Myth Busters

Kelly has been superstitious about removing the ID bracelet that was put on her during the admission process at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She told me that by continuing to wear the plastic wristband she was safe from any chance of having to return to the hospital. I am here to tell you that there is no validity to that particular myth.

Very early this morning Kelly had to exchange that wristband for a new one as she was admitted to the ER. She had been complaining for several days about pain and burning in her left chest and shoulder as well as irritation of the drain tube that exited her body in the left armpit. Last night the pain increased. She was unable to take a deep breath and she was becoming alarmed. Kelly alerted Eric to the escalating situation at 1 AM when he brought her medications to her. They agreed to pay attention and see how things were a little farther down the road.

Even though some of you have never met our daughter, it should come as no surprise that she spent the next several hours researching her symptoms on a computer suspended just above her lap. Ultimately, K & E made the decision to contact the hospital with their concerns. At 4 AM they woke us to say that they were heading out to the Emergency Room. I ran the checklist with Kelly and agreed that it was the best decision (not that she needed my approval; rather I needed to clear my head of sleep and understand what was happening in the middle of the night).

They put Kelly through a complete workup with and EKG, blood tests, IV's. They gave her morphine for the pain. The tests quickly ruled out any cardiac problems. The next area of concern was a possible pulmonary embolism. A CT scan was ordered and her surgeon was paged. There was no clot, thank God.

On physical examination, Dr. Caterson determined that the source of the pain was directly related to the drain tube in her chest. Perhaps the internal end of the tube was irritating a nerve, she thought. Though it was sooner than planned, the chest drain was removed and Kelly was sent home with the expectation that she should feel better within 24 hours.

We had been dialing the pain medications down with good success. However, this ordeal demanded that those meds be increased back to the level they were at discharge. Needless to say, Kelly slept most of the day today, knocked out by the increased level of medication and the total lack of sleep during the night. She is up now, feeling more rested and in less pain than this morning. It is good to see her smile again after such a big scare. She has an appointment with Dr. Caterson tomorrow and we expect nothing but good news. I might add that Kelly promptly removed her newly acquired ID bracelet as soon as she got home. Amen to that myth.

It has been a long haul with lots of stress, but I wouldn't, no, couldn't be anywhere else. Despite the circumstances it has been a pleasure to spend this time with Kelly and Eric. Living a thousand miles apart means that we don't see them as often as we would like. But when family needs you, you are there. You face what you must, but you face it together. Don't kid yourself that your job is ever done, because it's not.

Take care of each other.