The Waiting Gameby Jim
1 Jan 2023
8:01 pm0
Angie got her second dose of Remdesivir this afternoon and they’ve been able to lower her oxygen a little bit, but she still has a way to go. The medication they are giving her is hard on your liver, so they’re also checking her blood regularly to make sure it’s safe. She’s been able to talk to her family a bit today, though, if she talks (or laughs) too much, it lowers her oxygen levels and she gets in trouble with the nurse. She’s in relatively good spirits and seems to be doing well. Next dose will be tomorrow afternoon. Please keep praying for her speedy recovery.
Fighting COVIDby Jim
1 Jan 2023
11:01 am0
Angie has a lot of people who care about her health and it is getting difficult to get the word out to everyone, so I’m going to be posting here. I’m sorry the site looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2001, I’ll see about fixing that. Please don’t be surprised if things look different when you come back in the next couple days.
Last night I took Angie to the hospital because she tested positive for COVID and had a little difficulty breathing the night before. Since I also have COVID, I was unable to accompany her into the hospital. She is unable to take Paxlovid because of the other medications she’s on, and so our only option to get her the treatment she needs was to take her to the ER. We consulted with her on-call cardiology staff and they recommended that we do just that.
Late last night she got her first dose of Remdesivir, an antiviral that helps to prevent the spread of the virus. She tolerated it well and slept without a problem. This morning when they tried to lower her oxygen flow, her blood oxygen levels dropped. They won’t let her go until she can maintain her levels with only room air. We’ve heard different stories from the nurse and doctors about how long this treatment usually lasts, but she may be in for a few days while they get her back to a safe place.
TL;DR
Angie is doing well, getting the medicine she needs, but still requires oxygen.
And We’re Doneby Jim
5 Feb 2020
4:02 pm1
The nurse just finished discharging us. Dr. Lui came by to chat for a few minutes this afternoon. He seemed more optimistic than he was a few days ago and it sounds like while this recent incident was not a good sign, as long as we can keep the arrhythmia under control, we shouldn’t have to advance to the next stage, which at this point is getting on the transplant list. While we know that we’ll need that lifesaving surgery eventually, we want Angie to stay healthy and get as much mileage on her current organs as possible.
Thank you for following along on this visit. Thank you also for your thoughts, prayers, and concern for us. It really means a lot to have such a great support network. The doctors here have mentioned what a difference it makes and I’m grateful we are blessed with such a wonderful one. Hopefully, if everything goes well for the next couple weeks, we’ll be light on news for a few years.
Sinus Rhythm!by Jim
5 Feb 2020
12:02 pm0
They just did a device check and determined that Angie has had no episodes of arrhythmia since the cardioversion. That’s great news! That means we should be going home today. Hooray!
UPDATE: The attending doctor just visited us and used the words “discharge papers,” which means we should be only hours away from going home!
Probably Leaving Todayby Jim
5 Feb 2020
10:02 am1
We were just visited by a pair of doctors. They listened to her breathing and checked a few other things. They told us that she’s been in normal (sinus) rhythm as far as they can tell, so unless something changes, we’ll get to go home tonight. I’m sure we’ll get some more information about follow-up appointments before we’re actually discharged, but it’s great that doctors are talking about going home. It usually takes a few hours to get the whole process finished from when “going home” is mentioned and when you’re walking out of the hospital.
Gray Hairsby Jim
4 Feb 2020
1:02 pm1
We just heard from the doctors. Dr. Lui and Dr. Khandelwar and a few other younger doctors in training came and spoke to us about what the plan is. Angela was in arrhythmia for so long that they want to watch her overnight to make sure she stays in sinus (normal) rhythm. They want to keep her on the amiodarone unless she flips back into arrhythmia. So, if her heart behaves, we’ll go home tomorrow. If she goes back into arrhythmia, we’ll stay for several days while they transition her back to the dofetilide and do another cardioversion. We’re hoping for option 1. Everyone seems to be pretty hopeful. I could tell they were pleased that the procedure went well this morning. It was a big difference from yesterday when the doctors, especially Dr. Lui, seemed very concerned about where we were. Things are definitely looking better from here.
There was a very tender moment just before the doctors left. Angie pulled off the hair cap they put on her before going into the OR and told Dr. Lui she wanted to show him something. “Look, I have gray hairs because of you. Not because you gave me gray hairs, but because I’ve lived long enough to have gray hairs. That’s because of you. Thank you.” He didn’t really say much after that. I could tell it meant a lot to him and that he was getting emotional. He’s really a wonderful doctor. We’re very fortunate to have him on our team.
Never a Dull Momentby Jim
4 Feb 2020
12:02 pm1
Just a few minutes after my last post, the fire alarm went off. The policy at the hospital is to shelter in place unless otherwise directed. Everyone in the waiting area was very relieved when the alarm finally stopped ringing. It’s a digital tone, but it is definitely loud enough to get your attention. A few minutes later, the nurse came to bring me to recovery to see Angela. She’s smiling and in good spirits. The doctor that did the cardioversion wanted to keep her sedated as short as possible because the longer you’re in sedation, the harder it is on your body and the longer it takes to wake up. That’s why they only did one zap. Fortunately, that means that Angie is awake and feeling well, all things considered. I’ll post again when we have word from the doctors about the next few days’ plan.