An Extended Stay

Sleep is still a rarity, with them not giving Amanda her regular sleeping meds and my feet hanging off the recliner over my foot! IV problems still plagued us this morning. They gave Amanda a dose of morphine, and it burned badly as the IV blew, the pain med going everywhere but her vein. So, she didn’t get the relief she needed. She has always had issues with IVs, and I don’t think the heavy antibiotics help the case. 

The morning didn’t get much better. The surgeon finally came by late morning and told us the infection was bad: lots of pus and an abscess. We’d been wondering if the incision was still open or closed under the wound vac. It’s still open and will heal naturally. This will likely leave a much larger scar than the typical small sternotomy scar. We experienced this with one of her pacemaker pocket infections. 

Everyone had been waiting for the surgeon’s op report, but there wasn’t one. So when the ID, infectious disease, doc came in, we got to hear him give her the report in person. She made it clear they’d been waiting for it! He’d told us the wound vac would stay on for a month, changing the dressing 3 times a week. Also, Amanda would go home on IV antibiotics with a PICC line, a souped-up IV that goes straight to the heart. We have dealt with the PICC before and home antibiotics, but not the wound vac. The ID doc said it would be 6 weeks of antibiotics and possibly oral. 

They needed the culture to come back on the infection to see exactly what it was first. From the look of the culture so far, she thought either staff or strep. ID will outrank the surgeon on the course of treatment here. The choice of antibiotic will also be made after the cultures come back. She must have a good hunch on this already because they upped the dose of one of them already.

No matter the case, we’re staying until Friday after the first wound vac dressing change. It’s not the best news, but it didn’t really surprise us either. With the five-day stay, I needed to rethink my clothes situation. So, I’ll neither confirm nor deny if I’m wearing dirty chonies today!

Tensions were high this morning due to an issue with a missing toner cartridge at the church. I was telling Amanda not to deal with it, and she wasn’t having it. So when we got this news, it didn’t help our mood. I’d like to say we just dealt with all of this with no arguing like the perfect couple. But if you married, you know I’d be lying; we’re just like everyone else and had a little spat!

We are complete opposites, and our minds are no different. We process things so differently as well. My mind was drifting to what I’d do with work: Do I go home to make a trip or stay? Who comes to get Amanda? Could I go home and make it back to get her, and so on? I have some comp time left, but I’d like to save some for future trips this year; she won’t be sick forever. I can’t be off too long without a paycheck, though. This isn’t a new choice and one I’ve had to make too many times before. But with my mother passing, a pile of back taxes and new expenses landed in my lap, and this makes for a little added stress.

This will sound odd, but sadly, all of this feels familiar. We’ve been on such a long stretch of good health that I’d forgotten about all the stresses of something like this happening. Don’t get me wrong; we’ve been in this situation a ton of times, and I know we will make it through this one. The more trials you go through, and the farther you are from them, the more you see how God can use them for his good and carry you through it all. 

A good break from all this would be a visit from a friend. Amanda has a friend she met years ago with similar heart issues who lives in Katy. She’s visited us a few times while we’ve been here in the hospital. We also had a lovely dinner with her and her husband when we made our one-year heartiversary trip almost three and a half years ago. We haven’t been able to catch back up with them both since, with all of our trips to Houston being fast and furious. It was really good to see her and catch up. There’s just such a connection with someone who’s been through similar things. We don’t have to explain any of the medical jargon. She just gets our situation and understands on a level most can’t.

Another added headache would come after she left. We have an Airbnb we’ve been running at our downtown place. It helped pay my mom’s bills, and now the expenses have been added to our budget. We just had a guest check out, and it needed to be cleaned, and someone needed to check in. I’d have passed on the booking, but the money is helping, so I coordinated the cleaning and got him checked in.

To add to the frustration, he couldn’t find the place, even with very clear instructions that included a map and pictures of the entrance. From there, it was one thing after another; I think it was user error on some part! I eventually told him of our current situation and how I just couldn’t help from Houston. Also, that I’d already refunded his rate, and I could get him a guest rate at the local motel if he didn’t want to stay. I just really didn’t want to deal with it anymore, and I’d just eat the cleaning cost to keep from a bad review. Well, I’m hoping I get a good review with the free stay he’s getting now.

After all that, it was dinner time! We placed an order at a Mediterranean place Amanda found in San Antonio that was also just across the street. I walked over, picked it up, and came right back. I am sure getting my steps in over the last few days!

We should know a good bit more tomorrow after the ID comes by with the plan. I’m going to make a run to the store after lunch to grab a few things; I’m sure she will come by then!