Thursday PM Update

MOther remains in the ICU. She had her scan test at 1200 noon. This is about the same process used for imaging a baby in a mother's womb except it also sees the lining of the digestive system. She also had an Xray. The kidney doctor did not return this afternoon. He will probably be in later since he will be performing a procedure to give her an IV tube in a major vein so they have a reliable and available entry into her blood system. The existing IV is is working but could be interrupted at any time and they would not have a means to administer drugs or medicine. Her veins are not very well defined in areas normally used for an IV.

When she had her cat scan, a tube was placed into her esophagus to administer the dye. That tube remains in her for feeding. She has not eaten anything for days! I am concerned about that and told the nurse so this evening. The nurse said they probably would not be feeding her until tomorrow. They must have the results from the cat scan to start feeding her. I do not think the doctor is aware of this need, so I am planning to talk to the evening nurse about it. We need an answer on the outcome of the cat scan. On the reverse side of this, the lack of information from the doctor is regarded as good news by the nurse. No news is good news. But we have the nutrition issue and I will be pushing for her to be fed.

The bottom line to me is that mother is looking better today and has interacted with us, not to the extent of two days ago but certainly is doing better than yesterday! Although not out of the woods yet, she made some progress today. I do not have stats on her urine flow but it looked like she was passing higher quantity and the color was better. I interpret that as there is less matter to clean from her body and the kidneys are having an easier time, returning to normal. However, I am not the doctor, and I take my assessment with a grain of salt. You should also.

Mother's heart rate did rise significantly after the test. The doctor again administered the cardiac medicine which lowered it back to normal - about 75 beats/minute.