pound cake). Dinner was $4.90 and lunch was in the $6 range because of the soup. Breakfast has been McDonald's - my regular breakfast of egg & cheese on a buscuit, fruit and walnut salad, and a large ice tea (unsweetned). So yeah, that's how exciting my life is right now, but I need to be by Rachel's side through all this. She needs me now like never before. Hospitals can be a scary place, though I think the ER had Rachel the most scared - she didn't know what to expect or what was going on with herself.
So that is the Rachel update! I'll let you know what's happening when it happens.
Rachel also would like me to update everyone on her condition. She is constantly on an IV of saline solution - water and a little salt to keep her body hydrated. We found out much later that when Rachel arrived at the ER, her pulse and blood pressure were high and she was very dehydrated. She took 3 bags of the saline solution in a few hours! And those bags are what, like a liter each?
Anyway, the doctors are suggesting she either has Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease, with them leading more towards Ulcerative Colitis - a sigmoidoscopy test will determine the answer and that is scheduled for Monday morning. (Rachel gets 2 enemas before her sigmoidoscopy - she must be rolling around in her hospital bed for joy!) Her large intestines and bowels are still inflammed as indicated by the cat scan. She also is having trouble eating, to the point where she is hungry but can not bring herself to eat as she knows sickness will occur. What has she been able to keep down? Jello, about two or three little cups and lunch today was beef broth which made her feel sick most of the day. Also she has been drinking water which is very good!
Rachel's medicine? Besides the saline solution, Rachel receives a narcotic through her IV for the pain. Once it wears off, she is back at square one with screaming pain. She is also on two different types of antibiotics as a just-in-case situation the inflammation in her intestines is from an infection. White blood cells were found in her stool - but hey, there was visable blood in her stool too. Guess what's in blood - white blood cells! D'uh! So testing for white blood cells to indicate infection proves nothing. Rachel is also receiving a drug - I forget what - for the nausea. She is constantly nauseas - another reason Rachel does not want to eat. Who wants to eat when it constantly feels like an up and down roller coaster? You? Well strap on the feed bag 'cause you're gonna HURL!! Okay, so that was a bad joke... It's all I can muster. Today the doctor's have also added an anti-coagulation medicine that is a shot to her tummy. Oh, and let's not forget the Nexium! Another drug through IV, but at dinnertime today they gave her a pill instead. HHmmm... Did she take that one before or after she threw up today? I honestly don't remember... Nexium is the purple pill for stomach problems - it will prevent some of the stomach acid production in the stomach.
What about me? I'm tired, but here. I've been by Rachel's side from 10AM to 8:30PM when visiting hours occur, but I have been staying later because no one kicks me out promptly at 8:30PM. Instead I stay a little longer until Rachel is calm and ready for sleep. The hospital cafeteria serves some good meals and they are really inexpensive to boot. Lunch was a salad topped with a large chunk of salmon, a banana, and turkey and sweet potatoe soup. Dinner was a chicken cesaer salad, a banana, and a piece of sugerfree cake (I think it was a pound cake). Dinner was $4.90 and lunch was in the $6 range because of the soup. Breakfast has been McDonald's - my regular breakfast of egg & cheese on a buscuit, fruit and walnut salad, and a large ice tea (unsweetned). So yeah, that's how exciting my life is right now, but I need to be by Rachel's side through all this. She needs me now like never before. Hospitals can be a scary place, though I think the ER had Rachel the most scared - she didn't know what to expect or what was going on with herself.
So that is the Rachel update! I'll let you know what's happening when it happens.