In a Hospital Bed

Suzanne's bed rest stepped to the next level today. After several very high home readings on her blood pressure yesterday, she saw the doctor this morning, who ordered her admitted for in-patient monitoring and treatment. The friendly and professional staff are keeping a very close eye on Suzanne and the boys: monitoring all 3 heartbeats all the time, testing for blood sugar levels and a number of other indicators of liver and kidney health, and keeping an eye on the blood pressure.

Suzanne may stabilize and require no further treatment. If she improves, she may be allowed to return home. Or she may require further treatment; the next step would be to administer Magnesium, which acts to dilate the blood vessels and lower the blood pressure. This could be good for her health and safety, but can be very uncomfortable - a flushed and overheated feeling, dizzyness, nausea... We'll see how it goes.

While it's a shock (if not a surprise), Suzanne's handling the transition well. She's in a comfortable private room with conscientious staff caring for her. I'm sure Suzanne would love hearing from friends and family. Here's how to reach her:

Phone in the room: 206-386-6560 (formerly 206-386-6551). Cell phones aren't supposed to be used in this wing.

Suzanne Birnie
c/o Swedish Medical Center/First Hill Campus
Room 511 (formerly Room 502 )
747 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122-4307

The hospital web-site has a page where you can type in a message and have a note delivered to Suzanne.

We'll try to set Suzanne up with a laptop and dial-up internet access, so she may or may not be able to read and respond to her e-mail.

Thanks for all the notes of support since the bed rest!