Thank you all so much for the thoughts and memories you have expressed here.
On Sunday, the 17th, there will be a wake from 2PM to 4PM and from 6PM to 8PM at:
DeVol Funeral Home
10 E Deer Park Dr.
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
http://www.devolfuneralhome.com/
On Monday at 11AM there will be a service at:
Grace United Methodist Church
119 N Frederick Ave.
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
http://www.graceumc.org/
In lieu of flowers, we ask that anyone interested please make a contribution in Barbara's name to the Montgomery County Humane Society, http://www.mchumane.org/memorial.shtml.
Thank you,
David
Friday, August 15, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
This is David, Barbara's brother. For those of you who have not heard yet, I'm sorry to post that Barbara passed away last night due to a blood clot which reached her heart. I know that throughout her struggle she greatly appreciated all of the well wishes that everyone posted here, and on behalf of her family we want to thank you.
A service will probably be held in Gaithersburg, MD this weekend or Monday, but all of these details have not been worked out yet. One of us will post here when we know more.
A service will probably be held in Gaithersburg, MD this weekend or Monday, but all of these details have not been worked out yet. One of us will post here when we know more.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
back in the waiting room...
Because Barb is back in the operating room. But not as much this time. It's better than it could be.
They did do the CT scan and find blood clots -- actually, they termed it one single blood clot, running from her knees to her liver in a contiguous mass in her vein system, which is kinda big. There are two ways to deal with a blood clot like that -- you can feed a person anticoagulants, so her blood won't clot at all, and the clot will dissolve, or you can whack it with a hammer and break it up yourself. Sparing no expense, the doctors here decided to do both.
They started her on Heparin right away, which would prevent the clot from growing further. They then made preparations, and just now brought her into the arthroscopic surgery room. (I may not have spelled that right. I don't feel bad about it.) The procedure, which poses minimal danger, is to send a little robot scopey guy, named Albert, up the veins in the back of her knees. The robot has two tools attached, a high-pressure water gun and a vacuum cleaner. He will find the lower end of the clot, blast it with his gun to dissolve it, then vacuum up the dissolved bits. He will then continue up the vein, and repeat, until he has made his little robot way up to her liver, by which time he will have opened a pathway up for blood flow.
I am told that this description, while easy enough for me to understand, is not exactly technically accurate (e.g., the robot's name is actually Mortimer). However, it is correct in substance, and it will do as far as I'm concerned. The procedure, they assured us, is extremely safe. The more dangerous part comes afterwards, when they put her on blood thinners and anti-coagulants for a few months. They plan to monitor her for clot progress (the remnants of it should diminish over time without further intervention) and keep her on blood thinners until they can't find clot anymore.
Good news? Her liver's working great. Her kidneys are working great. She's put on a lot of weight through swelling, but it's all water and should go away quickly once circulation is restored. The operation today will leave at most two external wounds, punctures in the skin which can be repaired by a simple band-aid -- only a few millimeters in size. Things aren't too bad, and there are a lot of silver linings in sight.
But man, all these new clouds rolling in sure is starting to get old. We'll update as we can. Think positive thoughts.
They did do the CT scan and find blood clots -- actually, they termed it one single blood clot, running from her knees to her liver in a contiguous mass in her vein system, which is kinda big. There are two ways to deal with a blood clot like that -- you can feed a person anticoagulants, so her blood won't clot at all, and the clot will dissolve, or you can whack it with a hammer and break it up yourself. Sparing no expense, the doctors here decided to do both.
They started her on Heparin right away, which would prevent the clot from growing further. They then made preparations, and just now brought her into the arthroscopic surgery room. (I may not have spelled that right. I don't feel bad about it.) The procedure, which poses minimal danger, is to send a little robot scopey guy, named Albert, up the veins in the back of her knees. The robot has two tools attached, a high-pressure water gun and a vacuum cleaner. He will find the lower end of the clot, blast it with his gun to dissolve it, then vacuum up the dissolved bits. He will then continue up the vein, and repeat, until he has made his little robot way up to her liver, by which time he will have opened a pathway up for blood flow.
I am told that this description, while easy enough for me to understand, is not exactly technically accurate (e.g., the robot's name is actually Mortimer). However, it is correct in substance, and it will do as far as I'm concerned. The procedure, they assured us, is extremely safe. The more dangerous part comes afterwards, when they put her on blood thinners and anti-coagulants for a few months. They plan to monitor her for clot progress (the remnants of it should diminish over time without further intervention) and keep her on blood thinners until they can't find clot anymore.
Good news? Her liver's working great. Her kidneys are working great. She's put on a lot of weight through swelling, but it's all water and should go away quickly once circulation is restored. The operation today will leave at most two external wounds, punctures in the skin which can be repaired by a simple band-aid -- only a few millimeters in size. Things aren't too bad, and there are a lot of silver linings in sight.
But man, all these new clouds rolling in sure is starting to get old. We'll update as we can. Think positive thoughts.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Two steps back...
So, they moved her out of ICU and into a normal inpatient ward last night... and tonight, she's back in ICU.
A little frustrating, and we've been a little crazy today, so I hope you'll forgive if this is a shorter post. Basically, her swelling has recurred and gone a little crazy, so they are doing a CT scan tonight (in about an hour) to check very thoroughly for blood clots. If there aren't any, then she's got a Foley catheter (one of the things that she gratefully had lost yesterday), and they'll give her some diuretic pills until she loses all that excess fluids. If there are, then they'll give her blood thinners until they go away. (If there are and they're in the wrong place, there's the possibility of further surgery, but let's not even think about that, OK? Thanks!)
Anyway, you now know all that I do, and I'll post more when more happens. Sorry if I haven't been on the ball with this blog thing all the time, but oddly, internet access is much better in the actual ICU than in the lower wards. You get what you pay for, I guess. Next time, we're going to do this whole hospital stay thing in a GOOD hotel.
A little frustrating, and we've been a little crazy today, so I hope you'll forgive if this is a shorter post. Basically, her swelling has recurred and gone a little crazy, so they are doing a CT scan tonight (in about an hour) to check very thoroughly for blood clots. If there aren't any, then she's got a Foley catheter (one of the things that she gratefully had lost yesterday), and they'll give her some diuretic pills until she loses all that excess fluids. If there are, then they'll give her blood thinners until they go away. (If there are and they're in the wrong place, there's the possibility of further surgery, but let's not even think about that, OK? Thanks!)
Anyway, you now know all that I do, and I'll post more when more happens. Sorry if I haven't been on the ball with this blog thing all the time, but oddly, internet access is much better in the actual ICU than in the lower wards. You get what you pay for, I guess. Next time, we're going to do this whole hospital stay thing in a GOOD hotel.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Now, back to the star of our show...
My stuffed bear, Hope, and I are proud to announce that we made it through this endeavour together. Yes, surgery and all. The surgeon and anesthesiologist agreed that "special friends," as long as of the inanimate variety, were allowed in the operating room. He even got a hospital bracelet of his own.
After Del read me all the posts that he had written of the earlier stages of both surgery and recovery, I am pleased to say that I remember almost none of this. I remember some of yesterday and today, and the rest is a mystery (wrapped in an enigma) that can only be told to me by others who witnessed it.
My biggest accomplishment for the day was being able to have my catheter removed, and go potty all by myself! Mommy, WOW! I'm a big kid now! (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)
With all that said, I am woman, I am invincible, and I am TIRED. More tomorrow...
After Del read me all the posts that he had written of the earlier stages of both surgery and recovery, I am pleased to say that I remember almost none of this. I remember some of yesterday and today, and the rest is a mystery (wrapped in an enigma) that can only be told to me by others who witnessed it.
My biggest accomplishment for the day was being able to have my catheter removed, and go potty all by myself! Mommy, WOW! I'm a big kid now! (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)
With all that said, I am woman, I am invincible, and I am TIRED. More tomorrow...
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Middle of the night post
She's feeling OK, sleeping OK, and using push-button drugs (it's called PCA, or patient-controlled analgesic -- she gets a steady flow of drugs into her epidural, and she can push a button on a little remote to get a little more every so often; if you push the button eleven times in a row, it only works the first time, which seems unfair). She's probably going to move to a new room tomorrow. She had some clear liquids today, like broths, jellos, soups, and juices. She's feeling more and more human.
Human plus a big hack across the ribcage, but human nonetheless. I don't really have much news to update, but I didn't want anyone to get the entirely unlikely thought that I might ever forget to update the blog. (No, really, I'm not defensive!)
Did y'all catch that swimming relay race? It seemed like awesome competition, until you realize they're doing fencing, judo, and taekwondo today, and all three of those might get five seconds of airtime total. If anyone finds video of the judo online, let me know, OK?
Human plus a big hack across the ribcage, but human nonetheless. I don't really have much news to update, but I didn't want anyone to get the entirely unlikely thought that I might ever forget to update the blog. (No, really, I'm not defensive!)
Did y'all catch that swimming relay race? It seemed like awesome competition, until you realize they're doing fencing, judo, and taekwondo today, and all three of those might get five seconds of airtime total. If anyone finds video of the judo online, let me know, OK?
Quick update and non sequitur
Barb's feeling enough better that they're starting to wean her off her pain meds/epidural, which in turn is making her feel less better. It makes perfect sense, really. She did walk a few steps today, though, and they're planning on staging her out of the ICU into a normal room tomorrow. (Jeannie, they were discussing that this morning, which is why I told you I thought it better to hold off a day -- if you can come tomorrow and she's in her own room, it will be a little roomier, a little more private, and a little less noisy.)
There's a guy in the segment next to her in the ICU, just staged back here from the war. He got his face damaged pretty well by an IED -- or, if you prefer English to army talk, a bomb. He says that whenever he sleeps, he feels like he's getting blown up again. They're working with him, both to reduce the swelling enough in his face that he can open his eyes (I don't think he's outright blinded, but his eyes don't open at the moment) and to get him the meds and therapy to work with the post-traumatic stress disorder -- or, if you prefer English, to the shell shock.
He's hostile and angry, which seems understandable, and the nurses handle him well. He mostly has had males assigned as his nurses; when he cusses at them, they talk him down, help him focus, and try to bring him to a place with less hurt and fury.
This doesn't have anything to do with the InvinciBarb blog, or any of her medical issues -- she's been distracted enough with pain and discomfort that she may not have noticed that dude at all. I have, though, and I'm both moved by the sacrifices that people make in the name of love for their country and by the art and compassion of the medical professionals that try to repair them. When you're saying a prayer for Barb tonight, which I hope that you will, save a thought for those people, too...
There's a guy in the segment next to her in the ICU, just staged back here from the war. He got his face damaged pretty well by an IED -- or, if you prefer English to army talk, a bomb. He says that whenever he sleeps, he feels like he's getting blown up again. They're working with him, both to reduce the swelling enough in his face that he can open his eyes (I don't think he's outright blinded, but his eyes don't open at the moment) and to get him the meds and therapy to work with the post-traumatic stress disorder -- or, if you prefer English, to the shell shock.
He's hostile and angry, which seems understandable, and the nurses handle him well. He mostly has had males assigned as his nurses; when he cusses at them, they talk him down, help him focus, and try to bring him to a place with less hurt and fury.
This doesn't have anything to do with the InvinciBarb blog, or any of her medical issues -- she's been distracted enough with pain and discomfort that she may not have noticed that dude at all. I have, though, and I'm both moved by the sacrifices that people make in the name of love for their country and by the art and compassion of the medical professionals that try to repair them. When you're saying a prayer for Barb tonight, which I hope that you will, save a thought for those people, too...
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