Countdown to Getting Out of This Joint

Dr. Goswami came in this morning around 8:45. Mom has a pain in her side, under her lower left ribcage. He thinks it may be a blood clot in her lung. He isn’t very concerned about it, since it is small and the Lovenox/Heparin will help her body dissolve it. Her right arm is still very swollen due to the clot. They will wrap it tightly today to try and get the swelling and clot to move out.

She will go into surgery tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. to remove the port from her chest. There is a risk of the clot at the end of the port moving to her lungs when he pulls the port out. There is also a risk of bleeding and infection. However, if the port isn’t removed, the clots will continue to form. The procedure will take about 30 minutes. She will have local anesthetic and laughing gas, but it should be easier to take out than when it was put in (& putting it in was pretty easy).

Dr. Goswami thinks that doing the Angiovac is still a possibility. He has contacted the heart surgeon from New York who has performed the procedure. If it needs to be done, that surgeon will fly in to do mom’s surgery. The equipment for the procedure is on its way from Massachusetts, just in case.

Dr. Goswami expects her to be out of the hospital by the end of the week, though probably not until Thursday or Friday. He told her that he will try and get her into a private room today, which will be nice.  He will do a CT Scan before mom leaves Springfield to be sure there aren’t any more dangerous blood clots.

Mom’s up walking around. This morning when she was in the hallway walking, Dr. Goswami walked by and didn’t even recognize her (he had only seen her when she was really swollen). The swelling is almost entirely out of her face and it’s much reduced in her neck and chest. She’s looking better every day. Continue to pray & send good thoughts; she’s not out of the woods, yet.

-Jenn