So sorry for being silent for so long. It's been a fairly rough week for all of us here in Northern Virginia.
I am also sorry to have to tell everyone that Estelle is in the hospital. She had developed a rash on her back and shoulders early in the week which they were treating with Lotrimin Cream. The nurses assured us, by phone, that is was not a bad rash. Being ill ourselves, we accepted that. I spoke to them on the phone on Thursday morning and was told that all was well and the rash was not any worse, although it was not any better, either. Late Thursday night, Eric, her night nurse phoned and told us that they were doing an x-ray of her hand because it was swollen, although they did not know why it was swollen. Friday morning, Jackie, a day nurse, called to tell me that they were setting up an appointment for Mom to see an dermatologist in two weeks for the rash.
At this point, I simply got dressed and went in to see her. When I arrived I found her to be uncomfortable, with a (to my eye, anyhow) bad case of what looked to be cellulitis to her right hand/arm and her upper left arm. Both areas were very red and hot to touch. I was also informed at that time that her feeding tube had come dislodged the night before and had been replaced but was still leaking. We'd just gotten that infection cleaned up a week ago and we surely do not want a repeat infection at the insertion site if we can help it. I asked for the doctor to be called immediately and, luckily, he happened to be in the building at the time. He came to see her within minutes and, after some discussion, we decided that she would be better treated in the hospital due to the apparent severity of the swelling and the rash along with her hightened discomfort level.
An ambulance was called and we both went to the ER for evaluation. The ER people were great. Quick and attentive and kind and efficient. Mom got a complete infectious work-up, was monitored cardio-wise, got an quick litre bolus of fluids, morphine for pain, an xray of her abdomen, (checking feeding tube placement)and a loading dose of potent antibiotics for what was diagnosed as a severe cellulitis.
We had arrived at the ER around 3PM and she was taken to a room around 10PM. She was resting comfortably when we left. We spoke to her nurse this morning and she is scheduled for an ultrasound guided abdominal xray - although the tube placement looked ok to the ER doctor last night the radiologist apparently saw something he/she didn't like and is doing further testing. Other than that, they are keeping her comfortable and continuing with the IV antibiotics and keeping a close watch to be sure the infection does not spread further.
Dan will be going to see her in a bit and he'll have more to add a little later. I just wanted to let everyone know what's going on.
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