Sounds Familiar

Doing really great...

except the nausea.

That's right—Jen looks ready for release from the hospital. Her white blood cell count is down to normal, her surgical wound looks good, she has no fever, two of three drains are removed, she's eating pretty well, her outputs are normal—she is in the midst of an archetype perfect recovery...

except the nausea.

If that scenario seems eerily reminiscent of the last time—you know, all the way back on March 17th, when she was released with a leaking anastomosis and the beginnings of a potentially deadly infection—I agree. But, there are a few important differences. 

First of all, we're all on edge. She is. I am. You are. And, most importantly, her doctors are. Everybody wants to make certain. Secondly, we already know what's wrong—a leak created an infection. The question is only, did we get the infection enough so that her body can take care of the rest? Or, are there some bigger pockets still in need treatment?

Thirdly, she feels better. As I wrote in previous post, she never felt right the last time around. She ran a continuous low fever, her belly was distended, she suffered nightly sheet-soaking sweats, she had more pain. Since Dr. Ahmad cleaned her out, however, she has felt generally well.

So—how to make certain? A CT scan. She drinks a quart of truly vile liquid (a contrast dye solution), and they look at her guts in multi-layered detail. From this, we are told, they can measure whether she is suffering the effects of remaining infection in her abdomen. If so, they will increase her antibiotics, and probably give her another drain. 

This is what happened an hour ago, and we are now awaiting results. In the meantime, the patient is sleeping off the experience, Papa Joe—who was able to stay long enough to see her through drinking the contrast dye before having to jet off to catch his plane—is on the road, and the "willing and able partner," me, is preparing himself for "wound care" training. Don't ask.