EVEN WORSE NEWS!

Hey Boo -
I'm taking Mom to the hospital. I don't like how congested she is or the whistling noise coming out of her chest. I just don't think she can wait until Friday to see the doctor.
She's not very happy about it but I don't know what else to do.
Take care,
Sandi

I called my mom and she did not sound good. Her chest has become congested and she's having a hard time speaking because her throat is sore. She was packed and ready to go to the hospital, and only spoke with me briefly because it hurt her so much.

I pray that my mother gets better. It's getting cold in Virginia now, and with my mom's lowered immune system, she needs to stay as healthy as possible.

MORE BAD NEWS!

Hi Boo -
Mom and I just got home. She will no longer be on
the wound vac. She can no longer get the suction
she needs to keep the vac going. Air is getting
into her wound from the inside. She's having a
barium swallow done in the morning. That is where
she drinks barium as they do xrays to find out where
it's leaking.
She will then meet with Dr Tucker Friday morning for
the results and where to go from there. In the
meantime, we're going back to the way we were
changing her dressings.
Jane, the nurse at wound care, assured us that this
was not life threatening or they'd put Mom in the
hospital. That's about all I know for now until we see Dr Tucker on Friday.
Frank also went to the Dr today and has to have a
liver biopsy.
Now I guess I know why I'm so stressed!
Love you,
Sandi

I am so worried and concerned for my mom as well as my sister.
Stress kills, and they both are under so much.
I recieved this email from my sister today. My mother had recently begun to utilize a Wound Vac in order to help her large chest wound heal. It seems at first it was working properly, and my mothers wound was actually starting to heal. Now..I recieve this email:

Everything was great until last night. There was a leak somewhere that I could not locate. Mom seems to think that I can work miracles and that I should know what I'm doing. Anyway, after trying to fix the leak several times, I totally lost it. Mom then called KCI (who makes the vac) and was in tears when she was telling them what was going on. Of course, I was in tears too by then.
I then tried to replace the plastic myself but the machine was still losing pressure. Just when it seemed to work, the machine said the tubing was clogged or the canister was full. Mom just changed the canister around noon and that one was pretty much empty so we knew the
canister wasn't full. The machine will not work though until you replace the canister and the canisters are not cheap. They also do not give credit for the useless ones, we asked.
I had to take everything off and go back to what we were doing. Getting that sponge out of Mom was awful. It was sticking to her skin and she was bleeding when it finally came out. They need to change her more often than they are or I guess teach me how to do it.
A guy from KCI was supposed to come to the house this morning with more canisters and to look at this machine. The only other thing he could recommend is to change to the larger machine which means Mom would not be as mobile.
Hope I'm not babbling. I'm exhausted and have a splitting headache today.
I'll email you from home later.
Love you,
Sandi

Yesterday was World AIDS day. It was a somber day of remembering those who have passed on and those still fighting from this disease.

I have many friends who are HIV+, some are taking meds, while others choose not. Some have had near death episodes where their body was breaking down, their imune system not able to fight for them any longer...but meraculisly, they found strength and fought their way back.

I have been told by some of the feelings they have towards this disease, how some have owned this as part of their body and they accept it, however try to keep it under control- so that they can continue living, keeping the disease dorment.

I have been told by others that they view the disease as a forgn to their body, and they take meds to fight it off and keep it dorment.

It is an everyday battle.

I wish them all love and support in maintaining as healthy of a body as possible.

AIDS has become the number ONE cause of death in the World, and shows no sign of slowing down. We need to educate youth, and force our Politicians to commit to helping those infected in other Countries. 46664.