I'm typing this while I watch my brother sleep a few feet away.
He is still pretty sleepy from his surgery this morning and has only woken up for a minute or two a few times. He was given some pain medication before we came in and appears comfortable.
Janiece and I did have a good talk with his nurse though, and I was able to look at his lab results. Here are the details:
They were able to use an LMA (laryngeal mask airway) today for Scott's surgery rather than fully intubating him. This is good. An LMA is generally a little easier on the throat. I have been so worried about his multiple intubations, I'm relieved that they were able to use this today as it should make it so Scott's throat does not feel so terrible.
Scott's WBC count today was 10.5. His WBC count yesterday was 9.9. So, not a huge increase but we wish it were heading the other direction. Depending on what source you use, a normal range is generally 4.5-10, so again, not that elevated.
His sodium remains steady at 135-the same as yesterday. This means that when he is awake enough, that he will likely be able to have some fluids today. This is a huge blessing.
His platelets are still decreased and were lower than yesterdays value. Today they were 50 (I can't remember for sure, but I think they were 67 or 68 yesterday). A normal level should be above 150. Scott was given 4 units of platelets during his surgery today.
AST is 171 (normal is 5-35) and his ALT is 64 (normal is 7-56). These tests tell us how Scott's liver is functioning. Obviously, it is impaired, but I don't know what these results would have been before Scott got sick. We are still waiting to have a consult from the transplant team and asked again today if they could come. We have a lot of questions. If I am here during rounds I am going to try and get a day and time, when we can expect them. I want to make sure that we can ensure that we will be here to ask our questions.
His albumin today was 1.6. Yesterday it was 1.7. Normal is 3.3-4.8. Yesterday his low albumin level started talk of the necessity of a feeding tube. I asked his nurse if a feeding tube had been discussed again today and he said as of now, no. However, "the ICU team" has not rounded on Scott yet this morning and those things are discussed during those rounds. I really hope they do not have to do this, because I know Scott would absolutely hate it.
He is not requiring a lot of oxygen and despite some mildly elevated blood pressure this morning (160s/80s) his vital signs are stable. His heart rate is 84 and he is still on the Amiodarone-the medication that was started on Friday to treat his then increased heart rate/rhythm. It continues to work and his heart rate has been normal since.
His leg actually looked pretty good to me and not very red.
The plan is to get him out of bed at 1:00 this afternoon.
*Note for those that don't know-- I am a Nurse Practitioner and I like knowing the "numbers." Sorry if this was a little boring!
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