ValleyRD Mailing List: Fwd: KAY'S UP-DATE - - -

[Bob Heiser (w7ikt]

I really was not planning on sending an up-date on Kay but  - - - -
She was not happy with all the attention she was getting around the
house with friends coming over to be with her, she decided to go her
own separate way and go back to familiar stomping grounds back to
the hospital.  I guess some of you were not that fast when she wanted
something.  Didn't you hear her when she pushed the button for help
or attention ? ? ? ? ?
Yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, she started to have pains on the left
side of the breast area below the arm pit.  She had been sitting quite
a bit that day and she thought it was just a pulled muscle from sitting
the wrong way.  In the early evening it was not bothering her all that
much and she was living with it.
We went to bed around 10:30 and that is when the pain kicked in.  She
could not lay down for it hurt so bad.  She took a "Happy Pill" (pain pill)
and decided to sleep in the chair.  Things did get worse and we decided
to call the Home Health Care Hotline.  They did call us back and after
answering a few question it was recommended that Kay take the second
Happy Pill to see if this would ease the pain.  It did.  She was told to 
take
1 to 2 pills for pain when we left MD Anderson so we were not alarmed
with taking the second one for it had been an hour and a half since taking
the first one.  She slept pretty much the night in the chair, this is a 
recliner,
without to much more problems.
This morning she got up and got dressed and ate breakfast. Her side was
still hurting but not that much.  Later in the morning the pain got 
worse.  When
the Home Care Nurse came in to change the Wound Pack, Kay could not lay
down for the pain was so high that the nurse told us to take her to the 
hospital.
We arrived at the hospital, Rio Grande Hospital, around 1:30, and after 
a little
while she was taken back to be examined.  After blood was taken, quite a 
bit of
it for they were going to check for a blood infection, an EKG, Pressure, 
Chest
X-Ray, and a Cat Scan she was admitted and sent to a room at around 9 PM.
We were first told it was pneumonia and a blockage in the small 
intestines.  This
was not the complete case.  She does have pneumonia in the one lung.  
This is
what was causing the pain.  The digestive track was fine. When the 
doctor briefed
us on this in the room I asked if Kay could get some water or ice 
chips.  The doctor
told us no problem and  told us she could eat.  I asked if we could get 
something
light since she had not eaten since morning and they brought in a 
sandwich, apple
juice and Jell-O.  Kay had that sandwich down in nothing flat.
When I left the hospital the second time, first time to run home for 
Kay's bathrobe,
toiletries, and battery charger for the wound pack machine, Kay had 
received her
Happy shot and was looking at he TV.
Talking to the nurse he told us, unofficially, that Kay could be in the 
hospital for
3 days.  This was the normal time patients would be in the hospital for 
pneumonia.
Tomorrow, or later today, the hospital will start her on breathing 
exercises to help
clear up the lung.
Well, that's about it for now so I better be going.  Take care and I 
will try and send
something out tomorrow once we get more information - -  - Ski's