Scotts On The Rocks Blog

Thank you so much for the thoughts and prayers and calls and gifts and flowers, etc, I’m overwhelmed. Y’all ask how I am feeling… honestly… tired. But better.

My head still hurts a bit every day but my vision has improved drastically. While it’s not up to my own personal specs… I truly feel I can “see” the improvements; maybe not every day, but more often than not 😉 I’m still hyper-sensitive to loud noises and I have no idea if that will ever subside. I “think” my reading/spelling has improved, but be wary that while I might sound like I know what I’m talking about, it’s obvious I still make serious mistakes (and minor ones too 😉 ) Definitely don’t trust me with dates and numbers… even if I sound convincing… 😉 Spell check doesn’t yell at me quite so much but I often find myself trying to sound out words spell check doesn’t recognize… gettin’ there though 😉

There is no such thing as sleep in a hospital, so saying I’m exhausted from lack of sleep would be inadequate! It’s nice to be home and rest when I can, without the torment of needles! 😉 I know it’s been literally months since I have slept, so I have to be patient and not try to catch up all at once. I truly think I need a few more days before I can even consider any type of activity.

Hopefully, I can recoup enough to do “something”… anything, before summer is over and school starts again. I kinda feel like Rip Van Winkle… I had a headache and took a nap around Easter….

I’d love to thank everyone personally and I have no idea how to do that. I may just start practicing writing/typing short letters… to… everyone 😉 Therefore, I might need you to get me your address. I know I’ll probably never be able to repay the kindness… It’s a thought anyway…

Thank you again for lifting me up!

See previous posts for what’s going on, this is updates only… don’t forget some funnies in between 😉

http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/07/07/updates-070713/

12:15am it’s hard to tell if i am winning at gin rummy because i’m good or cheating 😉

1:45am hoping to get comfy & rest a bit

5:00am made me put the oxygen back on 🙁

6:30an

07,20am my iv alarms are only set to alert during shift changes….

10:30am think i get to go home soon but have to clear all the ot/pt stuff like last time….

10:50am cleared for stairs… if courtney helps… just think about that when “death by stairs” occurs 😉 slow & steady was fine but we failed the three legged race 😉 apparently my “texas” axcient is out and i’m back to being “the fun patient” again 😉

11:20am you know you must’ve been in a bad way when the non-english speaking staff manages to excitedly tell you that your face is pink now and they were praying for you!

11:30am done w/ shower so i suspect they will release me sooner rather than later?

11:55am doc said i’m cleared to leave. figure it’ll take a couple hours… keep ya posted.

12:50pm i have left the building. while you might assume HOME, you’d be wrong… i need REAL FOOD…. and i’m gambling it’ll be worth the pain!

1:20pm …home…

See previous posts for what’s going on, this is updates only… don’t forget some funnies in between 😉

http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/07/06/updates-070613/

12:10am new saline bag. walked around room a bit. ashley becoming quite the pro at connecting & disconnecting all the devices & cables. 🙂

2:50am back was tired so got up & walked around room. came & took my vitals since i am up 😉

i’ve dozed off a couple times but i’m sure ashley hasn’t slept a wink!

04:05am sigh…. my favorite pros cant stick me 🙁 … got up walked around room, heat pack….

04:35am success…. blood drawn… wait on labs now….

6:20am meds delivery 😉 walk abt room a bit

6:50 gonna sit in chair a while….

8:30am been sitting/walking since earlier. ashley left & jeff on his way up 😉 sitting doesnt sound very impressive but i’ve convinced myself it’s progress 😉

9:45am jeff is here now & i spent all morning walking or in chair. ate breakfast in chair. kinda tired now but was hoping to get the lab results. gonna rest for a while… keep ya posted.

10:30am successful ptt blood draw… its taking them longer to even find veins & then they dont always bleed good. while they have one they’ve been grabbing every ounce 😉 got up and walked around some but back to napping it is.

11:00am labs results from earlier hemoglobin 9.8 & hematocrit 30 ptt 45

11:20am changed the heparin drip… still not theraputic

11:40am vitals 101, 65 po 85

12:30pm nap interruptus by very loud wrong number… and i was comfy with a nice warm cooked blankie!

1:05pm gonna start the xeralto tonight, then discontinue heparin, call in ot/pt people to make sure i can function at home…. maybe go home tomorrow.

3:15pm the iv alarms are set to only go off if i’m dozing off with a warm blankie… cant start xeralto till around 8pm so in a hurry up and wait pattern.

5:50pm xeralto in, heparin off, dinner (or something) served

7:10pm NO, NO, NO laughing…. even if i started it!!!

9:00pm changing of the guard, courtney is here, she made me laugh… i had to kill her 😉

11:45pm new saline bag. and i made us laugh again…..

See previous posts for what’s going on, this is updates only… don’t forget some funnies in between 😉

http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/07/05/updates-070513/

07/06/13 12:05am blood drawn… guess they’ll turn drip on soon? head kinda hurting now?!

12:30am heparin drip running… wish me luck! gnite 😉

12:45pm saline out of solution…. so walk around room while waiting…..[jeopardy theme song]

1:20am all the bags are dripping… wiped out, gnite

ashley wants to stay up and play truth or dare 😉

2:00am new pain meds… not sleeping because head hurts 🙁

3:25am back on the oxygen tube… keep trying to escape….

4:00am vitals taken & walked a bit in room… wont release me from oxygen thing but does feel good to stand for a bit here/there…. gnite.

5:10am need labs done… took one look at my infiltrated arm & sent for the pro… she was the one here at midnight 😉

5:40am went thru 2 pros but not their fault if i dont bleed when they do stick me. they took all they could get this time. i hear ya… lab doesnt know why docs wont let them put a picc line… so here we are. i guess ill hear in a bit what my levels are….. gnite.

7:15am had to pause heparin drip said too much for now. also got labs: hglob 9, hematocrit 28.7. had pain meds & did walk room a bit…. gnite.

8:30am restart heparin drip, walk room a bit, 8:50 saline drip ran out

8:55am new saline drip…. ugh, and still have to wear oxygen mask

9:05am jeff & ashley shift change 😉

10:50am walkabt room a bit & streched, tired again in a good way

1:00ish drew labs but took every drop, took forever to bleed, there is no more in these veins!

2:10pm NOT going home today, taking slow & steady, no promises for tomorrow either. i’ll ask for pulse/ox numbers next vitals check. i am connect to 6-7 monitor cables but those are read “out there” and “they” call now and then to adjust the nasal oxygen & batteries for the device & say i still have PVC’s (which i assume is my every 6th beat skipps).

2:30pm increase the heparin drip

2:50pm walked around room a little, less dizzy than i was cpl hours ago. they did an orthostatic vitals? laying, sitting, standing. pulse ox said 95, 96, 98 not necessarily that order… and im not positive i read that correctly. head throbbing but tolerable. practicing my breathing tube thingy 😉

4:50pm new saline bag & i forgot that they gave me a iv shot of heparin when i was up earlier. had a short but restful nap & walked around the room much steadier this time. they are trying to get minimum if two therapeutic heparin iv drip lab tests before they test the xeralto again. at least i feel a bit more human 😉 now even with my head hurting… i’m somewhat used to that one. used to it enough that i’m not getting any pain meds this trip around the room 😉

THANK YOU FOR THE THOUGHTS & PRAYERS!!! obviously working 😉

9:00pm ashley and jeff changing of the guard 😉

blood draw more successful 😉

9:30pm spent some sitting in a chair and walking around the room. they had to put heparin drip on hold for a bit so took this opportunity to rearrange the room and readjust my bed 😉 havent had pain meds in hours but will accept them now for hopefully more comfortable sleep.

10:30pm heparin back on. ashley has me all tucked in…. gnite

11:35pm vitals are good. love how hospitals wake you up from the only sleep you’ve had, to tell you that 😉

See previous posts for what’s going on, this is updates only… don’t forget some funnies in between 😉
http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/07/04/hemoglobin-updates-070413/

07/05/13 12:30am Courtney relieved Heather. I’ve had a couple doses of pain meds in pill form as those dont seem as immediately as strong as the iv’s (last longer but take a while to kick-in). After my fun afternoon, having a boring evening is preferable. I do have a low-grade fever 100.4 from all the blood-transfusions, but I have been working out the breathing apparatus thingy 😉 At least, my head isnt totally killing me again and Ime back to resting better…. sleep still eludes me 🙁

3:45am Fever is going down 99.5. I think Courtney & I both had a decent cat nap. I was a bit stronger during the evening Heather shift 😉 But I’m trying to rest tonight. I think nurse told me labs will be drawn in next couple of hours. Doc said he’d be in this am to check on me too. Keep ya posted.

It’s not snowing like it was my last two hospital stays, but as if on cue, apparently I am missing the black bear hanging out in the neighborhood 😀

5:00am labs… however, I’m thinking this wasn’t all that was needed and suspect they will be back… this morning’s lab team knows me though so my arm is cooperating… so far 😉 gnite… keep ya posted.

6:15am hematocrit 29 / hemoglobin 9.4
hopefully they are on their way up by themselves and no more blood transfusions needed. doc should be in after a bit to determine what blood thinners i go home with. after a pow-wow last night, they decided to keep the heparin stomach shots after all… had them last night and just had that done too.

8:40am still waiting on doc but nurses are doing great job checking in & helping me stay comfy to rest/sleep. Courtney’s been a trooper too 😉

12:30pm still waiting on docs but just accomplished a half marathon lap 😉 My room to nurse station & back… took me 30min but i’ll take it 😉

1:40pm just saw doc. gonna attempt heparin drip to test everything before attempting to try the xeralto again. the earliest i can go home would be tomorrow but sounds like they are not attempting to rush anything…. which he laughed and indicated that any normal patient would have been kicked out yesterday 😉 they will make decisions tomorrow based on blood work at that time too. will keep you posted!

thanks for thoughts & prayers!

4:45pm made a second lap and now i’m wiped out… in a good way because it means i’m conscious and able to move around some on my own 😉

8:00pm managed to walk a little around bedroom while i’ve been waiting. they are gonna switch to heparin iv drip…. just got new iv in right arm cuz 2 on left just infiltrated… so now gotta get those out of my left arm cuz they are cutting of circulation! ashley is on watch duty tonight 😉

10:05pm got some pain meds in me & 10.20pm they are pulling the bad iv’s and 11:20pm hooking up heparin drip soon. my arm & legs are pretty swollen now.

11:35pm nope… need more blood tests so put heparin on hold. also turns out the new iv in right arm crosses my elbow crease so now i have to keep my arm immobilized… left arm & both feet too swollen to grip or move…. sigh. at least pain meds working!

See previous posts for what’s going on, this is updates only… don’t forget some funnies in between 😉 http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/07/03/hemoglobin-updates-070313/

07/04/13 3:30am I’ve been able to sleep a bit and they have temporarily switched me to heparin shots in tummy through tomorrow only. They’ll decide on lovonox shots again vs. xeralto again for longterm use.

http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/07/03/let-the-pranking-begin/

6:00am just told levels but i forget numbers. better though, removed ALL but one iv un one arm 😉 can move around bit better today w/ very little assistance needed. still short on sleep but even the short naps are so much more rrestfil! on tthat note… gnite again 😉

8:35am ffrom labs @ 5:30am
hemog 7.7 / hcrit 24.4
bp 83/50 taken x3 @ 8:30am
nurse helping me type correct #’s right now
napped really well tho 🙂
fixin get 1 un blood 9:45ish, very dizy

type is hard again. got nurse to help update 1place… so i’ll keep blog update as i can, not txting any1, pls dont offended. fyi, 7am-7pm nurses are awsome, so better (i type this)

9:45am wait a bit for blood warm a bit, prob around 10:30, will keep posted

10:00am more labs cuz cross/type is only good for 3days, have to do another before blood but they are on ball 😉

please to not incl me on group txts & please do remove me from any u might see me on. i’m not receiving properly & soooo confusing to get parts out of order, not at all, or random bits/pieces. i can’t read well. etc. please.

2:45pm welllllll……. blood fusion (#4 total) done 2:30pm… i hear you asking what took so long? Let me preface with… I’m ok now but I have also met every nurse, doctor and crash team on call in this hospital 😉 We are all “good friends” now. I am currently, since 10:45ish, OFF ALL PAIN MEDS. This makes me soooooo, happy [NOT!]. Apparently, I was somewhat unresponsive for 12min and woke up to a crash team…. BUT NO CRASH MEASURES were needed… except the narcan which negated instantly, all pain meds. I have my unit of blood now & they will come draw labs soon. Have to wait 4hours from time of narcan to get any pain meds… so in the next 30min hopefully. Yes, there is a LONG story here but suffice to say I’m loving the docs on my case (the ones who appreciated my humor yesterday). They and the nurses I scared half to death treated me with the love and sarcasm I deserve 😀

Gonna rest a bit now. Thanks for thoughts and prayers!

4:00pm based on the events of today, it brought up discussions of blood types and then ashley demanded a kidney… rock-paper-scissors decided: whom gets who’s kidney as the girls all have same type… courtney gets heathers, heather gets ashleys, ashely gets courtneys… william is screwed with AB-

5:30pm able to have some pain meds but they take a while to kick-in but at least my head isnt coming unscrewed (from pain you smartypants! 😉 ) they are taking me OFF the heparin stomach shots & putting me back on the heparin drip after new labs, because i was more stable on that. not sure i get to go home tomorrow after all… playing that day/day-hr/hr now since our eventful afternoon. all the labs have to be redone so i probably wont know until midnight/tomorrow if i’ll need more blood. like i said… changing my name to Bella [it’s a Twighlight series reference]. my memory is sketchy again so if i forgot to detail something, letme know so i can blog it right.

thanking you again for all thoughts & prayers!

9:00pm Thankfully a slow night, for my part. I was in a lot of paid for a while but if I stayed still, it was tolerable. As you can well imagine, I have been skittish of being left alone. Heather relieved Jeff and I have to say, she makes s decent nurse… that may not have been the case if I’d been sick to my stomach like the last stay 😉

See previous posts for what’s going on, this is updates only… don’t forget some funnies in between 😉 http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/07/01/hemacrit-updates/

UPDATES:

07/03/13 12:30amish:
hemacrit 35, hemoglobin 10.2 after the 11:30pm labs (that’s also after all 3 units blood )

so based on yesterday labs, remain on saline & heperin AND have 2 units blood on standy, next labs 5:30am & 8:45am. been drugged though so gonna sleep will try to update if awake… gnite.

5:30am At least both the house & senate could agree to pass the dang “no one tries to stick Theresa unless they’ve seen her before (successful or not) law” … hehe, jk, but sticks are being accomplished in <4 attempts now! Waiting….

thank yo so much for thoughts & prayers, much needed and appreciated… feeling loved & blessed!

6:20am hematocrit 27.7 hemoglobin 8.5, still on saline but turned off heparin. i suspect more pain meds around 7:30 and they said they might give blood at 8:45 if needed. 6:45am… oops i was wrong, they turned UP the heparin and said they’ll probably change that and turn it off at 8:45 but i was lost on the whole PTT conversation about clotting 😉

9:00pm earlier they alternated turning off vs. increasing the heparin but at somepoint i got the worst pain in my head!!! that sucked! they gave some serious drugs and as of right now i feel so much better but drugged so i apologize for typos 😉

Lots of other tests & changes today and those were very helpful. As best I can tell it seems like all the transfusions were a good thing and i’m feeling much better. Hoping tomorrow I will be feeling better than i have been. I’m hoping to get a goodnight of sleep!!!

i was asleep when they did all the tests this afternoon, so i’ll posts those as soon as i get them. they’re doing labs here in a little bit so i’ll post to compare. i do “feel” better tonight than i did last night!!

I’ll keep ya posted! g’nite, thanks for thoughts & prayers!

Apparently before leaving, “good ole doc who was obviously pretending to dislike my humor”, outed me to the nursing station. Doc was one from previous post [ http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/07/02/doctors-and-humor/ ]… Said something along the lines of watch out she’s a prankster and told the nurses a glorious tale of deeds done at the other hospital….

[http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/04/25/probably-tomorrw/]

I didn’t know this.

Tonight a group came when I asked for assistance and started poking fun saying that I had to wait for the new med students from downstairs, etc. I quickly responded that they mistakenly must think they are holding me hostage when in fact I know that as long as I am standing up, they ( or at least one) cant leave me unattended and I can stand here and talk all night and they have no idea who they are talking to 😉

One of them said ” Damn she’s good…” then they told me what they’d been told. 😉

ME: 1

http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2012/08/24/add-one-to-the-list/

When sitting and listening to a group of doctors discussing the blood clot in your head, it might not go over well if you say: “I have to trust that y’all know what you’re talkin’ about because my brain just exploded.” 😉

One was not really amused and One of them said, “You probably don’t want to say that to this group…” but he laughed out loud when I smirked and replied “… or….” 😉

Remember my last quippy?
http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/04/25/i-think-i-earned-a-brownie-point/

see previous post re: what’s going on: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/06/30/vacation-twist/

this is updates:

07/01/13 noonish 8.4

stick stats so far… 7 successful of 22 attempts

07/01/13 6pmish 7.4

07/02/13 12:15amish… successful stick… whew. head been hurting so drugged & gonna try to sleep but if levels are below 7 they will wake me for blood… keep ya posted, gnite.

i said hematocrit but is it hemoglobin? sorry i’m not sure now but its whichever determines blood transfusion.

07/02/13 12:55amish level is 6.8 so… suspect a new iv? & blood… they are calling doctor, will know soon but i’m drugged… hope this makes sense.

07/02/13 2:55amish after 2 unsuccessful iv sticks, finally have iv for blood…. which will be here momentarily…. 3:30 blood going, takes a couple hours… gnite.

ok, i apologize… i had hematocrit vs. hemoglobin backwards

07/02/13 5:45amish
hematocrit <21, hemoglobin 6.2
i’ve just had 1unit but prepping for another. 6:55am.. next unit in place so this makes a total of three transfusions.

7:45am they took labs in between and hemoglobin up to 8.9, 2nd unit still has couple hours to run

2:00pmish: after last blood unit (3rd total) hemoglobin 9.4, hematocrit 30 (told me should be 14-18 and 31-40)

5:00pm: they had taken me off the heparin for 6hrs to test my clotting levels. i dont know any numbers… just that it worked and they turned the heparin back on… more tests to follow.

the hospital food looks fabulous and smells delicious… it’s an illusion. Jeff ate up here with me last night and said it makes him miss my cooking 😉

http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2013/02/22/was-that-a-fire-alarm/

9:00pm The specialists had a pow-wow in my room tonight so gonna make some changes in the morning. Have some blood-work before midnight and again at 5amish and they’ll probably take me off the heperin again then but not positive. Making some changes around 8:45am. Hopefully I’ll get to go home sometime Friday!

Keep ya posted (probably start a new blog post?)

[pics incl] wow, word travels fast thanks for all the thoughts & prayers! this lovely, anticipated, mountain vacation week will instead be spent comparing this hospital/staff to the last (april). for those wanting stats: head CT as expected; clot remains but no brain bleeding. i’m off xeralto & on heperim?, hemacrit (sp? or is it hemoglobin?) 6+ so one unit blood down… thinking of changing my name to bella