August 7: Still not much to report, but I figured that an update on Mom’s health may be appreciated. We all had a wonderful trip to Jack’s house on the Wisconsin River last weekend. Mom masterminded the menu, created the shopping list, and then she directed some of the cooking, but in general, she didn’t have to do much. It was a great little vacation.
To her great relief, the catheter Mom has in her belly to drain the fluid that’s been building up in her abdomen has stopped leaking. So four the last four days, she can stand up and move around without the threat of getting suddenly drenched without warning. Thank goodness. We’re still speaking about this quietly, though, and hoping it doesn’t start up again.
The next step medically are to try to get a biopsy of the suspected Sister Joseph Nodule. Doctors are conferring about this, and we should know in the next couple days whether they can get something scheduled.
We’d also really like to see if we can’t get Mom’s fluids stabilized. Her blood pressure has been low, she’s been weak and tired, and losing quite a bit of weight. If we can’t cure the situation causing those symptoms, we’d at least like to look at ways to treat them. Mom has been going in to the clinic every few days for infusions of saline, but that hasn’t done much to help her. So I think we’ll be looking at other treatments in the near future.
We all had a lot of fun spending the weekend together. When I talked to her yesterday, Mom was thinking about taking a solo trip out this week. It would be her first time out alone in several weeks.
So that’s the news for now!
~Althea