A View from the Penthouse
[From Hannah]
Yesterday, Aunt Carla had to go to the Emergency Room because her blood pressure was spiking. She and Rebekah had a grueling wait time (5-and-a-half hours), but fortunately Aunt Carla got a private space right around 8PM.
We’re currently in a brand spanking new room on the 21st floor of the James Comprehensive Cancer Center on the OSU campus. We got to move in at about 1:30 this morning, and we’re the first ones to use this room!
Here’s some updates of what’s been happening, with the most recent on top:
12:40PM 12/16/14
Last we heard, the PET scan will be *today* and the CT scan will be *tomorrow*. We’re chillaxing with Rush Limbaugh right now…
12:28PM 12/16/14
Aunt Carla’s blood pressure is 133/83. When Aunt Carla told the patient care assistant what the doctors had said, the assistant said, “It’s like those commercials: you need side effect medicine for those side effects!”
12:05PM 12/16/14
The pain in her neck and leg is gone! The oncologist may prescribe blood pressure medication so her blood pressure won’t spike again. Aunt Carla will need to spend the night here in the hospital, though, because her PET scan has been moved to tomorrow.
11:40AM 12/16/14
A medical oncologist just stopped in. He gave Aunt Carla very detailed information about the medication she is taking, the side effects it often causes, and what he and the rest of the medical team intend to do about it. Since there was a lot of information there, I’ve put it in a separate post.
11:25AM 12/16/14
An orthopedic surgeon just can in. After reviewing the MRIs and doing strength testing, he said that the lesions in the spine appear to be stable. There is no significant narrowing where the nerves exit the vertebrae. Aunt Carla’s neck and leg are much better: last night, shifting her position even slightly was very painful, but today the surgeon could move her legs without her wincing. Her blood pressure was 134/96 this morning when they measured it right after she got up, which is much lower than it was yesterday (the higher number was 184 last night around 10PM. Now back to Fox News…
10:37AM 12/16/14
They will be doing a CT scan this morning, and a PET scan at some point later today (the latest the scan would start is 3:30). Aunt Carla was extremely patient last night, especially as nurses had a hard time finding a stable vein for an IV. We’ve been watching Fox News, but she is taking a nap right now. We’re on the 21st floor in a brand spanking new wing of the hospital–we’re actually the first to use this room!
12:05PM 12/16/14
The pain in her neck and leg is gone! The oncologist may prescribe blood pressure medication so her blood pressure won’t spike again. Aunt Carla will need to spend the night here in the hospital, though, because her PET scan has been moved to tomorrow.
11:25AM 12/16/14
An orthopedic surgeon just can in. After reviewing the MRIs and doing strength testing, he said that the lesions in the spine appear to be stable. There is no significant narrowing where the nerves exit the vertebrae. Aunt Carla’s neck and leg are much better: last night, shifting her position even slightly was very painful, but today the surgeon could move her legs without her wincing. Her blood pressure was 134/96 this morning when they measured it right after she got up, which is much lower than it was yesterday (the higher number was 184 last night around 10PM. Now back to Fox News…
10:37AM 12/16/14
They will be doing a CT scan this morning, and a PET scan at some point later today (the latest the scan would start is 3:30). Aunt Carla was extremely patient last night, especially as nurses had a hard time finding a stable vein for an IV. We’ve been watching Fox News, but she is taking a nap right now. We’re on the 21st floor in a brand spanking new wing of the hospital–we’re actually the first to use this room!
8:57AM 12/16/14
Aunt Carla’s up and at ’em! They’re supposed to do a CT scan this morning.
12:41AM 12/16/14
They gave her some snacks, which perked her up!
Between 8:31PM 12/15/14 and 12:41AM 12/16/14
Aunt Carla just got out of the MRI–it was much faster than we were thinking She was able to get some sleep–yay!!
Between 8:31PM 12/15/14 and 12:41AM 12/16/14
Aunt Carla will do her scans pretty soon. The staff was surprised that it got put in the queue quickly–definitely a blessing!
8:31PM 12/15/14
They are going to do an MRI of her back and neck, as well as a CT scan. That will all happen tonight. Tomorrow they’ll do the PET scan. The doctor as saying that her heightened blood pressure could be a combination of the medication as well as pain. Her blood pressure is 161/99 right now.