In Focus

This has been the longest, most physically and mentally exhausting week ever. My mom is in the hospital and will probably be there for another week and also my grandmother passed away.

Mom had her first chemotherapy treatment for lung cancer on July 12. She ended up with thrush in her throat and was treated for that. On Sunday, July 21, she went down hard. She stayed in bed, was in pain, and had a bloody nose on and off throughout the day. She started running a fever on Monday, and her arms and legs hurt. 

On Tuesday, I took her to the hospital. When we were in the ER, there was suddenly many medical personnel in the room. She had an  SVT—her heart was beating too fast, around 174 bpm—they had to stop her heart for a second to get the heartbeat to stabilize. She also had low sodium, low platelets, and a low white blood cell count, leaving her at high risk of infection. She was admitted to the hospital right away.

Due to her condition, she wasn’t allowed to have fresh fruits or vegetables unless they were canned because of potential bugs and pesticides, and she couldn’t be around dust. People had to wear masks when they were around her. 

The following day, I was informed mom had a blood infection, and they were taking cultures to identify what kind. She was on antibiotics and painkillers, and she was experiencing delirium. She was having conversations with things that weren’t there. 

She developed a kidney injury that was causing her to retain fluid. Her arms and legs were swollen, and they had to put in a catheter. They conducted an ultrasound and found vegetation growing on her pacemaker. They identified the bacteria as streptococcus. 

They transferred mom to a hospital in Minneapolis to deal with the blood infection and pacemaker. She had surgery on a finger that was infected to drain the infection. 

The infection infiltrated the pacemaker, and it had to be removed until the infection clears it up. Then the doctors will replace it. They also cannot continue chemotherapy until the infection is gone. 

She will remain in the hospital for the rest of the week and possibly into next week and will require some physical rehab.

While this has been ongoing throughout the week, I have been deep cleaning the house. I purchased a bug sprayer, filled it with dish soap and degreaser, and scrubbed the walls, ceiling, and everything in between.

I greatly appreciate my neighbors for their help and everyone for the calls and messages.