Today was the first time the Dr. came around when I was here, so now I can give you an update based on what I heard him say. Apparently Paul developed sepsis, which Mayoclinic.org defines as a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a cascade of changes that can damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail. Treatment with antibiotics begins immediately — even before the infectious agent is identified. Initially youll receive broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are effective against a variety of bacteria. The antibiotics are administered intravenously (IV). After learning the results of blood tests, your doctor may switch to a different antibiotic thats more appropriate against the particular bacteria causing the infection. He also developed what they call red man syndrome from the Vancomycin, which is flushing and rash development, so hes getting some Benadryl to help with the itching. They stopped the antibiotics for awhile but plan to give him more, probably starting tomorrow. Also, his kidneys arent functioning properly, so the Dr said hes going to bring someone from the Renal Department on board to help with that. They put in a catheter yesterday to help drain fluid from him because his kidneys arent working like they should to do that. They are also going to have someone from Neurology come in and see if theres anything more they can do for the numbness and tingling. He still has trouble walking or holding on to anything because he has no feeling in his feet or hands. PT has been in to help him learn how to stand and move with a walker when he cant feel anything, and I have been helping him with his eating and drinking. Hopefully they can get this all straightened out sooner than later because its definitely a setback he didnt need. He was so looking forward to going back to work this past Monday and getting his life back to normal and it seems unreal to both of us that hes back out here in Iowa City. Originally, he didnt even want to go to the ER because he figured he had the flu and he was just going to let it run its course. Thank God he decided hed go get checked out or this could have been a lot worse than it is.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 17:07:03 +0000