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Email Carissa in care of Sharon at Sharon1992@aol.com. No new update indicates that Carissa is doing well. National Transplant Assistance Fund for Carissa Sunday, July 30 - 9:00 p.m. Wayne: Thursday, July 20 -3:30 p.m. We're homeward bound! Carissa doesn't have to return for two weeks. Yippee! Monday, July 17 - 9:30 p.m. Carissa has to be in clinic on Thursday, so we postponed our trip home. We plan to have our bags packed and leave right after clinic. We're excited! Sunday, July 16 - 10:00 p.m. Carissa was released from the hospital today and is feeling much better. She has a lot to regain strength-wise, but was able to walk from the car to our room at the Residence Inn. Carissa has been given permission to go home to Harrisburg. She will need to be in Pittsburgh once a week for clinic, but it will be wonderful to finally be home most of the time. Carissa's dismissal instructions indicate that she will need to be in clinic this coming Thursday. We will call tomorrow to see if we can wait until the following Monday (a week from tomorrow) before returning to clinic. If so, we're homeward bound! Thursday, July 13 - 10:00 p.m. (Wayne) I just returned from a quick (24 hour) trip to and from Pittsburgh. The transplant team called a consultation meeting with our family, which took place this afternoon. Sharon and I were there and Faith and Celeste joined by a conference call. Some of Carissa's main nurses from 12-N were present too. It was a positive meeting to develop a plan for Carissa's transition home (home!) and her eventual return to a real life. The doctors have concluded that Carissa's fevers are not associated with infections but are related to her medicines and should go away in due time. The episodes that she has been experiencing are also expected to discontinue. Her organs are doing well. We don't know the exact time of her clearance to return home, but Dr. Kareem is pushing for it to occur soon. We know that there will be some challenges related to this huge transition, for all of us. Wednesday, July 12 - 11:00 p.m. Carissa's fever was gone today! It appears that a higher dose of Hydrocortizone is what was needed. We pray the fever won't return. The doctors are continuing to adjust Carissa's medicines. Although she slept some during the day yesterday, she hasn't been able to sleep soundly or long enough to feel much better. Thankfully, she hasn't had another seizure. Tuesday, July 11 - 11:00 p.m. (Sharon) Carissa was in the TICU overnight so they could keep a closer eye on her. She underwent an MRI of her brain this morning, and it is good to know that she didn't have an aneurism. A GI doctor took a biopsy of her intestines and she had another EEG. Kareem increased Carissa's dose of Hydrocortizone to see if the fevers will go away. Since no infection has been found, he continues to believe that the fevers are caused by her immune system's fight against CamPath (immunosuppressant drug given prior to transplant). Carissa is finally sleeping. She has missed so much sleep the past four weeks that it was wonderful to see her sleep today. She should be able to sleep even better on 12N tonight. Monday, July 10 - 9:45 p.m. (Wayne) Carissa was not feeling good when she awoke this morning. She was able to go to the clinic, but felt bad while she was there. When she and Sharon went back to the Residence Inn her temperature had spiked to 101.4° so Sharon gave her Tylenol and packed her with ice. Sharon laid down to take a nap, while Carissa was napping. Sharon got up at about 12:30 p.m. and tried to awaken Carissa, but she was unresponsive. Although her vital signs seemed to be good (except that she was not breathing deeply), Sharon was unable to get Carissa to wake up. Sharon called 911 and an emergency team eventually came to pick her up. Concerned about the shallowness of Carissa's breathing, Sharon have her "mouth to mouth" while awaiting the EMTs. In the emergency room they did a CT Scan, chest X Ray, EEG, EKG, and did the lab work for her blood. In the Emergency Room, Carissa gradually began to open her eyes but was unable to speak or move, except for toes and fingers, for a long time. The doctors gave her some medicine that helped her to begin to be able to speak and move somewhat normally. While the doctors were doing the EEG they had difficulty because of the involuntary movements in Carissa's face and mouth. The EEG indicated that Carissa had a seizure with continuing seizure activity. They are moving her to 12N--the wing of the 12th floor of Montifiore where her conditions can be monitored. Sunday, July 9 - 8:20 p.m. Carissa slept all night for the first time in weeks. She got up this morning feeling much better and went to the late (11:30 a.m.) Sunday morning service. It was wonderful to have her with me. The doctors stopped her tube feedings on Friday night (for the weekend) to see whether she could eat enough to discontinue them. She enjoyed homemade tacos for the first time in years, part of an Arby's beef and cheddar sandwich and mozzarella sticks, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, and more. She had to admit tonight that she kind of overdid it! Saturday, July 8 - 9:00 p.m. Carissa was released from the hospital last evening, but was up most of the night with a fever. It broke this morning and has stayed down most of the day. Please pray she will be able to get some sleep. She slept little in the hospital, and little last night or today. Thursday, July 6 - 10:30 a.m. Carissa has had a low grade fever (99.0°-100.1°) today, but it didn't spike higher. She felt much better. Thank you for praying! Thursday, July 6 - 1:00 a.m. Carissa spiked a fever of 103.2° Wednesday afternoon and 104.6° that night. She has been in the hospital for three weeks, but no cause has been identified. We noticed on Monday that Carissa's knees turn bright red and are feverish, at times, when her fever spikes. We have no idea what it indicates, but Dr. Costa was investigating. He left for three weeks, so we're not sure whether the investigation will continue. Please pray! The doctors are baffled and we are growing weary. Tuesday, July 4 - 8:30 p.m. (Sharon) Carissa's fever persisted through the night, but finally broke late this morning. It returned this afternoon, but Tylenol kept it under control. Dr. Costa ordered tests today that haven't been performed so far in an effort to identify the cause. Carissa felt and looked more like herself today. The confusion seems to truly be gone, at last. We pray it won't come back! Monday, July 3 - 10:00 p.m. (Wayne) Carissa's fever spiked to 104.6° early this evening, so she's still in the hospital. The good news is that she didn't have the feelings of disorientation that she's had in the past couple of weeks. In case you missed this earlier:
Veronica's funeral service will be held Wednesday, 9:00-11:00 a.m., at the Eichholtz Funeral Home, 306 N. Elizabeth in Belle Center, Ohio. Flower arrangements are being handled by Arleen's Flowers and Gifts: http://www.arleensflowers.com/ Sunday, July 2 - 10:30 p.m. Carissa spiked a fever of 102° just as she was being dismissed from the hospital tonight. She will spend the night and we'll see what happens tomorrow. We wish they could get the fevers under control before she is released. Saturday, July 1 - 10:00 p.m. Carissa still ran a fever today, so Dr. Costa decided to keep her in the hospital one more day. Infectious diseases recommended that she be given Vancomycin rather than Zyvox, and the first two doses are being given by IV. Carissa was her old self today until they gave her a dose of IV Benadryl as a pre-medication for Vancomycin (to prevent "red man's reaction"). She almost immediately began to say that she was feeling weird. Within minutes it was apparent that she was becoming "loopy" again. Tomorrow she will ask that the IV Vancomycin be infused very slowly in hopes that IV Benadryl can be avoided.
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