FOLLOW-UP

Tom's follow-up doctor's appointment was yesterday afternoon and it went pretty well.  He has lost about 40 lbs in the past two weeks (due to the Lasix) which is not good so . . . no more Lasix.  I'm wondering what I can do with the extra medication . . . hmmmm :-)

Anyway, the orders are to drink more fluid and eat more calories!  Tom is not hungry much of the time and is struggling to eat good food.  This might be due to the fact that he is dehydrated once again and therefore has no energy.  He had bloodwork done yesterday so we're anxious to hear the results.  I am praying that they will not put him in the hospital for IV fluids.

Tom has an appointment in mid-July with the gastroenterologist.  His primary care physician is hoping medication will address the issues Tom is having - surgery is not really an option at this time.

Depending on how Tom feels, we may get to go and hang out with our friends Dennis and Diane for a while this weekend.  That would be wonderful!

Please pray that Tom will not have to go to the hospital, that he will get some energy back and eat more.  You all have been so faithful in keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.  Thank you!

TEST RESULTS

Tom got a message yesterday from his primary care physician regarding the results of Wednesday's Upper GI test.  They found the barium traveled "slowly" and determined that there is a weak spot in Tom's esophagus.  He is being referred to the stomach doctor he saw when he was in critical care - this is the doctor I liked so much!

Right now the appointment is for mid-July.  Tom is going to try today to see if he can get in earlier.  I suspect there will be more tests, maybe one using a camera for which Tom will need to be sedated (I'm not crazy about that idea).  Anyway, I won't jump to conclusions and will wait . . . and wait.

Tom's swelling is going down - more slowly than we would like it to but it is getting better every day.  It's been an adventurous week.  On Tuesday, I took Tom to the mall for an eye doctor's appointment and new reading glasses (and I got this sweet pair of suede boots - on sale)!!  Yesterday Tom cleaned the carpet and then drove his truck around the block!  I was so excited for him to do this on his own (although I prefer to be closer to home when he takes big steps like this).  Apparently he walked out the back door, used the external keypad to open the garage and then realized he didn't have his truck keys (this is such a Jeanne thing to do).  He had to climb the six steps from the garage and back into the house to get the keys - this was huge since he hasn't really been climbing any stairs.  He said it took him a long time but he did it.  Needless to say he was pretty tired and sore last night.  I know he needs to push himself to build endurance so all-in-all it was a good thing.


Hopefully we can get out some more this weekend! 

Tom has a follow-up appointment with his PCP on Wednesday.  We're praying for more good news about his progress!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary!  It is so nice to spend it together at HOME!  Tom and I (and the puppies) enjoyed a quiet dinner and watched a movie.  We are so thankful that 16 years ago we joined two of the most loving, generous, supportive and faith-filled families together - we are very blessed.

Tom is doing better every day.  The swelling is subsiding slowly.  He is scheduled for an upper GI on Wednesday to see what might be the source of his reflux so we're praying for that procedure and a good outcome.

We are looking forward to an entire weekend at home.  The landscape needs a little attention - maybe some flowers if there are any left to purchase.  We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend too.

Blessings

GOOD NEWS

Tom's doctor's appointment this morning went well.  His kidney number is better (although still a little high) his red & white blood cell counts are normal, his bilirubin is lower and his potassium and magnesium are normal.  The doc did prescribe a different diuretic and changed his potassium.  Tom was anxious to get home and take the new diuretic.  The one thing that is giving him the most trouble is the swelling.  I joked with him this morning when he was putting on his socks and shoes - his legs and feet looked like those on a Cabbage Patch doll (poor guy - I'm so mean).

Tom has another appointment with the doctor in two weeks.  Hopefully our lives will be uneventful until then.

We're excited that he was not sent to the hospital today!!! 

Another day and night at home - yipee!  Tom did well yesterday.  He walked out to the mailbox to get the mail.  It wore him out but I think it was good for him to push himself.  We'll both be anxious today - hoping that the doctors office doesn't call.  I figure if the blood tests from  yesterday are not good, they will call us today instead of waiting until the follow-up appointment tomorrow.

Tom is still retaining a lot of fluid.  This concerns both of us.  We'll see what the doc says about it.  It may just take more time.  I know Tom would move around a lot better if his ankles and feet were not so swollen.  It's very painful but he's motivated to get better.

The pups love having him home and being able to run around outside more during the day.  It makes sleeping much better for all of us too!

I actually had time to do a little work in the yard last night.  It was hot, dry and dusty but it felt good to accomplish something!

I'll post an update after the appointment tomorrow.

Please keep praying!

FEELING BETTER

Tom has been home for 24 hours and is feeling a little better.  He slept really well last night - considering he can't push a button and move the bed up and down so he had to work a little harder to get in and out and for that reason - he is sore.

It's been a good day for him though.  He sat outside for a little while, which is hard to believe since it is pretty hot here and he usually doesn't like that.  He said it felt good.

The puppies are loving that he is home.  They are climbing all over him.  At one point last night, I woke up and Fritzi was laying on top of him.  Finley likes to snuggle between his knees which works for about 30 minutes and then he needs to move - so she ended up sleeping between my knees (again).

It's been wonderful just to be at home.  Our super wonderful neighbors who helped us last night brought over the most amazing dinner of pork roast, twice-baked potatoes, asparagus, garden salad with dressing, garlic bread and frozen strawberry pie. I was digging in before they even walked back to their front door.  It was so good.  We have enough food to eat all week!

We have Tom's meds/vitamins all organized on a spreadsheet so he knows what to take and when (along with the dosage and what each one is for). 

For now, Tom is resting and doing what he can to get stronger.  He's already called the physical therapist so I'm sure they will have something arranged to start that again shortly!

God continues to carry us through this tough time.

HOME SWEET HOME (Again)

We made it!  Finally home!

We arrived home about 4 pm after dropping off some prescriptions around the corner.  One of them the pharmacy didn't have so I spent the next hour calling over 12 pharmacies and the hospital to try a locate a particular drug.  Fortunately I was able to find it . . . unfortunately it was across town.  Since the pharmacy closed at 6 pm I ran out of the house to go 20 miles back into town - fighting the CMA Festival traffic.  Then I panicked - the pharmacy that had the other prescriptions closed at 6 pm also.  I called Tom and had him see if our neighbors could go and get them.  We have super-wonderful neighbors who immediately jumped in their car and picked them up.  So, we have everything we need (along with some wonderful leftover food from a "Low Country Boil" I attended last night with my Sunday School class) and we're settled in for the night.

I am disappointed to be missing my class reunion but that's how it goes sometimes.  It is good to be home and know that I can attend church and not have a 4-hour drive in the morning!

Tom has to go to his doctor on Monday for blood work and he has a follow-up appointment on Wednesday - then I hope we can stay away from that place for a while!  He is still miserably swollen - it's taken a lot longer for that to go down this time but he didn't have dialysis either (which helped last time).  I know it will get better with time.

The puppies are so happy to have Tom home and he is quite happy to see them too.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful Saturday!  Please keep praying for Tom's healing.

WAITING

Right now we are waiting to find out if Tom is going to be released from the hospital today!!  All of the paperwork has been filled out and his nurses think he will be going home but he has to wait to get released from the doctor on call.  Tom is very, very anxious.

I was hoping to be heading to Memphis today for a high school reunion tonight.  As much as I'd really like to see my classmates and catch up with them, I want Tom home more.  I'm not taking the dogs to the kennel - which I had planned to do even if Tom was coming home so he could get some good rest.  Tom would rather have them here to keep him company - I think he's really missed them!

I'll post again later.  In the meantime, please pray that Tom will get released . . . soon!!

NOT HOME YET

Tom is still in the hospital - today marks 3 weeks for this visit!  It is hard to believe.  He is doing better but its just a slow process.  His kidney numbers were the same Wednesday but went down a little today.  They are tapering off his antibiotics - I hope that helps.  He received one unit of blood tonight while I was there and was scheduled to receive a second one right after it.  That should help his energy level and I guess might help everything else too.  He's still receiving magnesium and potassium.  He's also still pretty swollen.  He's moving around and walking as much as he can but it's still quite painful.

We have no idea what the coming home schedule might be - or if it's even possible to consider the chance he might be home this weekend.  I have not been at the hospital to meet with the docs the last two days because of my work schedule so maybe I can catch one or both tomorrow.  I think we're both afraid to ask because we don't want to hear "not this weekend".  We would rather have some hope they would walk in and say "pack your bags". 

I do know that his white blood cell count is much better.  Tom was doing a good job of writing all of that down for a while but I think he realized how much work it is to try to keep up with all of it! 

For now we are praying that the stats look good enough that Tom can go home really, really soon!  We ask that you pray the same.  As always . . . thanks!  We are blessed that you continue to care and check the blog!

BETTER X 2

Good news for the second day in a row!  Tom's kidney numbers are going down!!  His PCP said that if he can "trend" in that direction, Tom can go home.  So, how many days is a trend?  Three, Four??  We're hoping three - which would mean if the kidneys are better again tomorrow - maybe he'll get to go home.

Tom is no longer receiving IV fluids except what he gets with the antibiotics, magnesium, and potassium.  He is still quite swollen which makes moving around difficult but the kidney doctor assured us that since his creatinine (kidney number) is getting better (and the fact that he is no longer getting additional fluid), the swelling will start to go down.

Tom feels good and he's tired of eating the same things.  He requested a peanut butter sandwich today so I'll pack him a lunch for tomorrow.  We're even tired of bringing food in from outside.  I don't know what he's going to eat when we get home!?!?  I have acquired some good ideas from friends and a couple of easy recipes so we'll see how long all of that lasts.

Hopefully the next post will contain great news!  Stay tuned . . .

STILL WAITING

I have every intention of posting when I get home at night but then I get distracted by the puppies and everything else and just forget.

We're still waiting on the swelling in Tom's legs and feet to go down.  His kidney numbers did not change yesterday but the white blood cell count was up some ?!?!?

He's feeling OK and would be much better if the IV would cooperate.  They had to stick him 3 times to get one to work yesterday.  Most of the day it was off because they didn't have someone available to come and work on it.  The alarm keeps going off because it is clogged or something.  They have changed pumps, tubes, and just about everything else.  They changed the tube again last night before I left.  I'm hoping Tom had an alarm-free night.

Maybe since the kidney numbers were stable yesterday, they will start to go down today.  Dialysis is an option but I'd hate for him to have to do that.  He's still getting IV antibiotics along with magnesium and potassium.  His appetite is a lot better and the reflux medication they have given him seems to be working well. 

We got a wheelchair and rode down to sit on the patio yesterday.  It was warm, but nice.  Between the sounds of a water fountain and the cicadas, Tom and I both could have fallen asleep if we'd have had a head rest!  His doctor wants him out of the bed as much as possible but it is a real pain to have the IV pole with you everywhere you go.  He's even had to shower with it because no one was available to disconnect it.

The hospital guest wireless network has not had Internet access all weekend so we've been crippled a bit.  I suggested that Tom get Netflix because he's tired of watching the same thing all day on TV.  He tends to fall asleep if he reads but he is doing some of that too.

Well, I need to get ready for Church.  Hopefully I'll be home earlier tonight and have some good news to report.

STAYING THE WEEKEND

Today's news is that Tom will be in the hospital over the weekend (again).  His white blood cell count is almost normal, however his kidney numbers are up again.  I thought he had been receiving the diuretic all along but they had only given him one dose.  So, they have started giving him that (via IV) twice a day.  Hopefully this will kick his kidneys back into gear and help him get rid of all of the fluid he is retaining.

His antibiotics have been changed again to help with the kidney function.  It is not unusual for the kidneys to get "upset" when antibiotics are given.  Once they stabilize, Tom should be able to go home.  I asked the doc if they would have to do dialysis again - he said he hoped not but I guess it is a possibility if the diuretics don't work.

Tom is in some pain - mostly legs, ankles and feet where the fluid is accumulating.  His PCP recommended he get out of bed as much as possible.  We went for a walk down the long hallway and back last night so we'll do that again tonight - maybe with a side trip outside.  Tom needs to bond with all of our cicadas before they leave - not to mention the chance to enjoy the 90+ heat!

The docs are not sure whether the infection that caused his white blood cell count to rise was from the original hernia/sepsis infection or the urinary tract infection.  Since they've given him antibiotics to cover just about everything, hopefully it's all under control. 

Tom's appetite is better and he is also drinking a lot more fluids.

On a very happy note, our niece, Meagan, delivered a little boy early this morning.  He's a little guy at 5 pounds, 13 oz.  His name is Ben.  We are blessed to have this new member in our family!

A NEW ROOM

Tom got to move to the other side of the hall tonight - to a larger room - with a shower.  It just happens to be the same room he was in for 3 weeks!

He did take a shower and I'm sure he feels much, much better!

Tom's PCP engaged the kidney doctor again today just because the kidney numbers rose a little and Tom is still retaining a lot of fluid.  I'm hoping the medications will kick in and he won't have to do dialysis again.  The kidney numbers are not that bad but they don't want them to get any worse so it's good the doc's are being proactive.  There are still lots of compliments on how much better Tom looks.  His liver enzymes continue to improve and almost all of the yellow is gone.  His BP seems to be going back up too.  There was an order to give him the medicine he was on before to keep the BP elevated but the nurse was going to call and see if that was still necessary since he had a normal reading tonight.

His appetite has improved a little - or at least he is eating a bit more.  He still needs to drink more fluid.  I brought him a jug of lite apple juice and he seems to like that.  He likes flavored water and he has a few bottles of that too.

If he can get rid of the fluid and the kidney function improves a little, maybe he'll be able to come home - please Lord, let him come home.