Angela Janice Richards
Back In Hospital
It was meant to be a simple appointment. Angie was to have one of the stainless steel wires that are holding her sternum together removed as it is poking through her skin. The appointment on Monday was to have some blood tests (more than the usual because, as the nurse said "Angela is Angela"), x-rays and talk to the doctors about the procedure. The problem was that the night before I (Jen) had dashed to Emergency in the middle of the night to get them to push Angela's feeding tube back in. She had pulled it out about 10cm. The nurses had put the tube back in a little bit too far, and from the moment we got home Angela had been irritable (especially when being fed).
At the pre-admission appointment one of the Cardiac registrars noticed this irritability, a high temperature and alot of poo and suggested I take Angie back to Emergency. Gastro was suspected. I had also noticed that her scar/wound on her chest looked red.
From emergency she went to the general ward. When I left her at about 9.30pm she was sleeping quietly in her crib. But the next morning I arrived to find a massive bed with a massive child in it where I had left Angie! She had been transferred back up to the Cardiac ward where they were better able to look after her with her heart problems. Up there, she was in a room by herself because of her gastro which was a more infectious kind than the usual Rota Virus that you might have heard of. Throughout the day she had a steady stream of tests and doctor's visits. Her chest looked redder and much more swollen. After seeing this, the surgeons were eager to operate to remove the wire but couldn't. Her INR level (an indication of how well her blood is clotting) was too high. Unfortunately gastro made her absorb medication for her blood clot too well! They started her on oxygen to help her breathing and keep her oxygen-saturation level up. As I left I joked with the Nursing Unit Manager that the only thing worse than being back in hospital would be being back in PICU...
But when I arrived this morning that's exactly where she was. She was moved to PICU to have closer supervision and a little bit of ventilation. Throughout the day I watched as each of the wires, monitors and tubes that were removed a month ago were put back in.
Angela is very sick again. In fact she looks exactly like she did just before her wound originally broke down. She is incubated and her face is swollen. The doctor's struggled to balance her oxygen and CO2 levels. She is 'septic' and her lungs are particularly infected. She seems to have other 'infections' too. The surgeon expect to be able to operate to remove the wire tomorrow which should take away the route cause of the infection.
It is horrible to see her like this again, and as the nurse said "Angela is Angela" so anything could happen, or be uncovered when they operate tomorrow. Please keep Angela in your thoughts and prayers.
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
