Day +45: Holding steady
Blogging from the hospital room tonight. My stomach is mostly better and I'm not sneezing, coughing or sniffling, so I figured it was time to see my girl again. I do still have a bit of a sore throat, but I've had that for three weeks. I'm wearing a mask on the off chance I could still be shedding an airborne virus. She seemed happy to see me. Tonight marked the first time in a long time that she didn't protest when being transferred from Momma to me.
Mina Brigitta did just fine with Grandma and Grandpa last night. When Anta Kari was here, Mina Brigitta made her peace with the situation by insisting on sleeping in the big comfy chair by herself. So Kari made her a little nest and put the feet of the chair up so there was no way she could fall out. Then she wanted Anta to sleep in the hospital bed next to her. Well, last night Grandma and Grandpa made her spot in the chair, but when they asked if Grandma should sleep in the bed, Mina Brigitta said "No, Anta!". But she eventually fell asleep and didn't wake up at all until 8 AM.
She was a little low on energy this morning, but after a quick nap she was just fine. Maybe not quite as energetic as the last few days, but that might have to do with the lower dose of steroids she's on. We also discovered tonight that her morphine drip had been left off, most likely since last night, so she was going cold turkey without anyone even knowing it. She seemed to do just fine, and she was on a fairly low dose anyway, so we're just going to keep it turned off for now.
The CT scan was postponed until 11 AM tomorrow. We have to try to get her to drink a bunch of contrast before 9:00 to illuminate her gut. We'll see how that goes. The doctors are not expecting it to show anything serious given how she looks and sounds, but it's good that they're checking. On the staph infection, it turns out the culture that grew was from Saturday night, and subsequent cultures haven't grown anything yet, so hopefully it's been cleared out.
Mina Brigitta did just fine with Grandma and Grandpa last night. When Anta Kari was here, Mina Brigitta made her peace with the situation by insisting on sleeping in the big comfy chair by herself. So Kari made her a little nest and put the feet of the chair up so there was no way she could fall out. Then she wanted Anta to sleep in the hospital bed next to her. Well, last night Grandma and Grandpa made her spot in the chair, but when they asked if Grandma should sleep in the bed, Mina Brigitta said "No, Anta!". But she eventually fell asleep and didn't wake up at all until 8 AM.
She was a little low on energy this morning, but after a quick nap she was just fine. Maybe not quite as energetic as the last few days, but that might have to do with the lower dose of steroids she's on. We also discovered tonight that her morphine drip had been left off, most likely since last night, so she was going cold turkey without anyone even knowing it. She seemed to do just fine, and she was on a fairly low dose anyway, so we're just going to keep it turned off for now.
The CT scan was postponed until 11 AM tomorrow. We have to try to get her to drink a bunch of contrast before 9:00 to illuminate her gut. We'll see how that goes. The doctors are not expecting it to show anything serious given how she looks and sounds, but it's good that they're checking. On the staph infection, it turns out the culture that grew was from Saturday night, and subsequent cultures haven't grown anything yet, so hopefully it's been cleared out.
posted by Arne Olson @ 9:30 PM
2 Comments:
At 7:05 AM PDT,
Anonymous said…
Keri, Arne, Isaac and Mina, I LOVE the independence----sounds like a 2 year old to me!
I am so thankful for the news you have been sharing and the stability Mina appears to have right now. We will never cease praying for complete recovery, and for your physical and emotional strength through all of this. You're loved alot!
Aunt Bonnie
At 1:23 PM PDT,
Anonymous said…
I wanted to take the chance to send one more training update before my ride. My current fundraising total is $5817. I hope to get close to $6250 when all is said & done.
http://www.active.com/donations/fundraise_public.cfm?key=SRosenTNT
My focus and resolve has sharpened since my Livermore ride, connecting every pedal stroke with Brigitta's recovery, and clearing the stresses of daily life (work & construction) from my riding. Carrying her with me has shown great dividends in my riding - I went from struggling to keep up with my 2-3 leading teammates, to climbing solo ahead of them (and repeating the pass with encouragement for my teammates).
6/5 was the Team in Training Tahoe ride, with 1900+ Team in Training riders from around the country (including my friend, Mike Davis - Go Team!). Three of my death ride teammates (Skye, Sarah and I) joined a fast Marin Tahoe team coached by Sarah's husband. We formed a "pace-line" 8 people strong for the first 70 miles together, before spliltting up to go at our own pace. I had an amazing display of strength on Spooner summit (the final 8-mile, 1500 foot climb at mile 80), pulling Skye up the hill, but shedding him on the downhill (windy) section afterwards, racing myself to the finish. My total bike time was about 5:20:00 (19 mph!) and my total time about 6:05:00. It was a great & beautiful ride (please see the attached picture).
Last weekend my team convened for camping & altitude training. Our goal was to learn the course of the Death ride - doing 2 1/2 of the 5 pass ride on Saturday and 1 pass (the last in the ride) on Sunday. I was again blessed with a show of strength. In climbing Ebbets pass (the hardest of the course), I climbed past my teammates, seldom looking back (when I did, no one in sight). I summitted, down the backside, and was 1/2 way up the backside before seeing my lead 2 teammates descending (a 20-30 minute lead gained over 2 hours of cycling). I repeated the backside climb to leverage my strength, and cheer my teammates. Our supports goes out to Dave, who had a fall off the side of the road - he fared much better than we feared, with only a twisted ankle. Sunday, I repeated my show of strength up Carson pass - repeating 1/2 of the climb again. Also, thanks to my muse, Galit, for joining us in camping and SAG (support & gear), and all her support during this ride.
Mina Brigitta is slowly recovering from her bone marrow transplant. She's bravely fought off the worst symptoms of graft vs. host disease, and is struggling to stay infection-free. She appears to be returning to her child-self (after overcoming pain & struggle), and I have her full recovery in my thoughts. Her challenges surpass mine daily.
-Sam Rosen
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