Albert Rodney & Victoria Jeanette
Thursday, November 27, 2003
From: Rod Murray
To: vicki@animalbrands.com
Sent: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 22:41:54 -0500
Subject: Re: Friday
VL,
Plans have changed. We won't be going up on Friday. I may go by myself on
Saturday. We saw the surgeon on Wed morning. She confirmed it was an
infection, so she opened up the incision and put in some gauze. Neither of
us saw what the wound looked like.
She really didn't prepare us for what was to come. As instructed, I helped
Lin remove the gauze -- she is left with a gaping open wound about 1.5" long
and 1" deep. I quickly put on another surface bandage so Lin didn't see it.
She got dressed and we went to her sister's for dinner.
Of course the wound is still weeping, so when she took it off the wet gauze
when we got home she was shocked to say the least. We were both extremely
upset wondering how the surgeon could have left her to go home with this
gaping open wound. We thought we'd have to go to the hospital tomorrow to
have a plastic surgeon sew her up again. However, I called Mike, our MD
friend and he explained that once the wound is infected, we need to leave it
open to the air and let it heal from the inside- out. I guess we were a bit
relieved but are still in shock. This has implications for the scar and will
probably delay the start of chemo. We are extremely upset and Lin is afraid
to leave the house. I'll stay home with her tomorrow and we'll talk about
plans for Saturday.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Went with Lin to previously scheduled appointment with Dr. Catherine Hayward. She opened her wound more and inserted a corner of a piece of gauze. Confirmed that it was an infection. We gave her a copy a paper entitled : "Postsurgical Changes of the Breast That Mimic Inflammatory Breast Carcinoma".
Monday, November 24, 2003
Lin saw Dr. Hayward (Catherine's husband) who opened her wound a bit and allowed it to drain. What bedside manner?
Mom transferred back to LVH Cedar Crest
Nurse Renee from LVH TCU called me to say that Mom and been transferred back to LVH because she was still vomiting. See VL's note...
-----Original Message-----
From: Vicki Lynne Morgan
To: murray@netmcs.com
Sent: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 13:14:49 -0500
Subject: Update
As of 12:30 mom is in 'express admit' and waiting for a room. She was in the rehab emergency before being taken to Lehigh Valley. Blood tests are being done at the moment. Probably xrays, etc.
Nurse was great in admit. Said mom has a lump at the top of her groin area where there could be a hernia. She did complain about stomach pain as you'll recall. She may have a bowel obstruction or hernia or whatever?!
We'll probably leave about 4 pm. Jim is taking me since rain was forcasted and we may be there late, again!
vl
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Condition of Lin's breast has gotten worse. Called on-call surgeon who said to start Cipro immediately. Will call Dr. Hayward on Monday for appointment.
