Monday, July 1, 2013

Monday,  July 1, 2013

Ken is doing well this morning, comparatively speaking. He is still confined to bed, but has exercises to do. His muscles are not being completely obedient to his brain. He has trouble sitting up straight and standing, but he can move his arm and leg. He can raise his hips off the bed. They are continuing with blood tests and glucose tests. We hope to get the sinus results today. His speaking is still a little slow and his English is better than his Spanish, but we are doing okay.

He is a bit more present today in that he wanted me to get out more and seemed generally more concerned about my needs. He is interested in the voting results from Election Day in Chile and was more aware of the process than I was. So continuing short term memory is fine.

I have been sleeping at the hospital and will continue to. I have a fold out sofa bed [un sillon] with sheets and bedspread and pillow. I didn't wear earplugs last night so I could hear Ken ask for help with the urinal. He must have gone five times last night. We have a little baby next door, less than a year old, and he cries a lot. It is hard to feel sorry for ourselves, when we feel so bad for the baby and his parents. But sometimes in half awake dreams I had to remind myself that it wasn't Ken crying. They do the last tests around 11:00 and they come in to give Ken a bed bath and change his sheets at around 6:30. So it makes for a short night, or a night with many interruptions.

Ken is sleeping again now, so he manages. I may try to take a nap sometime today.

Letter to President and Sister Martinez: They have partial results for the sinus infection. They know the bacteria that is involved. Pseudomona aeruginosa is the name of it. They are treating it very seriously and say that it will respond to antibiotics. But they have to give the highest dose and give it intravenously in the hospital for ten to fourteen days, starting today and be sure it is gone. Everyone has started wearing masks and hospital gowns and gloves around him. It can be very serious in hospitals. I should also be careful about washing my hands and not spreading it. They still have to wait to see if there is also a fungal infection. That would be very bad, but again there are treatments. Dr. Concha does not want to start a fungal treatment unless she knows for sure that it is needed.

I just found out that the nurses and I had both been giving Ken Keppra for the last two nights. And I was going to start cutting it down to half tonight, so he had double for two nights and only a half so far tonight. So now I have all the Keppra in my position, my stash and the hospital stash, so I sent Dr. Rivas an email to see what I do now.

Keppra was definitely making him sleepy and unable to talk or focus which would also affect how much he could move his muscles. Who knows?

They have been getting his sodium level up to normal. He was able to walk in the afternoon after the Keppra wore down, from the bed to the chair twice.

FOR SPANISH TRANSLATION

To President and Sister Martinez:

Tienen resultados parciales de la infección en los senos. Ahora ellos saben las bacterias. Pseudomona aeruginosa es el nombre. Ellos dijeron que puede ser muy serio y dicen que es capaz de responder a los antibióticos. Pero ellos tienen que dar la dosis más alta y darle vía intravenosa en el hospital durante diez a catorce días, desde hoy y asegúrese de que se ha ido completamente. Todos han comenzado a usar mascarillas y batas de hospital y los guantes en la habitación. Puede ser muy grave en los hospitales. También yo debería tener cuidado con lavarme las manos y no difundirla.

Ellos todavía tienen que esperar para ver si hay también una infección por hongos. Eso sería muy malo, pero de nuevo hay tratamientos. Dr. Concha no quiere comenzar un tratamiento de hongos a menos que sepa con seguridad que se necesita.

Con amor, Hermana Babcock