Infection lands Mary Kay in the hospital

Hello,

Mary Kay has asked that I give you this update.

Mary Kay has not been feeling her best for the last couple of weeks: fatigue, joint pain and a bit of the tiredness. We enjoyed our trip to Las Vegas but did not do too much.

Our winter break from K-State has been a little hectic and overwhelming since we returned to Kansas. We left Friday, December 21st for Dorrance and Susan’s house to get ahead of the coming snow storm…which we did. We went to church on Saturday and a family party on Sunday, Christmas church service on Monday and a wonderful soup supper. When Mary Kay woke up on Christmas Day she was not feeling well but was keeping it quiet. We went to her Mother’s house for a couple of hours and she climbed into bed immediately with the “shaking chills”…her sister Debbie was called and upon seeing Mary Kay, she said let’s go to the Russell emergency room. During the five-hour excursion at the Russell ER, Mary Kay was originally diagnosed with the ‘crud’ that is going around. After insisting that blood work be drawn, the doctor then suggested a bladder infection was to blame. Even after Mary Kay told the doctor that she felt twice as sick now than she ever had during chemo and surgery, the doctor suggested she buy some over the counter ‘air born’ and take that. This was when Debbie’s jaw hit the floor and she almost said something very nasty to him. Things finally headed in the right direction when the ER nursing director arrived to help with a very busy ER department. She actually found the cellulites and called the doctor in right away. He came in like a dog with his tail between his legs and said Mary Kay needed to be at a bigger hospital. She did have an IV drip of the antibiotic Rosephin before we left for Salina.

Debbie and Greg met us at the Salina Regional Health Center and helped get Mary Kay in this room. What a help Deb has been during all of this. Mary Kay is introduced here (at the hospital) as Debbie’s sister…not Mary Kay. Debbie has connections!!! Mary Kay has been dealing with very high temperatures since Christmas day – the first two nights in the hospital the fever spiked to 103 and last night to 102. It is down around 99 – 100 now, so we hope she will be released on Saturday or Sunday. Anyway, the final diagnosis is cellulites, which is an infection of the skin structures. Her skin was very red and inflamed from her breast bone to her right breast to her right underarm area and around to the middle of her back. The size of the infection area has reduced significantly since Tuesday. Mary Kay had a sonogram today to identify the extent of the fluid accumulation and then had five large syringes of fluid drained from the swollen area – called a seroma. She is still taking two IV antibiotics (Rosephin and Vancomycin) to battle the infection, lots of Tylenol to reduce the fevers, anti-nausea medicine, and a variety of other medicines.

We have been at the Salina Regional Health Center since about 9:00PM Tuesday night. Mary Kay is receiving wonderful and attentive care from her doctors and staff. They have been very accommodating of me “hovering”. I have slept in a reclining chair for three nights to keep an eye on “Patient MK”, but may go tonight and stay at the Rebecca A. Morrison House-a guest residence for those living outside Salina who have a loved one as a patient at Salina Regional Health Center. It is a very nice bed and breakfast with 24 -hour caring staff. Susan, Velma and Joan came yesterday, visited Mary Kay, took me out to eat and for my first Sam’s Club visit. What a gift, Susan came with all our clothes washed (several loads) and packed up our suitcases so they have been in the room at the Morrison House even though I did not go there until this morning to take a shower and rest. Our friends Di and Jackie have come twice to visit in the evenings. We also had a visit from Russell friends Mick and Colleen as they were on their way home from a Christmas visit with family. Thanks so much!!! Other Salina visitors were Sister Rose, a friend of Debbie and Greg’s, John, Stacia and Natalie Brenneman, and Jody and Tim McClelland, and Greg’s sister Tonya.

Mary Kay has felt very sick with fluctuating high fevers, vomiting and generally feeling very bad. She has been on two powerful IV antibiotics, ice packs and had 5 vials of fluid removed from her breast site. We hope with all of this she has turned the corner and will be released in the next couple of days.

Of course, many of you are wondering where the best dog in the world is staying while we are in Salina. Kramer is enjoying an extended holiday season at Susan's house with his dog cousins Pearl, Chub, and Champ.

We hope to exchange family gifts in the next several weeks…2007 is going down as a memorable year. We wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR! We are looking for a change too.

Thanks to all of you, life is made better and more joyous.
Nancy