Friday, October 1, 2010

Well, we had been home, but yesterday afternoon around 3:30 the hospital called and a culture they had taken grew MRSA, and they needed Mom to come back. So we hopped in the car and headed back here to the hospital. It's a little disappointing to be back; however, they're taking good care of Mom and providing care and medicine that we couldn't give her at home.

We've not received a lot of information since we've gotten here, but from what I've gathered, the culture they took was from the port and they believe it has the infection. MRSA is an antibiotic resistant bacterial infection that commonly lives in hospitals. We're not sure if it has been hanging out there in the port for a long time, or if it's just been recently infected. It's my understanding that they'll have to remove the port and possibly put in another one... I'm not sure. The course of treatment for MRSA is a 6-week dose of IV antibiotics. They began the antibiotics sometime last night after drawing several vials of blood for more cultures and testing. It's a little disappointing that they cannot access the port now, because the chemo has caused structural damage to the veins, making it extremely difficult for her to take and keep an IV. They had to try several times last night, and about 4:00 this morning she pulled it out. One nurse tried to get another line then and had to call another nurse to come in and try. By 6:30, they had the IV back in and we're now waiting for someone else to come in and start the drip again. It's been a long night and Mom's been up several times to use the bathroom and then trying to get comfortable. She seems to be resting pretty well right now. I'll keep posting information as I get it. I'll be here until I have to leave for our football game this evening.

I really appreciate all your calls, cards, emails, and messages. It lets all of us know that we're not going through any of this alone. Please continue to keep Mom and the rest of us as an interest in your prayers. God is performing miracles in our lives everyday!