DKA

Something we noticed in the hospital discharge instructions: there was another factor we thought was a symptom, but might have caused, or at least exacerbated, everything. She was in Diabetic Keto Acidosis (DKA). The hospital lab said her blood glucose (BG) was around 900 when she was admitted. It had been off scale high since the previous day. We'd been trying to get it down by injecting her with unusually large amounts of Humulog, a powerful short-acting insulin, but with apparently little success, since the number hadn't gotten down enough to register on her little meter, which only reads as high as 600. Symptoms of DKA include most of what she was experiencing, except for the fluid they saw on the lungs in the X-Ray and the CAT scan. We couldn't figure out how her BG got so high in the first place, and had to assume her body was stressed, which we know will drive BG up.

Coming Home Today!

Kristan will be coming home today! She feels much better. The St Joseph and Kaiser docs and nurses will be meeting at 1:30 to formulate her discharge instructions. We already have plans to stop at her favorite sandwich place (Fisher Clark Deli in Bonnie Brae) on the way home.

Dad and Adele are on their way to Green River. They left an hour or so late. It's fun to watch them getting ready to go - Dad packing the car, Adele telling him where her things need to be. They have quite a routine going there.

Power was out at our house for many hours last night. Our neighbors across the street still had power. Seems like we're always the ones to lose power during storms. Must be those darned overgrown trees in the surrounding neighborhoods. One of them must've dropped another branch on a power line, during the most severe part of last night's big storm. We got a lot of rain and hail and wind, in a very short time. That was the most violent storm we've experienced at the house, in the 14 years we've been here. There was even a tornado warning in effect for our area, before, during, and after the time it passed through here. Just a bit unnerving. Even Mandy was a little nervous, and I've never seen her worried about storms or fireworks in the past. She was probably picking up on my elevated level of concern, as I was briefing Dad and Adele on where to take cover, if they heard the sound of a freight train (i.e., a tornado) approaching the house.

Looking Up

We just got back from visiting K at St Joseph hospital. She was doing well, and itchy to start talking discharge with her doctors. Even her nurses were asking if the docs had mentioned it. So we're hoping she may be out of there as soon as tomorrow. I took Dad and Adele to dinner at the Buckhorn Exchange - Denver's original steakhouse - on the way home. They loved it. They'll be "on the road again" tomorrow morning.

Monday Afternoon

K's pain and nausea are both up, but no more than the usual, considering that her med schedule is all jumbled around, while she's in the hospital. We're leaving now to go visit her.

Monday Morning

K called at 7:30 to say she'd be going into dialysis soon. The nausea is much reduced, thank goodness. We're hopeful the worst is over. Thanks to *everyone* who's sending good thoughts - they must be helping! :-)

Sunday Evening

We left K resting semi-comfortably in her half of the room, on the 4th floor of St Joseph hospital. Her roommate seems nice enough, but is a short-timer, heading out soon. Her nausea seems reduced, but still very much a factor. Will check on her in the morning around 9.

K Transferred to St Joseph

We left K in the capable hands of the EMS techs, as they wheeled her out of Littleton Hospital on a gurney, destined for St. Joseph hospital near downtown Denver. She's still very nauseas, still showing some signs of pneumonia, still on antibiotics. We stopped at the house to pick up her fully charged wound vac, and are heading out to St Jo, to make sure she's settling in ok.

Sunday Morning

K's still at Littleton hospital. She's still very nauseas. Had a low blood sugar this morning. The nurse says they'll probably transfer her to a Kaiser hospital today. Don't know where or when. We're heading in to visit now, just to let her know we're around, since she's mostly sleeping.

Saturday Morning

K's nurse says she's doing well. She had a low glucose this morning, which means they've potentially got the glucose under control, so she's off the insulin drip, and back to the usual sliding scale. Her BP was back to a more normal reading. They're still considering the possibility of heart issues being a factor, so they sent her down this morning for an echocardiogram, and later a stress test. She's supposed to get a dialysis treatment this afternoon. The nurse says K is still a little nauseas, and is worried about them transferring her out of ICU too soon. But according to the nurse, nausea isn't reason enough to keep her in ICU, so they'll probably transfer her to the telemetry floor later today.

K Improving

Glad to say, K felt much better, when we went back to see her this afternoon. They'd found signs of pneumonia. Hydration, antibiotics, insulin, all seem to be helping. She's been admitted to ICU, at least for the night. She'll get her Friday dialysis on Saturday morning in ICU. We really like Littleton hospital. She's got a beautiful view from her private room, and the medical staff have been great. Too bad it's only available for emergencies, since Kaiser doesn't have an agreement with them for non-emergency treatment. If she stabilizes, but still needs more time in hospital, they'll probably have to transfer her to St Joseph.

K in Littleton Hospital

Kristan's been intensely sick all last night and this morning. She had high blood pressure and low temperature this morning. Dad and Adele and I took her to Littleton Hospital ER around noon today, which is very conveniently close - about 5 minutes from the house. They're trying to figure out what's going on. Heart and lungs seem healthy. They suspect an infection somewhere, but haven't found it on the outside, so they'll be looking on the inside next, with X-Rays and an MRI.

Visitors

Dad and Adele arrived on the 7th. I'm taking some vacation while they're here. We're not quite as active as previous years. Maybe something about Dad just celebrating his 90th birthday...? :-) Nonetheless, we've been out for a nice 1 mile walk yesterday, and heading out for lunch and a short walk now. K was nauseas this morning, and feeling a little better now.