Surgery postponed as fever, headache and infection ruin the week

Our last post was a week ago, when Jenny outlined our plan for the next surgery and the follow-up appointments to close out the 2012 treatment in Houston.

Unfortunately, things took a bad turn this week. Right now, we are in the ER at MD Anderson in Houston to get treament for what appears to be an infection in the original surgical area.

On Monday, Jenny …

  • had her second drain removed (it hurt … real bad).
  • developed a fever  (reaching 102.8).
  • developed another bad headache (the kind that nobody wants).
  • made a trip to the Emergency Room at OU Medical Center in Edmond (a trip recommended by the PA in Houston).
  • had an X-Ray.
  • had a CT scan
  • had a  Spinal Tap (yes … a Spinal Tap).

The ER doctor in Edmond eventually ruled out every other possible infection (and viral meningitis) before concluding that her body must be fighting an infection in the breast. We were back at home at 1:30 a.m. and preparing to drive to Houston this morning for surgery on Wednesday.

Then came this morning.

Official word came from Houston that we would not be having surgery tomorrow. The likelihood of infection made it not advisable. By lunchtime, we learned that Dr. Kronowitz, the plastic surgeon, wanted her to come to Houston to the ER so he could start treatment on the probable infection.

We drove to Houston as fast as a Kia Forte will go.

It’s now after 9 p.m. We just saw the fellow for Dr. Kronowitz. He agreed that we are looking at an infection and said she will be admitted to the hospital. They will start an antibiotic, watch it and perhaps add another drain to release fluid that has built up. If the results aren’t good, they might need to remove the expander. That’s another possible surgery. That’s not good.

All that is dependent on what Dr. Kronowitz says tomorrow.

We could be here for two days or over the weekend.

So, it’s been quite a couple of days. Emergency Rooms are not a lot of fun. The most ironic part of the last couple days is that we were rushing to Houston (almost 500 miles away) to get to the Emergency Room. That’s just odd — but this is where our expert plastic surgeon is, so here we are.

Oh … and as a good journalist should never do, I buried the lead. According to the radiologist in Edmond, the CT scan was clear. No metastasis in the brain! We are exhausted, and Jenny is still in some pretty bad headache pain (they’re giving her Morphine now at 9:09 p.m.), but we are still reminding each other of that really good news.

And P.S.  — the surgery to remove the lymph nodes on the right side is now scheduled for Dec. 6. I don’t know if this possible surgery for the expander would change that.

 

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