The last time I posted, I think my cousin was getting ready to be discharged from the hospital soon. Unfortunately the day before he was discharged, his doctors decided that outpatient therapy for his pelvic drain might not be sufficient for his specific condition. They contemplated over surgery and felt like the benefits of removing a part of his large intestine and colon outweighed the complications associated with surgery.
It was heartbreaking to see my cousin that morning when he received the news that he would not be leaving the hospital. He had obvious signs of anxiety over everything and it was definitely morale crushing for him and all of us. After the general surgeon explained the surgery and what we could expect, my cousin agreed to surgery. It was a difficult decision for him, in many ways. In the culture and environment we were brought up in, surgery is always a bad thing. Surgery pretty much has the connotation of death. But my cousin eventually decided to have the surgery because many of his doctors had the sentiment that if he didn't have the surgery now, he would need it in the end at some point in his life. He just wanted to get all of this over with.
I was happy with his decision because I felt like the (many) pros outweighed the cons. The surgeon would be able to remove the "bad" piece of his intestines and colon and examine the rest of his intestines, in-person. Also, the infected and inflamed area is going to be sent to pathology for a full work up. This way we can determine if my cousin really has Crohn's, TB, or anything else. It will put all of us at ease and help us to better understand his condition and how we can prevent something similar in the future.
Anyways, my cousin had the surgery yesterday morning and although the general surgeon expected many complications with his surgery, she finished the surgery pretty quickly. In about an hour and a half, she removed a few inches from my cousin's large intestines and colon, and re-sectioned everything together! He recovered well post-surgery yesterday and today he began to fart! Farting is a great sign because it shows that his bowels are working and that everything was connected well. Apparently everything so far is working together in his belly.
Even though he's progressing as expected, his fever returned tonight and I'm worried what that could mean. I've been reading up on post-operative fevers and I really hope he doesn't have another infection brewing in a different system of his body.
I'm going back early tomorrow morning to observe him and to see if I can talk to his doctors. I've been spending a lot of time at his hospital, everyday...and it kind of blows because when I'm not at the hospital I'm at the emergency room, working. I feel bad for complaining, but I'm really worn down right now. I just want him to get better and be happy, so we can all be happy.
S
"Give Your Heart a Break" -- Demi Lovato
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Real Life, Real Things
Hey,
I've been gone a little while from this blog. I'm actually supposed to be in China right now, but I'm not. This return is supposed to be therapeutic for me.
The past week and a half has been really stressful for me and my family. A week and a half ago my cousin was hospitalized for a pelvic abscess. He had an unrelenting fever when he checked into the emergency room and was septic with a white blood cell count under 300. He was recently diagnosed with Crohn's and had also been taking immunosuppresants, making his condition even more serious. A few days after being hospitalized, he had a minor procedure to drain his abscess. An hour post-surgery though, my cousin became septic again, and things took a turn for the worse. This all happened the day before my trip to China, so naturally my parents and I decided to skip our trip to stay with my cousin.
His surgery was exactly one week ago, and since then, I keep thinking about that hour post-surgery. Before then, I had always felt fortunate enough to never have experienced a loss of a friend or family member. I have experienced grief and grieved, but never grieved over the loss of a person. Last week, I had never been so close to losing a loved one, and I don't know where I would be right now mentally and emotionally if that had actually happened.
The medical staff was able to stabilize and "revive" (too strong of a word?) my cousin and he was moved to the ICU after he became septic. He spent two days in the ICU and then two days in the PCU. Now he's in a general bed and doing much better than he was one week ago. His blood cell count and blood chemistry have s improved and his body is working really hard to help him heal.
I'm so proud of how hard my cousin has fought and is fighting to stay alive and strong. After being moved to the ICU, he had a few frustrating days, where things only seemed to be getting worse. But he toughed it out and things slowly became better. Now he's working on walking with a walker and he's learning to become mobile again. The improvement he has had over the past four days has been emotionally uplifting, especially since my recent happiness hinges only my cousin's success.
It's experiences like these that make you reflect on how lucky you are, or that we are. I can get up every day on my own, use the bathroom, eat, make my own food, and pretty much do whatever I want, however I want, when I want. But because the world works in mysterious ways, some people don't have the ability, or lose the ability to do as they please, to walk on their own, to breathe on their own, or to live their life to the fullest.
Walking around the hospital, in the ICU, PCU, and general surgery floor...and seeing my cousin improve with the supportive care he's received, I've come to appreciate medicine even more. Our bodies do all sorts of messed up shit, but to see a handful of doctors rally around my cousin and work together to support him, medically/physically, makes me even more excited about who I will be able to help and what I will be able to accomplish in the future.
From everything that's happened, I've learned that life is fickle. I want to live life without regrets. I've thought about this somewhat recently, but only in the past week have I've been encouraged to live life actively. Don't sit back and let life pass you by. Work towards your goals, so you'll never have to wonder, what if?
S
Music: "Titanium" -- David Guetta featuring Sia
I've been gone a little while from this blog. I'm actually supposed to be in China right now, but I'm not. This return is supposed to be therapeutic for me.
The past week and a half has been really stressful for me and my family. A week and a half ago my cousin was hospitalized for a pelvic abscess. He had an unrelenting fever when he checked into the emergency room and was septic with a white blood cell count under 300. He was recently diagnosed with Crohn's and had also been taking immunosuppresants, making his condition even more serious. A few days after being hospitalized, he had a minor procedure to drain his abscess. An hour post-surgery though, my cousin became septic again, and things took a turn for the worse. This all happened the day before my trip to China, so naturally my parents and I decided to skip our trip to stay with my cousin.
His surgery was exactly one week ago, and since then, I keep thinking about that hour post-surgery. Before then, I had always felt fortunate enough to never have experienced a loss of a friend or family member. I have experienced grief and grieved, but never grieved over the loss of a person. Last week, I had never been so close to losing a loved one, and I don't know where I would be right now mentally and emotionally if that had actually happened.
The medical staff was able to stabilize and "revive" (too strong of a word?) my cousin and he was moved to the ICU after he became septic. He spent two days in the ICU and then two days in the PCU. Now he's in a general bed and doing much better than he was one week ago. His blood cell count and blood chemistry have s improved and his body is working really hard to help him heal.
I'm so proud of how hard my cousin has fought and is fighting to stay alive and strong. After being moved to the ICU, he had a few frustrating days, where things only seemed to be getting worse. But he toughed it out and things slowly became better. Now he's working on walking with a walker and he's learning to become mobile again. The improvement he has had over the past four days has been emotionally uplifting, especially since my recent happiness hinges only my cousin's success.
It's experiences like these that make you reflect on how lucky you are, or that we are. I can get up every day on my own, use the bathroom, eat, make my own food, and pretty much do whatever I want, however I want, when I want. But because the world works in mysterious ways, some people don't have the ability, or lose the ability to do as they please, to walk on their own, to breathe on their own, or to live their life to the fullest.
Walking around the hospital, in the ICU, PCU, and general surgery floor...and seeing my cousin improve with the supportive care he's received, I've come to appreciate medicine even more. Our bodies do all sorts of messed up shit, but to see a handful of doctors rally around my cousin and work together to support him, medically/physically, makes me even more excited about who I will be able to help and what I will be able to accomplish in the future.
From everything that's happened, I've learned that life is fickle. I want to live life without regrets. I've thought about this somewhat recently, but only in the past week have I've been encouraged to live life actively. Don't sit back and let life pass you by. Work towards your goals, so you'll never have to wonder, what if?
S
Music: "Titanium" -- David Guetta featuring Sia
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