Normal platelet count should be between 150,00 and 450,000 and her count had gotten down to zero which is why they admitted her. I visited with her this morning and she was acting like nothing was wrong except a head ache and stomach ache. She was talkative and cheery as she always is. The only apparent problem was her poor arms which were almost all black from the probing for blood to test and IV's. Her skin is so thin they have to be really careful removing a piece of tape so they don't take the skin with the tape.
While there I had the pleasure of meeting her nurse for the day, Valerie Murphy. She is a bundle of positives which made me feel really good. The way she handled everything was so professional, I wish I had a picture to show because she is very lovely and has a nature about her that makes you feel like my Aunt Katie could not be in better care.
On the other hand while I was there a "vampire" and training assistant came in to remove more of Aunt Katie's blood and put her through a lot of discomfort and in the process got blood all over her bed spread that had to be changed. I was not happy with them.
Beeping machines!!!! I detest those machines that are by the bed on this roll about thingy that starts beeping this error tone. It was doing it when I got there and Aunt Katie said the girl that was in there last said she would get someone to take care of it. Well half an hour later when I pushed the nurse button Valerie came in and made it stop. Then out in the hall another beeping sound started with a code red for the maintenance room and it continued for about 20 minutes.
They did start giving her platelets just before I left to sit with my 2 grandsons while my daughter went to school to take a test in the nursing program she is enrolled in. Her hubby had an accident recently and tore some tissue in his knee and was operated on this morning. I was writing this at 12:40 PM and at that time his mother was bringing him back home from Raleigh to recuperate.
Rachel, my youngest, knows all too well about knee surgery. She had to had to have her's operated on when she was a teen for a tissue tear. I can remember coming home at the end of the day and could hear her screaming from inside the house. We rushed her to the emergency room and found out she had a very bad staff infection in her knee so they had to go in again, clean it all out and stitch her up again. It was not a happy time.
