Just an update ... I am back on Willow Lane. That part feels good.
Some recovery still ahead. Managing the residual pain with a round-the-clock drug cocktail of tylenol, oxycodone, and ibuprofen, at least for a few more days.
A soft, no-chew diet for at least two weeks as things heal. (Maybe I'll finally drop those 10 pounds. Or is is 20?)
No exertion for a week to ten days and no lifting anything over 10 pounds with the PICC line in.
I get a home health care visit tomorrow to train me on how to do the daily infusions and watch me do the first one. I have a follow up appointment with the surgeon on Monday.
So, that's where I'm at. Thanks to all who sent notes and messages and good vibes our way over the past few days.
My first two acts when I got home: I took a shower and I watched the taped replay of Roger Federer winning Wimbledon. That guy is good...
Monday July 9, 2012
I love learning new things. I really do. I'm usually game for gaining new knowledge. But, if I have to learn any more medical terminology in the near future, that might just put me over the edge.
Also, I like to think that I'm not one to whine, and I always try to do my best to soldier on. But, really, enough already. Popping out an ovary was easy. Losing one simple molar has started a month long, downward spiral. It culminated in these past four days when, if it could go wrong, it did.
But, I have learned a few things this weekend:
I now know that sometimes after dental procedures you can develop osteomyelitis which is a bone infection and it is incredibly painful. I now know things about oral and maxillofacial surgery that I didn't know before. I've had it done twice in seven days.
I now know what a Penrose drain is. It's a surgical device used to remove fluid from a wound area. I currently have one in my mouth that will stay in there for a week.
I now know what the people from infectious disease do. I've met with them five times in four days. They have used three different antibiotics so far - Clindamycin, Unasyn, and the latest, Ertapenem. There still may be tinkering to be done with the medicine used to treat my infection depending on what the cultures of my bone and tissue samples show.
I now know how to use a morphine pump to manage pain. This is a nice thing to have. But, I also know that you can get a headache when you have to wean yourself off of the morphine. That part sucks.
I now know what a PICC line is. That's Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter and it's used to deliver daily IV medications. Mine is 46 centimeters long running from a vein in my right forearm to the subclavian vein near my heart. I have a little two inch tube hanging out of my right bicep area and this is where I will infuse a daily dose of antibiotics for at least the next 4 weeks.
So, I'm a lot smarter than I was when I checked into St. Mary's four days ago. But, I'm ready to go home now. If I'm stable through the night, I can go home on Tuesday. Please. The mauve colored walls are closing in on me. And the picture on the 17 inch tube TV in the corner sucks.
There, I snapped.
Also, I like to think that I'm not one to whine, and I always try to do my best to soldier on. But, really, enough already. Popping out an ovary was easy. Losing one simple molar has started a month long, downward spiral. It culminated in these past four days when, if it could go wrong, it did.
But, I have learned a few things this weekend:
I now know that sometimes after dental procedures you can develop osteomyelitis which is a bone infection and it is incredibly painful. I now know things about oral and maxillofacial surgery that I didn't know before. I've had it done twice in seven days.
I now know what a Penrose drain is. It's a surgical device used to remove fluid from a wound area. I currently have one in my mouth that will stay in there for a week.
I now know what the people from infectious disease do. I've met with them five times in four days. They have used three different antibiotics so far - Clindamycin, Unasyn, and the latest, Ertapenem. There still may be tinkering to be done with the medicine used to treat my infection depending on what the cultures of my bone and tissue samples show.
I now know how to use a morphine pump to manage pain. This is a nice thing to have. But, I also know that you can get a headache when you have to wean yourself off of the morphine. That part sucks.
I now know what a PICC line is. That's Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter and it's used to deliver daily IV medications. Mine is 46 centimeters long running from a vein in my right forearm to the subclavian vein near my heart. I have a little two inch tube hanging out of my right bicep area and this is where I will infuse a daily dose of antibiotics for at least the next 4 weeks.
So, I'm a lot smarter than I was when I checked into St. Mary's four days ago. But, I'm ready to go home now. If I'm stable through the night, I can go home on Tuesday. Please. The mauve colored walls are closing in on me. And the picture on the 17 inch tube TV in the corner sucks.
There, I snapped.
Sunday Update
About the time Jen was settling in to watch the Wimbledon Finals, Jen's team examined her and decided it was time for another surgery.
With more swelling on the floor of her mouth, fluid needed draining and samples collected and cultured to eliminate any diagnostic uncertainty.
So they wheeled her out with Roger Federer leading 2-1 in the third set. Jennifer missed Roger's 7th Wimbledon title. It's been one of those weeks, one of those months. It's been one of those years.
But the surgery was a success and tissue and bone samples were sent off to the lab. They even sent samples to pathology. But they also feel really strongly that this is osteomyelitis and they are glad they performed the procedure on Sunday instead of waiting.
And now we wait and they will watch. There will be some conferring with the Infectious Disease consult. There is a chance her antibiotic will be switched up to Ertapenum. Either way Jen will be making her home here at St. Mary's for - at least - the next couple days.
Anyone have a deck of cards?
Sunday July 8, 2012
The Wimbledon Men's tennis final will take place today and yes, my man Roger Federer gets a chance for another grand slam title, this time against England's favorite son, Andy Murray. Should be a good match and a good story either way.
Last year we watched the men's final from the Pediatric Infusion Treatment Center at St. Mary's where Shannon was receiving IV fluids to help her rebound from post radiation sickness. This year, it's my turn to be in a hospital bed with the IV hopefully doing it's trick.
The first couple of days here in the hospital have really been focused on getting the pain under control. The CT scan showed that the infection has stayed contained on the right side of my face/jaw so far. We need to keep it that way.
Finding the right mixture if pain meds was a process but we've gotten things down from an excruciating throbbing pain to a dull ache, so that's progress. I have a handy dandy morphine pump that I can activate every ten minutes with the push of a button.
I have had blood draws and blood cultures being done to try and determine how best to treat this infection. Yesterday, as a result of exams and testing, my antibiotic was switched to Unasyn, which is a cocktail of drugs known to be very effective against infections in the mouth. The hope is to keep the rest of my teeth in tact but that's not a given. A procedure may be performed to open up the site and clean it out again which would also allow them to gather some tissue to put into culture.
So, for the time being, St. Mary's is my home. Teams of doctors from oral surgery and infectious disease are on the case. Grandma and Papa Harkins came down from up north to be here with us for a few days. Not easy for parents to see their child in a hospital bed. Dan and Erin are hanging in there. Not easy to see your wife or mother in a hospital bed, either.
So, more drugs, more rest, and go Roger...
Friday July 6, 2012
A confluence of challenges greeted us on this Friday - a day that marks 6 months from Shannon's passing on the calendar. 26 Friday's since she left this earth.
Hopeful that Jen's mouth infection had been extracted along with with two molars in surgery Monday, we headed for Lake Hubert to memorialize Shannon with 27 O'Haras. More on that in a moment.
Jen was willing to tough it out for the ceremony, but it became obvious almost from the moment we arrived at the lake that things were getting worse - not better. By 5am Friday(after only 17 hours up north), I was steering Jen and Sunny the Wonderdog south on Hwy 371 with a destination of WFMC (World Famous Mayo Clinic). Erin was left in capable hands up north.
We were in an exam room back in Rochester by 9:30 am Friday. Admitted to St. Mary's Hospital by noon. And it looks like Jen will spend the weekend in the hospital where pain meds and antibiotics can be administered by IV. As we were being admitted, the nurse asked Jen what her pain level was on a scale of 1-to-10...her response was 9.75.
The infection appears to have spread in Jen's jaw, neck and face. A CT scan, a consult with Infectious Disease and an allergy test have been ordered. All the facts are being gathered and diagnosed, a plan will be in place Friday but it's a virtual certainty we are going to be watching the Wimbledon final from room 6-151 in St. Mary's. (thank you Roger Federer for delivering some positivity).
Our lakeside ceremony Thursday night was lovely. Tears flowed as cousins, aunts and uncles took turns scooping Shannon's ashes into a hole dug out for the monument and sharing stories. The stone was rolled back on top of Shannon's remains and now our Lake Hubert family property is truly sacred ground.
.JPG)
I ran out to grab some lunch after Jen's CT scan and to add to the poignancy of the day - the song on the radio was Daniel Powter's Bad Day. The same song Shannon played at her last piano recital. Someone oughta write a damn book.
Hopeful that Jen's mouth infection had been extracted along with with two molars in surgery Monday, we headed for Lake Hubert to memorialize Shannon with 27 O'Haras. More on that in a moment.
Jen was willing to tough it out for the ceremony, but it became obvious almost from the moment we arrived at the lake that things were getting worse - not better. By 5am Friday(after only 17 hours up north), I was steering Jen and Sunny the Wonderdog south on Hwy 371 with a destination of WFMC (World Famous Mayo Clinic). Erin was left in capable hands up north.
We were in an exam room back in Rochester by 9:30 am Friday. Admitted to St. Mary's Hospital by noon. And it looks like Jen will spend the weekend in the hospital where pain meds and antibiotics can be administered by IV. As we were being admitted, the nurse asked Jen what her pain level was on a scale of 1-to-10...her response was 9.75.
The infection appears to have spread in Jen's jaw, neck and face. A CT scan, a consult with Infectious Disease and an allergy test have been ordered. All the facts are being gathered and diagnosed, a plan will be in place Friday but it's a virtual certainty we are going to be watching the Wimbledon final from room 6-151 in St. Mary's. (thank you Roger Federer for delivering some positivity).
Our lakeside ceremony Thursday night was lovely. Tears flowed as cousins, aunts and uncles took turns scooping Shannon's ashes into a hole dug out for the monument and sharing stories. The stone was rolled back on top of Shannon's remains and now our Lake Hubert family property is truly sacred ground.
.JPG)
I ran out to grab some lunch after Jen's CT scan and to add to the poignancy of the day - the song on the radio was Daniel Powter's Bad Day. The same song Shannon played at her last piano recital. Someone oughta write a damn book.
Tuesday July 3, 2012
I wanted to get an update out here because our text and email is blowing up with people looking for updates on sweet Jennifer.
She's have another tough day.
But today's pains and lethargy are the result of really awful, invasive oral surgery .
She's hurting from the trauma of her jaw bone getting scraped down to its
healthiest layers Monday afternoon. Previous pain had been the throb
associated with infection. This recovery will take time.
Jen's surgeon predicted
they wouldn't be friends today. He was right. So give her
some time. We will know soon enough whether or not this thing is heading
in the right direction. Geesh. Poor girl. Staying medicated
is the goal today. Oxy, ibuprofen, Vicodin, salt water rinse and
repeat...
A long day hanging around the
Mayo campus Monday brought back a lot of tough memories. On Shannon's
Mayo days we would be there for one appointment after another. Just like
with Jen yesterday, there was a lot down time in various sterile exam rooms in
the Mayo and Gonda buildings. Lots of time to think. And fret.
When they paged me to come back
and give permission to extract two more of Jen's teeth I thought I was going to
shit a brick. When they told Erin to wait in the lobby of Gonda 7E -
"the doctor needs to talk to your Dad" - my stomach bottomed out.
An awful feeling. God can't possibly have more for me? He
didn't. And, once again, I am jolted into a moment of gratitude.
Last year, we spent another
scorching 4th of July holiday week in and out of appointments on the Mayo
Clinic campus with Shannon finally going in for IV infusion treatments that
helped her turn the corner after post-radiation effects put her down hard.
Impossible not to recollect and wonder why, how this happened to our
happy family...
Here's to hoping we get our
leader back here soon. Here's to turning another corner.
Monday July 2, 2012
Warning to the reader: I am under the influence of Vicodin as I write this blog. Or is it Oxycodone? Either way...
Let's backtrack. I had a tooth extraction on June 6th. We haven't said too much about it here in the blog, but if you are one of my family members or close friends, you have been hearing me bitch about it for three and a half weeks. My bite wasn't right, then I developed a dry socket, then a small infection, then more trouble with my bite. So, over the last 26 days I have been to the dentist (twice), the periodontist (three times) and the ER (twice). I reached what I thought was the low point on my birthday last Friday when I canceled all plans because I wasn't up to golf or dinner or anything other than icing my face. The low point was yet to come.
By this morning, my face was visibly swollen and we returned to Mayo where they were certain that there was now an infection, possibly a small micro fracture of the bone or possibly debris in the extraction site. Off to oral surgery where it was determined that we should open it up and clean it out, get some faster acting antibiotics via IV and hope that helped me turn the corner. Little did we know...
Erin and Dan saw me go back to be sedated and they headed out for some frozen yogurt. Almost immediately, Dan was paged and Erin was asked to wait in the lobby. I can only imagine Dan's fear as we are certainly gun-shy about bad news from doctors. Turns out that my lower right jaw bone was completely infected and two more teeth had been compromised and needed to be removed. Dan gave consent and the doctor yanked the teeth and then scraped away all the dead bone. They will be watching the healing process closely and monitoring for any more signs of infections. Mouths are tricky and things like infection can travel fast. Let's hope this is the end of it.
I'd be remiss if I didn't share a couple of interactions we had today. Shannon interactions. A nurse who helped us this morning recognized me from 15 years ago when she played tennis. She made a point of letting us know that she was so sorry about the loss of Shannon, but also that she enjoyed getting to know her through what she read.
Then on the surgical unit this afternoon, we ran into one of our close friend's brothers who works there. Small world. The nurse who had been helping us then felt comfortable acknowledging that she knew who we were and what we had been through. Turns out many of the nurses on that unit had been following us and wanted us to know how much they all learned from our family. Wow. Sincere and touching and really nice to hear. The ripples of Shannon's life continue...
So, now we are home and I am resting with this handy-dandy icepak that wraps around your head and ices your cheeks. Looks like a bra for your face. I have allowed Dan to take one picture for the archives, but it will not be appearing here on the blog!
I am hoping against hope that I rebound in the next 36 to 48 hours and we can still make our family trip to Lake Hubert for at least part of the holiday weekend. Cross your fingers...
Let's backtrack. I had a tooth extraction on June 6th. We haven't said too much about it here in the blog, but if you are one of my family members or close friends, you have been hearing me bitch about it for three and a half weeks. My bite wasn't right, then I developed a dry socket, then a small infection, then more trouble with my bite. So, over the last 26 days I have been to the dentist (twice), the periodontist (three times) and the ER (twice). I reached what I thought was the low point on my birthday last Friday when I canceled all plans because I wasn't up to golf or dinner or anything other than icing my face. The low point was yet to come.
By this morning, my face was visibly swollen and we returned to Mayo where they were certain that there was now an infection, possibly a small micro fracture of the bone or possibly debris in the extraction site. Off to oral surgery where it was determined that we should open it up and clean it out, get some faster acting antibiotics via IV and hope that helped me turn the corner. Little did we know...
Erin and Dan saw me go back to be sedated and they headed out for some frozen yogurt. Almost immediately, Dan was paged and Erin was asked to wait in the lobby. I can only imagine Dan's fear as we are certainly gun-shy about bad news from doctors. Turns out that my lower right jaw bone was completely infected and two more teeth had been compromised and needed to be removed. Dan gave consent and the doctor yanked the teeth and then scraped away all the dead bone. They will be watching the healing process closely and monitoring for any more signs of infections. Mouths are tricky and things like infection can travel fast. Let's hope this is the end of it.
I'd be remiss if I didn't share a couple of interactions we had today. Shannon interactions. A nurse who helped us this morning recognized me from 15 years ago when she played tennis. She made a point of letting us know that she was so sorry about the loss of Shannon, but also that she enjoyed getting to know her through what she read.
Then on the surgical unit this afternoon, we ran into one of our close friend's brothers who works there. Small world. The nurse who had been helping us then felt comfortable acknowledging that she knew who we were and what we had been through. Turns out many of the nurses on that unit had been following us and wanted us to know how much they all learned from our family. Wow. Sincere and touching and really nice to hear. The ripples of Shannon's life continue...
So, now we are home and I am resting with this handy-dandy icepak that wraps around your head and ices your cheeks. Looks like a bra for your face. I have allowed Dan to take one picture for the archives, but it will not be appearing here on the blog!
I am hoping against hope that I rebound in the next 36 to 48 hours and we can still make our family trip to Lake Hubert for at least part of the holiday weekend. Cross your fingers...
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