Goin' Home

Within hours of my last post, Nonnie met with her doctor and received the long-awaited news. She was "Goin' home"! While the staff was preparing the discharge paperwork, Papa drove to UCLA to help pack up her belongings. By the afternoon, she was finally back at home with Papa, Blaine and Kylie. What a team!

The Fighter

Nonnie has been at UCLA for the last 11 days fighting an infection in her lungs. She has undergone countless tests and exams to figure out what was causing her fevers and respiratory distress. She has continued to improve dramatically since the weekend, and is hopeful to be released some time in the next couple of days!

During her hospital stay, she has been on a high volume of oxygen, and she is being "weened" off over the last several days. During all of her tests, we learned a lot about what is "was not", i.e. (bad stuff). The most conclusive result came back yesterday as being some type of bacterial infection. She is increasing her respiratory volume and exercise program and eagerly awaiting her discharge.

Prayers Needed

Last week, Nonnie began having night time fevers and feeling a little weak. As the week progressed, so did her symptoms. By Friday night, she began feeling short of breath along with her fever. Papa called her doctor, and he had them go to the UCLA Emergency Room. They ran a battery of tests to find the cause of her symptoms.

She has undergone multiple blood tests, CT's and MRI's in an attempt to find the problem. In the meantime, she is on an antibiotic to fight a possible infection. They have also tested for an embolis, pneumonia, H1N1, leukemia and cardiac function. She is on continuous oxygen because her O2 saturation drops. The cause of that problem has not been diagnosed.

A fluid sample was taken from the pleural space of her lungs for testing. At one point, she was in an isolation room because of her suppressed immune system. At this point, there is no indication that the leukemia has returned. We hope to have some additional news by tomorrow.