Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Visiting nurse helps Donna Schrieber heal
By Joy Swearingen/MVM News Network
Donna Schrieber welcomed Hillary Sealock into her home every week since October, but she's glad those visits are over. So is Hillary.
“Hillary was just jumping up and down, on my last day, because I had healed so well,” Schrieber said.
Sealock is a home care nurse from Sherricks's Drug and Medical who gave Schrieber wound care following major colon surgery. Her care and instructions to Donna and her husband, Ron, helped Donna recover from complications after her surgery, and enjoy a complete recovery in the comfort of their home in Hamilton.
“I have had diverticulosis, a condition of having pockets develop within the colon. When infection flares up in those pockets it is called diverticulitis.”
She controlled the condition with a high fiber diet and antibiotics when there were flare-ups of infection.
“Usually that would take care of it. But I was sick all summer. I didn't feel good, but I didn't realize how sick I was,” Schrieber said. In October she had surgery at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to remove the sigmoid, the s-shaped section of the colon that leads to the bowel. She received an iliostomy, a temporary colostomy bag.
When she went for a follow-up exam to have staples removed in Carthage, Ill., Dr. Jennifer Allen found two spots of infection.
“I went straight from the clinic to the hospital. I was there for three days in isolation as they did a culture to determine what kind of infection I had,” Schrieber said. “Dr. Allen said it was staph, but it was a good one not a bad one.”
Schrieber was started on antibiotic at the hospital and nurses began to teach her and her husband how to care for the wound. It would be allowed to heal from the inside out, cleaning the wound two times a day.
“The nurses were talking about me doing the care on myself. I thought, ‘No, I can't do that.' I think I could do it on someone else, but not myself. We went with home care,” she said.
“Hillary or another nurse came once a day at first to clean the wound, and Ron did it the second time. I don't do pain, and I was sitting there all ready for it to hurt, but it was not bad. It was such a relief to know I had professional people there cleaning it right.”
The visits tapered off to several times a week. Sealock gave her a list of specific things to watch for, a folder of information about home care and phone numbers to call with questions.
“She went over the whole booklet. Every time a nurse comes, she does vitals. It is very reassuring, physically and mentally, to know you have someone you can call.”
As the colon was healing, and she has the iliostomy bag, Schrieber had been limited to a soft diet, with no fresh or raw fruits and vegetables, just the opposite of what she had been eating to control her diverticulosis.
“It has been hard, but this is livable. As much as I want to feel sorry for myself through all this, I am so blessed. There is no cancer.
“In January I will go back to the Mayo Clinic and lose this extra baggage,” she said. At that time, the iliostomy bag will be removed, and she will have a short stay at the clinic to be sure her colon functions normally again.
Actually, she hopes to feel better than she has for a while.
“The part they removed, the left side of the descending colon, was where the pockets occurred. The doctor said he cannot promise, but now with that part out, the diverticulosis should not recur.”
She is gratefully looking forward to the spring, when she can eat fresh fruits and vegetables and feel well enough to travel and garden.
“I can't say enough about Dr. Allen and Dr. Carapresso, the staff at Memorial Hospital, the clinic and nurses at Sherricks. They are all associated together. What a great set-up,” Schrieber said.
“Hillary was just jumping up and down, on my last day, because I had healed so well,” Schrieber said.
Sealock is a home care nurse from Sherricks's Drug and Medical who gave Schrieber wound care following major colon surgery. Her care and instructions to Donna and her husband, Ron, helped Donna recover from complications after her surgery, and enjoy a complete recovery in the comfort of their home in Hamilton.
“I have had diverticulosis, a condition of having pockets develop within the colon. When infection flares up in those pockets it is called diverticulitis.”
She controlled the condition with a high fiber diet and antibiotics when there were flare-ups of infection.
“Usually that would take care of it. But I was sick all summer. I didn't feel good, but I didn't realize how sick I was,” Schrieber said. In October she had surgery at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to remove the sigmoid, the s-shaped section of the colon that leads to the bowel. She received an iliostomy, a temporary colostomy bag.
ADVERTISEMENT |
“I went straight from the clinic to the hospital. I was there for three days in isolation as they did a culture to determine what kind of infection I had,” Schrieber said. “Dr. Allen said it was staph, but it was a good one not a bad one.”
Schrieber was started on antibiotic at the hospital and nurses began to teach her and her husband how to care for the wound. It would be allowed to heal from the inside out, cleaning the wound two times a day.
“The nurses were talking about me doing the care on myself. I thought, ‘No, I can't do that.' I think I could do it on someone else, but not myself. We went with home care,” she said.
“Hillary or another nurse came once a day at first to clean the wound, and Ron did it the second time. I don't do pain, and I was sitting there all ready for it to hurt, but it was not bad. It was such a relief to know I had professional people there cleaning it right.”
The visits tapered off to several times a week. Sealock gave her a list of specific things to watch for, a folder of information about home care and phone numbers to call with questions.
“She went over the whole booklet. Every time a nurse comes, she does vitals. It is very reassuring, physically and mentally, to know you have someone you can call.”
As the colon was healing, and she has the iliostomy bag, Schrieber had been limited to a soft diet, with no fresh or raw fruits and vegetables, just the opposite of what she had been eating to control her diverticulosis.
“It has been hard, but this is livable. As much as I want to feel sorry for myself through all this, I am so blessed. There is no cancer.
“In January I will go back to the Mayo Clinic and lose this extra baggage,” she said. At that time, the iliostomy bag will be removed, and she will have a short stay at the clinic to be sure her colon functions normally again.
Actually, she hopes to feel better than she has for a while.
“The part they removed, the left side of the descending colon, was where the pockets occurred. The doctor said he cannot promise, but now with that part out, the diverticulosis should not recur.”
She is gratefully looking forward to the spring, when she can eat fresh fruits and vegetables and feel well enough to travel and garden.
“I can't say enough about Dr. Allen and Dr. Carapresso, the staff at Memorial Hospital, the clinic and nurses at Sherricks. They are all associated together. What a great set-up,” Schrieber said.
 |
||
| Denton named head librarian |
Reader Comments
| Please log in or create an account by filling out the form on the right. | |
