Change in Path...

Hello All,

Well, as I told my mom this morning, this new development isn't a setback, but rather a change in her path to recovery. Unfortunately, The Queen experienced trouble breathing again towards the end of yesterday (Saturday) and this morning. We had an X-Ray ordered while she was at Rehab and the X-Ray showed that she had "infiltration" in her lungs. Infiltration means there is some type of bacteria or fluid in her lungs. To make an EXTREMELY long day short...after an ambulance ride back to Northside, we spent the majority of our day in the ER to figure out what was going on. The ER doc was the same doc who saw her the first day she got here and boy...did she look better to him! The ER doc ordered a CT scan to make sure there was nothing else causing the shortness of breath. CT scan looked good, but he said she didn't quite look well enough for him to send her back to rehab. He called the on call doctor for the oncology office and we all breathed a sigh of relief after talking to him. The oncologist basically said that her lungs just weren't quite ready to be working at full capacity on their own yet. This go around, the infiltrates (bacteria and/or fluid) are in her lungs as opposed to being around her lungs. This is why they didn't do a chest drainage thing again. He said that in cases like hers, (where the pneumonia was so bad) it can take the darn lungs 4-6 weeks to fully heal.

Patience. Patience. Patience.

After about 6 hours in the ER (crappy bed, only 2 chairs for visitors and 3 of us, no tv...see where I'm going with this?) she was moved back to her exact same room that she spent the last 2 weeks in. It's almost like our room got a wonderful cleaning, and then they were like, "ok, you can come back Ms. Jean!" So, here we are again. We're all feeling as though we never left and the past 3 days are literally a whirlwind. Nancy and I took turns spending the night at Rehab by sleeping in 2 chairs pushed together. We are happy we won't be doing that tonight.

All in all, the hospital is where my mom needs to be right now. She had some SEVERE issues coming into the hospital 3 weeks ago and those issues just take time to fully recover from. It would have taken a healthy person a long time to recover, not to mention a person who was in the midst of undergoing chemo and radiation. We are all very content with this move back to the hospital. We know she is in the best hands. We know they will get this figured out. We know we will all (try to) be patient. We know she can do it.

Prayers and good vibrations for a speedy recovery, CLEAR LUNGS, better breathing, and a continued good attitude.

My mom is the strongest person I've ever met. There's nothing stopping her here....she just needs more time. We can do that.

Tomorrow will bring visits from all her top docs. Oncologist, Pulmonologist, Infectious Disease. We can't wait to have them back :) This weekend business is rough and requires a bit more patience than usual....

I leave you with a pic of my mom's favorite dog (please note the sarcasm and remember that she and Sam are not BFF) posing next to daffodils in GA. We had some beautiful weather this weekend (which my mom did enjoy for 30 minutes yesterday!) and Sam had quite a nice time outside.

Love and hugs,

The Queen's Royal Court