March 1, 2017
The nurses finally have Den’s pain med schedule to the point that he is in very little pain. Because Opioid pain killers slow the digestive system, Den is also on a strong laxative and a stool softener to keep his system moving. The good news it that is seems to be working.
Den had a bath this morning and a dressing change just after shift change. He always feels better after getting a bath. Something about bathing while you are in the hospital helps you feel like a real person, instead of a lab rat.
Around 11AM, Vika, from the LVAD Team, came in to see us. The special CT scan yesterday was inconclusive. They suspect that the infection did cause the compression fracture, but after discussing it with the Infectious Disease team, they decided not to do a biopsy. Instead, we would just continue the IV antibiotics for a little longer. The case manager was sending the order for the IV therapy and blood draws to the infusion clinic today. She told us that Den would be discharged later today. She also gave us a list of new meds that Den would be taking. These included Oxycontin for the pain, a stool softener, a laxative and some calcium and vitamin D.
Later on the case manager came in to let us know that Den’s insurance was not going to cover the long acting Oxycontin. If we wanted to get it, it would cost us $250 a month. We both agreed that that was too much money for one med. So Den would need to take his pain killer every 4 hours instead of every 8 hours.
Before we left Den got his IV antibiotic. We were both glad to be going home again. I would be nice to sleep in our own bed for a change.
Den's LVAD 