One day before LadyBug was supposed to be released from the hospital, her leg started swelling up and turned red. She was in extreme pain, so the doctors had another scan. They believe the clot formed in her ankle and migrated upward. It is now to her thigh area, and is around 18 inches long, with a thickness close to that of your little finger.
They have taken her into surgery again, to drill a hole the length of the clot. They believe the blood flow, combined with medication they will administer will break the clot up completely. This surgeon has had good results with this process before, so is hopeful, even though LadyBug was not responding as they had hoped to the blood thinners before.
So now, LadyBug will be in the hospital at least another 24 hours. I will hopefully be going up to get her on Saturday. Although, this may not happen, since we don't know how she will respond to the surgery and medications. The surgeon is confident the clot will be gone before she leaves the hospital. Of course, if they keep her longer, his chances obviously improve, so I really have no clue how soon she will be released.
All of this would be easier if the hospital wasn't over 100 miles away! We simply don't have the gas money for me to go up, since LadyBug isn't working. And I hate the idea of her being up there without me. Her sister, brother-in-law, and our son StarGazer have been visiting her, but I miss her terribly, as she does me, and I hate the fact that all these things are happening while I am almost two hours away trying to keep things together.
People here keep asking what they can do for us. I have to answer that I have no clue what they can do for us. I can't eat most of the things anyone would bring. LadyBug isn't here to eat food, smell flowers, read cards, or whatever. She is stuck in a hospital and I am stuck in Limbo.
You want to know what you can do? Call Mr. Hospitalsman, the guy who has built most of the medical facilities in the northern part of the state, and convince him to put a radiation clinic in our cancer clinic so patients don't have to drive so far every flipping day. Put a major hospital a little closer to the sticks so those of us who live in the middle of nowhere can see surgeons without emptying our bank accounts for gas. And contribute to cancer research. Let's find a way to cure this, and prevent it!
3 comments:
So they said the clot was harder than usual and difficult to cut through, but they managed to get through it. The also performed an angioplasty by going up her leg and through her heart, I guess to come back around. I'm not sure of the details. She is on Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA, which is normally used in cases of heart attack or stroke, but is a clot-busting drug that is very effective. They hope this will finish the job.
She is in ICU, and will be there for awhile.
I am so sorry she has to go through all this. I just keep praying for you all. I know it is frustrating.
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