We left later in the morning than we usually do because I didn't want to go outside in the dark to start with feeding. All the trouble we have been having has really given my confidence a knock and I am very wary about going out when it isn't yet light enough to see. Johan had said he would do it all for me but I couldn't allow him to do that...the poor man would have been at work really late because even if he went outside at the crack of dawn, it would still have meant he would be late by an hour and a bit. So I was all prepared and ready for as soon as dawn was breaking, then I dashed outside to hurry through as quickly as I could. I only left Johan to change the birds water, finishing all the rest by 5.30....the time we usually leave. So we were on our way at 6am....
Traffic wasn't too bad and even though we left half an hour later, we actually made good time and were there at a quarter to eight, leaving us 15 minutes to get inside and make our way to the pulmonology department so NiQi could do her lung function test. She took a while to do it and when she came back to me she said she had battled to get enough air into her lungs to forcibly blow out and hold for as long as she could. The result....her FEV1 shows her lung function has gone down 5% since December and is now back to 30%. Still much better than the 17% she had in 2011, but distressing to her to lose so much in a month.
Upstairs we went to register and then sit and wait to see her Dr. Clinic was busy but not too bad. There was another young girl ahead of NiQi who we have never met before, then NiQi, Ndu - down from Zimbabwe, Kimberley and Jean. All were comparing notes and commiserating how they have each of them come down with something in the last few weeks that has set their lung functions back.
Weighing was the next challenge and I knew before she even jumped on the scale that her weight would be down. I can see in her clothes that she has lost weight but I think she was positively optimistic that she would be okay....well listen to mum because I was right. Down 900g, she is 54.6kg. She seems to have reached a plateau and is battling to pick up weight. Her doctor said she must drink more shakes and try to eat small amounts more often as she has to gain that weight....if only I had such a problem, lol.
Results from her sputum sent away when she went home after admission identified 3 different strains of known Pseudomonas now, whereas before only two have ever been detected. This does not mean that the third type is new to her system, it just means that from wherever in her lungs she coughed up the sample that was tested, revealed it for the first time. Knowing this is good in a sense as it helps to explain why she takes so long to recover and where an antibiotic may work on one strain, it may do nothing for the other one or two.
So the day ended with a feeling of deflation, but determination from NiQi to persevere...
waiting to see the doctor
3 bottles with sputum to be sent for testing
her empty plate from lunch at Steers, just to prove she does eat
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