18 October 2024
Dr. Amalraj called this morning. She said Joyce is much improved, which I believed because Joyce phoned me last night to chat a bit, something she hasn't done from the hospital.
Her white blood cell count has, without antibiotics, fallen from 18.4 yesterday to 15.5 today. She felt that was not excessive give the chronic inflammation from her wound.
I asked her to explain that, given that the wound itself shows no inflammation. Yes, she said, she was referring to markers in the blood that tell your system there is infection and it has to increase the number of white blood cells to fight them off.
So she is clear for discharge.
The hangup is finding a nursing facility that can do the daily wound dressing change.
Dr. Amalraj mentioned that appointments at the plastic surgery clinic and memory clinic were coming up. I asked how Joyce would get to them. She said the nursing facility would arrange transport. And I do remember that from my days at Golden Pavilion with my mother and her roommate who was frequently transported to appointments.
Of course, it never hurts to ask.