Hospital, Week #5

Tuesday December 7: I spoke with one of SY's doctors today, and got to understand what's going on a little better. I was a little confused because I thought the infection was officially "done with" and yet they hadn't scheduled a time to install the new pacemaker.

Well, the situation isn't as clear cut as that -- in reality, we're dealing with some ambiguity about the infection in her lungs and it's more of a matter of "managing risks."

Roughly speaking, the infectious diseases doctors want to wait on a pacemaker installation for another two weeks. They say that in the CAT scan there were small emboli -- clusters of "infection" that could cause a new growth of infection if not fully treated, despite the thoracentesis coming back negative. They feel the risk of re-infection are greater than a "significant cardial event."

Some of the cardiologists agree with them, saying "what's the rush?" Given the right treatment of the positive chronotropic drug theophylline (which increases heart rate), SY's heart will be fine until the two weeks are up.

Other cardiologists say we should install as soon as possible. They feel that the presence of emboli in the lungs is not a significant risk of re-infection. They recognize that the lungs can "filter" out small infections, and say the emboli are "below the threshhold of significance". [I'm paraphrasing. It sounds more doctor-like than "you don't need to worry about that...]

Moreover, SY has had a few instances where here heart has dropped beats or her heartrate has slowed to dangerous levels (in the 20s per minute). They insist that the risk of a "significant cardial event" exceeds that of another infection.

So who's going to win? Right now, I'm not sure how all this is going to play out -- things literally are developing on a day-to-day basis. We know SY will get another pacemaker; we just don't know when.

As an added layer of headache, our son P has a bad cold and is really miserable. He tries to sleep but wakes up several times a night crying incoherently and coughing. I took him to see a doctor, but besides taking Claritin there isn't much I can do for him. He looks like a wreck, too -- depsite the petroleum jelly I put on his face, his top lip and cheeks are red from him wiping his nose with his sleep. Plus, he hasn't eaten much the past two days. He'll say he's hungry but he won't eat the stuff I give him. It's frustrating and heart-breaking at the same time.

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As of December 10, it's looking like SY will have her pacemaker installation surgery next Friday the 17th. Of course, this depends on a CT scan which will be done on the day before, to see if the infection is indeed completely gone. Until then, she's been moved back to a regular room (a much welcome move after two days in the ICU). Were it not for the theophyllin, which makes her nauseated, she'd be fairly comfortable.