karenulijohn

In addition to the Afib yesterday which carried over into today and was finally controlled with IV amiodarone, the monitors showed that Harvey’s oxygen saturation had dropped to 80 percent. This is the fraction of oxygen-saturated hemoglobin relative to total hemoglobin  in the blood.  Normal blood oxygen levels in humans are considered 95-100 percent.  In addition, the nurses were hearing crackling in the lungs which is a sign of fluid collecting, and that can lead to pneumonia.  All of these things put together raised some red flags, and he was whisked to radiology for a CT Scan.  The scan showed a small blood clot in the lung.

Dr. Gregory Rossellini, a pulmonary specialist, recommended that Harvey be placed on a blood thinner such as Heparin.  The anesthesiologist disagreed because Harvey still has the epidural catheter.  In addition, the suggestion was made that they insert an IVC (Inferior Vena Cava) filter to capture any further blood clots that he may produce.  Fortunately, Dr. Graves has the final say on any treatment, and he arrived shortly after I left today.  Harvey called me a short time ago to let me know that, in the end, they removed the epidural catheter and are controlling his pain with a PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia) Pump in which the patient presses a button to self-administer doses of pain relieving drugs.  He will be given blood thinner medication after twelve hours when the epidural drugs have cleared his system.  Best of all, absolutely no IVC filter.   Apparently, Dr. Graves was quite adamant about that.  His nurse today is Steve, and Harvey said that Steve got him up and had him walking around quite a bit.  He really sounded so much better this evening.

Tomorrow the nasogastric tube will be removed and the contrast drink will be administered to determine how well the internal stitches are holding the anastomosis.  I had planned to stay home tomorrow, but given the events today, I determined I just need to be with him.  When I told him I would be coming, he said he was secretly delighted.

I have to give special thanks to Bob and Carol Murdock, who drove me to the hospital today and stayed with me through all of the unsettling events and discussions.  I was so glad they were there, not only for moral support, but also to backup my understanding of the discourse.  I was sorry that I was not able to introduce them to Dr. Graves and Dr. Becker.  However, I did find out that Dr. Becker has moved on and a new “docling” (as Dr. Graves’ Residents are called) is working with him.  I wonder if he is as cute as Dr. Becker?