I'm writing this blog post on Sunday evening, August 2. I visited Christy for about four hours today and will once again combine two days, Saturday and Sunday, into one post. As always, if I've missed the mark to some degree in any of this summation, it's not by much and what I've written is in the ballpark.
1. I learned this morning that sepsis is not a diagnosis but a constellation of symptoms resulting from the immune system's overwhelming response to an infection. On Friday, Christy's extreme tiredness, dropping blood pressure, perspiring, and disorientation were symptoms not merely of sepsis, but of septic shock.
Christy came out of septic shock Friday and now has come out of sepsis. Her blood pressure is better, her heart rate is in range, her oxygen levels are in range, and she's not confused. I might have left out an improvement or two but you get the picture.
What a relief.
Still in question: where is the infection that triggered her body to respond the way it did?
It appears not to be in the tiny amount of liquid aspirated from her hip.
I also might be that the antibiotics she's had infused into her system knocked out the infection and the source will remain unknown. This is not uncommon.
2. Today, the medical professionals focused much more of their attention on Christy's ailing right hip and painful upper right leg. If all goes well on Monday, the orthopedic doctor she has an appointment to see on Wednesday will visit Christy in her room at Kootenai Health. Until the doctor talks with Christy, I'm going to hold off on writing about her hip and I don't know what kind of treatment lies ahead. (Oh! Before I arrived to see Christy this morning, a hospital orthopedic doctor had been in to see her, but I'm not very clear about what he had to say and the hospital doctor who visited Christy later on said his notes weren't available yet. So I'm putting that doctor's visit aside.)
I do know, however, that while I was in Christy's room, two therapists visited her around noon, asked a bunch of great questions, washed her hair, helped clean her up in other ways, helped her get out of bed and into a wheelchair, apprised the nursing staff of how Christy ought to be helped physically while in the hospital, and were encouraged by how well Christy responded to the very limited kind of movements they helped guide and physically support her through.
One of the pros was an Occupational Therapist and the other a Physical Therapist.
Christy will be visited by therapy pros again on Monday and it looks to me like a larger plan for her treatment upon being discharged (don't know when that will be) is beginning to take shape.
3. I've done a little self-therapy myself, mostly with food and caffeine. On Saturday it helped relax me after I left the hospital to eat tortilla chips, make myself a strawberry milkshake, eat a small bar of dark chocolate with almonds, and to put Trader Joe's eggplant, tomato, and onion on a piece of Indian flatbread and top that product with olive tapenade and crumbled feta cheese.
I have enjoyed relaxing at the hospital at the Big Blue coffee counter with a 16 oz latte and a chocolate muffin both yesterday and today. I thought it was a very good sign today that Christy asked me to bring her a 16 oz vanilla latte which she said really hit spot. Christy's appetite hasn't been strong and I'm really glad the vanilla latte gave her pleasure.
