Surgery Follow-up

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Laura had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Agarwal today. He said Laura looks just fine and that everything is healing properly. Laura was anxious to get the three drains out, but, to her great disappointment and consternation, only two of the drains were removed. There is apparently still some danger that fluids could build up in her abdomen area. So, she will have to deal with one drain for one more week. She is still doing the two Vancomycin antibiotic IVs each day. That will continue for one more week as well. She should get the PICC line out on the same day as the final drain comes out.

During the recovery time at the HCH last week, Laura got a bad rash on her back, most likely due to her allergy of latex. There was possibly some latex in a spray that was used to hold the epidural in place on her back. She was given cortisone creams but nothing helped. By mid week (Feb. 10 or so) she went to her doctor here in Brigham City, Dr. Matthews. He prescribed a cream called Fluocinonide and Prednisone tablets to take each morning. This seems to have helped and has controlled the spread of the rash. But, we are still a little upset at the accidental use of latex at the hospital, in spite of the many “Latex Allergy” signs all around Laura. There were a couple of nights last week where the rash caused much more discomfort than the surgery. Luckily, that is mostly under control now and seems to be getting better.
Laura is feeling much better and even went for a walk today for about 5 or 6 blocks from the Larry H. Miller Honda garage to the Intermountain Medical Center. Laura’s sister, Wendy, was there recovering from a heart procedure she had done today to repair a hole in her heart. What is it with these Church girls?