Doctorspeak With a Touch of Humility

How would you like to start your day with a pericardiocentesis?  That’s right, I just used pericardiocentesis in a sentence (!) and it is driving my spellcheck crazy, which makes me smarter than my spellcheck…booyah!  But enough about me.  A pericardiocentesis (not to be confused with a thoracentesis, although Miki has now had both) is where they, they being the doctors, not like family or friends, use a needle like tool to drain the excess liquid from around the heart, which now begs the question, “What’s a thoracentesis?”  That you will have to educate yourself on, because I am not an enabler.  And given the average Walliebloggernaut that reads this mess on a semi-regular basis, you should have no trouble self-educating, if you know how to Google it.  That’s what I did.  So go centesis something…well, maybe not.

The whole fluid around the heart issue was raised around a month ago when we saw a cardiologist about her rapid heart rate.  After an echocardiogram, it was discovered that Miki did have a little more than normal amount of liquid around the heart, which we all have some of, but it should be monitored in case it increases.  Fast-forward to sleepover number 6 at Centerpoint Medical Center and it was found that indeed the amount of liquid around her little heart has increased.  Chances are it is motivated by the cancer, but the liquid was not at a critical level yet and most likely would continue to increase, putting more pressure on the heart and at some point become critical.  So, do you deal with it now or monitor it and deal with it later?  We opted for the drain now and it turns out, it was a good decision.  They (again, not your friends, but doctors) removed 725 cc of fluid, or about 24 oz (an extra large beer or two regular beer bottles worth).  More than they anticipated.  As it is turning out, this visit to The Point seems to be a good tune-up for Miki, as our goal is still to visit Houston ASAP.

The elephant in the room now is the pain that brought her here in the first place.  Hopefully that will be front and center tomorrow, since it seems to have taken an invisible backseat so far.  To be continued.

Now to the focus of this journey…Miki.  We’ve all been sick and in bed for days at a time at some point in our lives.  I think of my own and then I try to imagine what Miki is enduring and has endured since this whole thing started playing out, six months ago (half a year!).  Faking it to miss school for a couple of days and I was begging to go back.  In past hospital visits, there has not been the constant uncomfortableness that she has experienced this time.  Combine that with serious pain medication and she walks a fine line between imaginary scenarios when she closes her eyes and the reality of what is happening to her health when they are open.  She is doing the best she can, but even her best efforts can have their low points.  I have a hard time understanding or “seeing” what is playing out in front of her closed eyes, but I bet I’ve had some past students that could act as interpreters for me.  Is it a coping reaction to the crap she is dealing with, a reaction to the meds she has been on for so long, or something yet to be revealed that I don’t want to know?  Bless her little rapid-fire heart.  She can appear to be almost child-like at times, but I am rooting for the old Miki I knew 7 months ago.

Barring any surprises, we should find our ticket out of here in a few days.  Now I won’t dwell on the fact that I may have just jinxed it, but you gotta have hope.

My Zen from Home:  I witnessed a pretty cool act of humility today.  A patient that was beside themselves last night, due to a strong narcotic influence, made their night nurse earn her combat pay, as she dealt with the patient’s imaginary emergency.  It eventually resolved itself and things settled down.  The night shift nurse later clocked out and went home knowing she did the best she could, given the situation.  Was it the only way?  Who knows.  The day passed and the nurse returned for her night shift.  She also returned to care for the same patient that was a struggle the night before.  With the passing of time and the narcotics exiting the patient’s system, the two met again during shift change.  The patient, while being attended to by the nurse that was so hated the night before, for looking out for her patient’s best interests, in a small child-like voice, apologized for their behavior from the night before.  The voice belonged to Miki.  And my worries of her mental state that have been generated lately, melted away.  It is hard to not jump to conclusions and if you feel the need to, don’t jump too far.