Aside from the frustration of the blood vein difficulties, Christy seemed better today. Her temperature was comfortably under 100 degrees, her blood pressure had come back up to a more healthy state and was stable, and her wounded area was not as painful as it had been.
2. Christy's Kellogg doctor decided that Christy would be better served by being transported to Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d'Alene. The doctor in Kellogg thought the wound might need surgery or another kind of treatment that is outside the scope of the what Shoshone Medical Center can provide. A little past midafternoon, Christy took a ride in the ambulance to Coeur d'Alene where her room was ready for her and the ambulance guys whisked her, without delay, right to where she needed to be.
Once in her room, a staff member got her hooked up the an IV immediately, a great relief for Christy that this procedure went so smoothly.
3. I arrived at Kootenai Medical Center at about 6:30 and was happy to see Christy settled in, looking comfortable, all things considered.
Christy's surgeon's Physician's Assistant had examined Christy's wound before I arrived. Her assessment was encouraging and she thought it was possible that Christy wouldn't need surgery.
While I was there, Christy's surgeon examined her. He decided he'd prefer to take a less aggressive and invasive approach to treating Christy's wound and infection.
He told Christy and me that he'd been treating this kind of wound for fifteen years and that when he was younger, he would have immediately performed surgery. He told us that over time, he has learned to be more patient, learned to let the healing capacities of the patient's body do its work, aided by antibiotics. Therefore, he prescribed patience. He wants Christy to stay at Kootenai for a few days under observation. He wants to study more fully the tests that were done in Kellogg and the reports that were submitted. He also wants to see the results of a culture that was taken from the infected area to make sure Christy is being administered the right medicine.
The doctor's calm demeanor, his sure tone of voice in recommending no surgery, and his having quite a bit of experience with infectious wounds were all assuring and the news that she won't, for the time being, have surgery, was a relief.
*****
I'll add as a footnote, for my own record, that when I returned home from the Kellogg hospital in the early afternoon, I got a text message from the credit union wondering if I had made a purchase with my debit card at Wal Mart. Once I replied "no", the fraud department blocked my debit card and I called the credit union's main office to get more details and to order a new card. I'm grateful the fraud protection worked so well.
Luckily, the Deke and I have a checking account we rarely use uptown at Wells Fargo, so I withdrew some cash, hoping it will get me through the next 7-10 days until my new card arrives.
This bit of business delayed my trip to go see Christy. My drive over to CdA was difficult, dark and sleety. Once I got to Kootenai Medical, I was disoriented by the dark and the rain. Finally, I figured out where to go -- some memories from last summer kicked in -- and I made it to Christy's room.
The drive back was much easier and I dropped in at the Inland Lounge and relaxed with some rum and coke, enjoyed yakking with Cas, Tracy, Harley, Candy, and Joanne, and was happy to return home and tumble into bed after a full day.
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