An update on mom
"I spoke to Mom’s doctor today.
They were trying to decide what to do, weighing risks vs benefits, etc. They wanted to check the water in her lungs to see if the fluid is infected. However, they would have to take her off the Koumadin in order to tap the fluids, which would put her temporarily at risk for blood clots. To mitigate that risk, they would put her on an IV blood thinner which has a shorter shelf life, and then a few hours before the procedure, would take her off the IV blood thinners, so there would be a short window where she is at risk for blood clots. Of course, invasive procedures always have inherent risks, especially given her multiple illnesses.
The purpose of this procedure would be to see if her lungs were infected, and if they were, they would have to drain the fluid (basically, insert a chest tube to drain). I can’t remember whether if she had a chest tube they would have her off the blood thinners the entire time.
Anyway, I asked the Dr what she would do if it was her mom…and she was also unsure. Because mom has so many different things going on, there is always risk of adding to the problems by doing an invasive procedure. The lung doctor wanted to go ahead with the procedure…but he’s a lung doctor and gets paid to do those procedures (business school knowledge coming in handy). I know mom doesn’t really like invasive procedures, so I asked what the other options were and whether she was responding to the antibiotics they currently have her on. Mom has been responsive to the antibiotics so the Dr suggested we try putting her on stronger/more effective antibiotics for the next 24 hours to see if she responds positively. If she does respond positively, we can try to continue on that course. If she does not respond positively, we can reevaluate our options on Saturday and probably do the fluid test to verify infection."
Back in tonight after the movie, and if there are any other updates, I'll let you guys know. Radio silence continues since I don't have internet at the hospital, but I'll try and reply to every IM/mail/message/whatever when I get home tomorrow morning.