Keeping this in the Pit so I can freak out if necessary, though things are on the upswing!
All of your support and well wishing in the rant thread was much appreciated. Thanks also to the little bits of advice that turned out so true- new underwear and a shower did a ton to improve my mental situation.
Daughter is doing great! Today she started by getting out of bed on her own, and yelling at me to get out of the damn room so she could use the commode… Never been so happy to be yelled at! After that, she even took a walk (with support) around the ICU, and used the bathroom herself the rest of the day. She also spent most of the day watching movies, which is much better than spending all day every day sleeping.
She had been dealing with some fluid retention, but diuresis has taken care of that, and her breathing (which had been shallow and less effective than it should have been) had much improved.
Today, with all of her improvement, they decided she was well enough to get a PICC line put in (basically a catheter/IV port that goes deep into the body, almost all the way to the heart) for injection of her antibiotics, because she will have to continue on them for the next 4-6 weeks at home.
All in all, a good day.
And nurses are great!
Great news, man!
How old is your daughter, if I may ask?
Hugs to all of you. This kind of thing is totally scary.
p.s. It sounds like she has received very good care all along, and the doctors recognized that they couldn’t handle what she had, and sent her to a place that could.
That’s scary! I’m glad to hear she’s doing better. Hang in there!
Great to hear she’s on the mend!
That you guys had to cross state lines twice and in the air to get finally receive the right care is amazing for the Heath system cooperation and lack of red tape from insurance.
Continued best wishes!
Wow, this has been scary (and definitely not mini!). Glad your daughter is feeling better.
Oh, m’God, something like that is life threatening! Thank God she is young and strong and that you were “Johnny on the spot” in terms of getting her to the hospital. Well done!
Thanks all! She’s definitely doing much better. She still has some edema, but is definitely on the upswing. Got up on her own (too early, in my opinion… I had finally fallen asleep!) and got into her bedside chair and ordered herself breakfast, then started watching movies.
She is seventeen, a senior in the worst possible year to be a senior…
Her plans have been to go into medicine, so she got to see one aspect of it up close and personal!
The cooperation between the different facilities was amazing, if it sometimes felt a bit slow to me- though I understand that mostly that was because I was worried. The lack of red tape from insurance is from a lack of insurance. I’ve always fallen right into a slot where I can’t afford insurance (my employer’s health plan would literally consume my entire grocery budget, and then some) but make too much to qualify for any other assistive programs. Very much live hand-to-mouth. Keep my kids fed, clothed, housed, and take care of their school costs, but by the time all that is done, I’m generally tapped out, paycheck to paycheck.
Considering the situation I’ve been in since COVID hit, I can probably qualify for something nowadays, it just never occurred to me to try over the last 7 months.
I feel I failed on that part- my assumption that she was just taking the cold/illness that my son had a bit harder than he did probably made things far worse than they should have been. But, in the end, we caught it before it was irreversible, thankfully.
Thanks everyone, she definitely feels a lot better. I don’t remember if I mentioned it, but my son’s was really just a headcold, he is absolutely fine (and took advantage of me not being home and skipped school yesterday! 
)
Ask to talk to the facility’s social worker about your situation. There may be help you’re unware of.
I’m glad your daughter is recovering.
Don’t forget to take care of yourself - you need food and rest in order to be able to take care of your daughter. Extra rest would be a good idea if you can manage simply because of the level of stress you’re currently enduring.
Best wishes to all of you. I hope the situation continues to improve.
[quote=“Broomstick, post:11, topic:923992”]
Ask to talk to the facility’s social worker about your situation. There may be help you’re unware of.[/quote]
This is excellent advice. The medical establishment worked for you and your daughter, but the bills could easily impoverish you if you don’t have insurance and don’t have a plan. Glad daughter is doing better, but start looking ahead now. (which you’re probably already doing and I’m being pedantic, but talk to folks anyhow…)
My daughter spent a long weekend at Children’s Hospital in Denver this summer. The nurses and doctors there were absolutely fantastic. Very sorry to hear that you’re there, and the long trip to get there, but it is one of the best possible places you could end up to get your daughter the care she needs.
Simple human kindness things, like loaning out phone chargers; going out of there way to find chewable acetaminophen when they only stock liquid; systemic things, like the food in the cafeteria being cheap and palatable (think Denny’s quality for about 2/3 the price); to stellar abilities, like the nurses getting an IV line into a scared, wiggly, dehydrated seven year old on the first try, every time.
So good to hear about the fairly rapid improvements. Poor stubborn child didn’t want to confess that she was really sick until she had no choice. Teenagers, sigh.
As an ex-eligibility worker, I agree that you should absolutely apply for help with the medical bills. This would be another thing to ask a nurse about, because when I was working we would get a lot of very incomplete applications from hospitals. The big deal about getting the signed and dated application completed by the hospital and faxed in right away is because state medical programs, if approved, almost always start on the first day of the month of application. You need her coverage to start on 10/1/20, and you only have 4 days to get the process started.
You listened to us about the undies, listen to us about this as well!
Appreciate the shot in the ass. I took the time to fill out an application for Medicaid through Wyoming. On my phone. Got it all done though, and submitted today.
That you didn’t have insurance makes the interstate cooperation even more impressive imo.
Hope you guys are able to head home soon.
Same story, different day, “Getting better, one more day in ICU…”
Still overloaded on fluids, but getting better, still working on antibiotics, and the clots have not dissolved yet.
Feel a little short-tempered today.
Well, didn’t even finish this post and she got cold, then hot, then started throwing up. Hasn’t done that in a couple of days.
Additional mini-rant:. Wearing a mask for days at a time is, I swear, CUTTING MY EARS OFF OF MY HEAD. There has to be a better way.
Facemask extenders. You might be able to Macgyver something with string or rubber bands?
Thanks! I’ve been mentally sketching ideas for things to make it better for two days now.
Look on the local FB marketplace around the hospital - I know many people are knitting / crocheting extenders, selling them for $1 or two. Heck, like with many things suggested, ask a nurse. They probably know a person.
And FWIW, up above you said you failed on taking her seriously. Please don’t. Teenagers, as whole, are manipulative creatures and I was almost in your same situation a decade ago. It took my daughter three times to get my attention that hey, this is something serious, and she came perilously close to having her appendix burst.