Today was really good

I wish I had had my camera with me today because Jim looked so great. He looked so normal I just couldn't believe it. The nurse said he had been doing great all day. The dialysis nurse said they had reduced Jim to 2 hours of dialysis instead of 4 and a half hours. His creatine clearence is 14. This is so great. He had been at 4 and then 8 and now 14. All of his other number are normal except for the protein level. He seems to have some protein leakage. The doctor said this is the part that is most troubling. Still having some problems with the vent but they are keeping on top of this. I will try to remember the camera tomorrow so you can see how good he looks.

Today is a new day also for us as far as Jim's doctor is concerned. Jim has been with Dr. H from the beginning and Dr. L for 4 days every 10. This is now changing. Dr. H has stepped down as medical director and will continue with 15 patients. Dr. L will take over 7 patients and they have hired 2 more doctors to cover the other patients. They talked to Jim and I about this several weeks ago and asked us what we wanted to do. Both doctors are great but Dr. H is not very communicative. We have chosen to go with Dr. L just because she talks to us. This is nothing against Dr. H but we have always felt that he did not talk to Jim and it was always hard to pin him down and get him to talk. Jim and I talked about this and I asked him what he wanted to do. He said he wanted to go with "the pretty doctor." That is always what he calls her. So starting today this is what we have done. We were given a choice because we had been there so long. We also told Dr. H that in no way did we consider his care inferior. He will continue to backup Dr. L.

These are a couple of layouts I did over the past several days. Been busy catching up after last week. It is amazing how much laundry I have. Plus Misty never leaves my side. I think she missed me last week.

Back to Bingo

I missed bingo last week because of the bridge tournament but made up for it today by playing and getting to yell BINGO. I won $30. What fun. Jackie was there but Mom wasn't. Don't know why but will find out tomorrow.

Jim was a little sluggish today. He had dialysis early today and it just wiped him out for the day. He was breathing kind of hard and was having trouble focusing. His vital signs were normal though.

My friend Jan loaned us here 4 DVD set of the Dog Wisperer. We watched several chapters and are reallying enjoying this. This is season 1. It airs every Friday night on the National Geographic channel. If you are bored with today's TV check it out. This guy is really good and even if you don't have a dog you would enjoy the program.

For those of you that have called me in the last 10 days I have not forgotten you but have been so busy I have just not gotten back to you. I will by the weekend. Love to all.

Some Time With Jim Today

I got to spend a lot of time with Jim today. I took Gina to the airport and then went to see Jim before bridge. It was good to see him during the day.

After bridge I went home and got Misty and we spent several hours with him. He was doing just fine. I talked with the wound care nurse and she said he is doing fantastic. The butt wound is now a third of the size that it used to be. The chest wound is healing nicely. In fact she was thinking of taking up a pool to guess the day it would close. I asked her if she knew what was going on down at the sternum. She said she doesn't know but she is hoping that it is healing. She said there was much less drainage and that is a good sign. I asked her if there was something she could insert to find out and she said she wished. I guess Jim's not a cake. He hasn't been off the vent because he is borderline on his oxygen levels. They told me that this week while I was there they would work on this.

I loved this photo of Jack and Manny. I just had to do a digital page of this photo. See you tomorrow on the web.

Tournament Is Over

Well I survived the tournament. It has been so long since I played 7 days of bridge. I forgot how grueling it is. 48 to 52 hands of bridge a day. My mind is now mush. I read an article once that said you make 300 decision during one set of bridge. I played 14 sets and I guess I made 4,200 decisions. Now you know why my brain is mush. Guess what, I agreed to play tomorrow afternoon in the ACBL National Senior Game. Can I make 300 more decisions? Well we will find out tomorrow if I have a brain left.

My friend Gina leaves in the morning. I will be sad to see her go. It has been such fun to have her here. I know Misty will miss her.

Jim was just great tonight. We watched the first part of the Academy Awards together. He laughed all the way through Jon Stewart's monalogue. I had to leave at 9 whenvisiting hours were over but he was content, wide awake and all his vital signs were normal.

This morning I called at 10:00 and guess what the nurse could not tell me anything about his vital signs. I guess if a nurse has a patient that these things aren't important. She was a little miffed when I could not understand why she did not know. She told me to call back. Now what is that about. Off to bed. I am really tired tonight.

Things Are Better

Well I gave the hospital hell yesterday. I went directly to the Director of the Hospital Danny. He listened to everything I had to say and he said he would make sure that Jim's care is better. I felt a lot better after talking to him. I felt like he listened and hope he means what he said.

When I went in last night things were much more ship shape. The nurses and techs were all very attentive so I know Danny did talk to the caregivers. Mary who tells me everything told me that yes he did talk to people.

Jim was fine tonight. No temp which is good. They also added another antibiotic. Mary said tonight that they all looked at the chest wound and the top wound is almost closed and they believe it is healed underneath. Yeah wouldn't that be fantastic. He was ready to lights out so I just stayed awhile. They have also ordered another 24 hour urine. Not sure why but Mary is going to find out why.

Misty has been such a trouper this week. I have really neglected her. Thank you Jackie for taking her out during the day for me. I did take her to the hospital last night and she like that however she unhooked the wound vac and they had to put that back together.

Bridge has been improving. We ended up 3rd yesterday. Got knocked out this morning but were respectibile in the Swiss. Tomorrow is the last day and we are playing in the Swiss Teams. Wish us luck.

I'm on my Soapbox Again

Ok right now I am furious. I went in to see Jim tonight at 7:00 after we were done with the bridge tournament for the day. First of all Jim has a very hard time calling for a nurse so they have a special handheld button that is easier for him to use. This device is on the floor. The second item is the regular nurse call button. This is on the floor. The back up is the ventilator alarm. This alarm goes off automatically if Jim is in trouble. This alarm had been disconnected. So there is no backup of any kind. He has absolutely no way to call for a nurse if he is in trouble. I have been over this with the Charge Nurse, the nursing supervisor and the nurse manager. They have all told me that this would never happen again. This is about the fifth time. How can they allow this to happen. Why do they want to put their patients in this type of risk. We have enough risks without this simple procedure being followed. I talked to the charge nurse tonight and said I want an officil complaint form submitted. I told her I would speak with the Director in the morning to make sure this happens.I am sorry but there is absolutely no excuse for this.

I thought I could go play a bridge tournament and he would be safe but I guess I am wrong. Tuesday they messed up the 24 hour urine test that now can not start until morning. They lost his ND blanket over the weekend. Plus his arms are completely bruised. We had them almost cleared up and tonight his arms are almost a complete bruise. I am so frustrated I can't stand it.

As for the bridge. We won today. The first match was a three way and we won both matches. We are in the second bracket of (7 brackes total). We then won the second match so tomorrow we are in the semi-finals. Yeah us because we had a bad week up until today. We went out for a wonderful dinner at the Crap Shack. I had lobster and blue crab salad. It was wonderful. We even saw a gator in the river below the window.

Jim received a lot of cards this week. Thanks to everyone. He has really enjoyed them. The letters are the best because he loves hearing from friends and family.

Another Day of Not Playing Well

Well we did not play very well again today. We played Mike Seaman and team and you know how good that team is. Not a very good draw for us. AT the half we were down over 60 IMPS so the four of us went and saw Jim then went and had lunch and went back for the second session. We started out with a tie and the rest of the matches were very close. Tomorrow we are going to mix it up and switch the team around start fresh in the morning.

Jim's doing fine today. He has no temp but they did run all the standard cultures. The nurses screwed up the 24 hour urine test so they have to start this over on Friday so no results will be back until next week. He was in a good mood and watch Idol when I left.

Don't you love these two pages with the two smiling grandpa's and Jack's fan club. Loved doing these pages because they made me feel so good.

Cardinal In Love with our Car

A cardinal has fallen in love with our car. Now you would think this is cute and fun to watch. Well it is to a point. The cardinal picks at the mirror because it is in love with itself and now I am afraid that it is going to break the window. This has been going on for over a week now. Any suggestions anyone. My sister says I should cover the mirrors but I keep forgeting.

This is a paper layout I did last week of the boys squeezing orange juice. I squeezed some this week and boy is it good.

The bridge tournament has really started bad for my team. We were knocked out of the first knockout today by Ken Wolpert and team. Actually we were crushed. Then we played the swiss and lost our first 3 matches but finally won the last match. Tomorrow we start a new knockout and hopefully things will go better. It was fun seeing so many old friends from around the country. For you northerners. Don't you love our weather.

Gina and I went to see Jim after the second session. He was not having a good day. He had spiked a temp of 101.3. The nurse told me she had checked him not a half hour ago and he was fine. Then the temp. He just wanted to sleep and was not much interested in anything we had to say. Of course we had lots of new gossip but he said tell me tomorrow. The neurologist was there while I was there and he said the dilatin seems to have stopped the seizures and that is good. He will continue to monitor Jim. Jim told the nurses today that he wanted to go play bridge and when they wouldn't let him he became a little troublesome and uncooperative. Well I can't blame him. More tomorrow.

Gina Arrived Today

My friend Gina arrived today and we have been talking non stop so it is great fun. We went to see Jim and he was so happy to see her. I could just see him perk up. Gina said to me (now she has not seen him since he has been sick) that he looked so much better than she expected. And it is true he looked great today. Plus he was in a really good mood.

New Today. They moved Jim to a private room. He is now in room 2005 which is directly across from the nurses station which is really good. They needed his room for two admissions today and neither of them matched Jim so now he has a private room. He seemed happy with the room change and like his new digs.

Jim was also off the vent today for two hours while I was gone. This is great. They are going to work with him all this week and see if they can get him off the vent.

I will not be seeing him much this week. I'll only be able to go in the evenings. We have to play tomorrow morning at 10:00 and then again at 2:30. This will pretty much be our schedule for the week. We'll get done about 6:15 and then we'll eat and go to see him.

Right now Misty is sleeping with Gina. I don't know what is going to happen when I go to bed. Hopefully she'll want to come in with me. This is another digital layout. This week will be Jack. Jack I may not get to it everyday but maybe you'll get two weeks that way.

Dayton 500 is On

Jim is quite happy today because the Daytona 500 is on and the pre-game show kept him really busy. If fact it was pretty good because they highlighted 50 years of the Daytona.

Jim was off the vent for over an hour today. Everyone was pleased with this. He even had me raise the head of the bed all the way up and he never does this. He wanted to have a good view of that race.

All of his vital signs are normal and he's feeling pretty good.

As for me I'm getting ready for company. My bridge partner Gina is coming tomorrow for a week of bridge. We are going to have a really great time at the Sarasota Regional. Now I have to go clean the house and do laundry.

Saturday Update

Not much to tell today. Jim had dialysis and that went just fine.

He slept most of the day. I guess he is resting up to watch the Daytona 500 tomorrow. As part of our retirement plans we had planned to go to this race this year. I guess we will have to wait until next year.

Here's another digital layout of Joshua.

Thanks everyone for all the valentine cards. Jim loved them. A couple were pretty racy and put a smile on his face and that is all I can ask for.

TGIF

Here's another digital layout of Joshua.

Dr. L. What do you say when people say how is Jim doing. I asked her because sometimes I do not know what to say to people from far away that have not seen him or those that have not seen him in a while. I always want to tell them the truth but I am not sure really how he is doing and I want to share this with family and friends.

Well this is what she had to say: There are five areas and we have a specialist for each area.

1. Infectous Disease. The infection in the chest is being treated with 4 antiabiotics. This is the area of most concern and these ab are keeping the infection in check.

2. Respitory. Lungs are healing and he is being weined from the vent.

3. Wounds. Dr. VW is very pleased with the progress the wounds are making. They are still large but they are healing.

4. Kidneys. His creatine and bun are now within normal range. We believe the kidneys are healing and that the next 24 hour urine test might mean we can cut down on the dialysis. His urine output is in the normal range.

5. Mental Health. She says that they always watch for depression and withdrawal. She said that she sees no sign of this right now. She finds him charming and well oriented. She said he difinetly knows what he likes and doesn't like. She also said that all tests (eeg and ct) are normal.

She told me we are making progress but we still have a ways to go and including the rehab.

So I guess this is what I say when someone says how's he doing. We have challenges and we are facing them.

I've Got The Scoop

I have finally gotten to chat with Dr. Hume. Here's what He had to say:

• Wounds are improving and have not taken any backward steps
• CT scan is normal
• EEG he has not seen any results but promised me he would find out.
• Episodes (the unresponsive events) He says that with all of what he's going through these types of things happen. He has no specific reason. They keep checking things.
• Eye infection is under control but they will continue the eye drops for another week.
• Kidneys are showing improvement and that is why they only put another temporary line in.
• Infections are still being treated by antiobiotics. The current growth in his blood may stem from the kidneys not processing the blood and the pick line.
• He is stable and improving and that is the best we can hope for according to the doctor. Dr. Hume said, "He is a mircale and has a tremendous will to live, so that is what we are going for."

So I guess this is where we are right now. Today with the help of my sister Jim gave me flowers and candy. He was so proud and happy to do something for me. It warmed my heart that he felt he was in control and was able to celebrate Valentine's Day with me. It is the very small things in life that are so important. His telling me he loved me with so much heart made my day and my week. I love you to Jim.

Happy Valentine's Day To All

All is well

Just a quick post because I have been running around all day with Jim getting back to Healthsouth. He is fine and resting comfortably. I'm the one stress and exhausted. He got two pints of blood today because his hemoglobin was low. This is no big deal as it has happened before. Dialysis went fine and his blood pressure is normal. More tomorrow.

Update

Just an update. I just talked to the ICU unit. Jim has been off of the levercet since 7:00 and is doing fine. If dialysis goes fine he will be back to Healthsouth by the afternoon. The nurse said he is just fine and even smiling at her jokes when all the nurses come in to say hi. These are the ones who took care of him in June.

Bumpy Tuesday

Well it was a bumby day today for Jim. As I said yesterday Jim was going to the hospital today to have the dialysis and pick lines changed. All went well until the end and he coded. The chaplin called me baout 10:30 and said he coded and it was a heart incident but they brought him back. I called my sister to take me to the hospital. Before she got here they called back and said it was only a mucas plug and he was fine. The chaplain said not to come because they were going to send him back to Healthsouth. Half an hour later they called and said they wanted to watch him for an hour. This went on until 3:30. They called and said he was fine but wanted to keep him overnight for observation.

I went to Sarasota ICU and Dr Harcore was there and he said. Jim is fine but his blood pressure is a little low and we put him on levocet. They believe they will have him off of this by morning. Dr. H said he wanted him to have dialysis at the hospital in the morning so they could watch his BP. Then they will transfer him back to Healthsouth.

He was fine when I saw him. His color was good and he was completely alert. I knew he was OK when he told me to go play bingo. I was holding his had and he shook it off. This means he's fine. He put a real scare in me. Yesterday he told me he was going to die tomorrow. How did he know he was going to code today. I told him today that I was glad it got that over with and he could now get better. He smiled and agreed with me.

Enjoy the digital layout of Joshua

Where did Monday Go?

Where did the day go? I woke up late so got a late start. I was up at 10 and at the hospital by 11. Then played bridge and back to the hospital. Then to my sisters for dinner. (Jackie thank you it was great.) and home at 8 pm. Whew where did it go. I did not do a digital layout today. Sorry Josh but I will tomorrow. These are two layouts I did over the weekend.

Jim is fine. He was off the vent for both of my visits. Yea. Things are going fine. He is going to the hospital tomorrow to have his pick line moved. They can no longer do this inhouse because his arms just can't take it. The reason for the temp on Saturday was that something is growing in his blood and that indicates the pick line. It will be much easier on him to do it at the hospital. It took them 3 hours last time to get the new line in and that is too much.

I talked to the case worker today about the lack of communication with the doctors. I asked her to set up an appointment with Dr. Hume for tomorrow. He called while I was out today but I told Linda that I insist on a face to face meeting tomorrow. No more excuses from Dr. Hume. I told her that he has a responsibility to keep me informed and he has not been doing this. I will dog him tomorrow until he talks to me. Wish me luck.

Where did Monday Go?

Sunday With Jim

Today Jim was lazy. He just wanted everyone to do things for him. Turn on the lights. Turn off the lights. Change the channel every five minutes. Raise the bed lower the bed. This is the way it went today. He had no fever today so we really don't know what was going on yesterday. Tomorrow is a new week so I hope I can get some answers on what is going on with him. I want to know his dialysis status. The results of the EEG. I'd also like to know more about his wound status. It is really hard to track down the doctors but I am going to talk to each of them this week. I will be on their trail.

Well this is going to be Joshua's digital week. The one of the day he was born is the digital page. The others are paper layouts that I have done throughout the week.

Today Misty got a bath. This is always an ordeal but she truly needed it. As a treat I took her to see Jim. He loved it even though she seems to always step on his b___s. We also took a long run tonight. She ran and I rode my bicycle. She is plum tuckered out tonight and is fast asleep.

As for me I did some cleaning, just a little actually. Then I did a load of laundry and then watched TV. But guess what. I washed by cell phone and memory card. I hope they work tomorrow.

Negative on CT Scan

The results are back on Jim's CT scan and it was all negative. Everything is normal. The results of the EEG are not back so I don't have those results today. Jim did spike a 102 temp at 6:00 tonight but when I went back at 9:15 it was 99. Sometimes Jim just gets hot. I gave him an ice bath and turned his fan on. The nurse gave him asprin and that seems to bring it down. They did all of the normal cultures when this happens. The doctor things it is probably the dialysis line. He does not tolerate needle sites for long and this line has been in for a month now and probably will have to be changed on Monday. We hope it is that simple.

Jim was in a good mood today. We watched a movie during my first visit. Later in the day we just hung out after I gave him the ice bath. The last visit I just checked on him and tucked him in for the night.

For me I had a scrapbook class in the afternoon. Misty and I went for a walk and then I met Mom and my sister for a movie. We saw Fool's Gold. It was a fun movie just to get your mind off of your troubles. It was a a typical Mathew movie.

This is the last of Lucas's digital pages. Next week I'll have Joshua pages. Plus tomorrow I'll post all of the paper pages I did this week. Have a happy Sunday.

Jim going on road trip tomorrow

Jim is going to take a road trip to the hospital tomorrow. He is going to have an EEG and a neck and head CT scan. Why you ask, well he is been having an event. I am not sure what to call it because they do not know what it is. Sometimes his eyes will roll back in his head and he is unresponsive for about a minute. During this time the EKG, blood pressure and oxygen levels all remain normal. So tomorrow they are going to try to determine what is going on. Jim does not remember these and he is fully alert afterward. He has had no deminised brain activity that we know of. He is still alert and fully aware of what is going on. The doctor explained all of this to him and he understood. We probably won't know anything until Monday so don't worry.

Jim had dialysis today and they took 2 liters of fluids off of him. This is compared to the 4 liters they used to take. Small steps.

If anyone would like to send Jim a valentine card his address is: 6150 Edgelake Drive, Sarasota, FL 34240. He enyoys the cards. Thanks, Nancy, Cathy C. and Tom B. for the cards.

There will probably no be a post tomorrow as I am going to Scrap Therapy from 3 until midnight.

Jim was tired today

Jim decided to take the day off and sleep today. He slept through both of my visits today. Don't know if he'll even remember that I was there. The urine test is back and Jim scored an 8. Last week it was a 4 and I know the 8 is better but I do not know much more. I missed the doctors today so I hope to catch up with them tomorrow.

Did mundane things today. Got an oil change in my car and a free car wash. Met with the association president about a proposal I had made. Went to Scrap and Dash and had a good time.

Misty and I went for a good run and now I'm off to bed. See you tomorrow. This is another digital layout of Lucas.

Twice in one day

Well I have to get back to my routine and blog at night before I go to bed. Don't you love this sweet face of Lucas. I just want to hug this little boy. Today he said Hi to me. What joy. And Joshua told me how he is going to the potty now. I told him I was so proud of him and he told his mommy that grandma was proud of him. There is nothing like being a grandma.

Jim is doing fine. They only took a liter out of him in dialysis today because this was all they needed because of his natural output. Nothing on the results yet of the 24 hour urine test. He slept most of the day so I sat with him and watched him sleep. He has a little eye infection so they are giving him drops for this. But all is well right now and I hope it stays that way.

Got a Little Lazy Last Night

Well I got a little lazy last night and didn't blog. I went to bed at 8:30. I don't know what is wrong with me but I just can't seem to get enough sleep. I had a full day and maybe that is why. I saw Jim in the morning, played bridge in the afternoon, saw Jim again and then went to a steak dinner at the club house.

Jim is the same and we are waiting on the results of the 24 hour urine test. He was off the vent for two hours midday and that is good. So progress, slightly.

More tonight. This is my digital page from yesterday.

Superbowl Sunday

I just called the nurse to see if Jim's heart rate went up during the game. She told me a number of the patients had higher heart rates at the end of the game. I guess that backward catch did it for them. I rather enjoyed the game tonight but the commericals just didn't do it for me. Plus we did not win any money. Our squares were 8 NE and 3 G and we were not even close even when the G had a score of 3.

Dr. Liggett is pleased with Jim's progress. She said a month ago we were really worried and now he's looking great. She said she never expected the wounds to heal and that they are. This is really great. His urine output yesterday was 1300 cc's. Wow. Let's hope he doing the cleaning. The 24 hour test started today so we should know something on Tuesday. We've got progress and that is all we can hope for.

I took Misty to the vet today because she was scratching her ears. They were OK but the vet cleaned them out. Then Misty and I went to the hospital and hung out. Jim loves having her there.

The comedy show last night was really fun. My sister did a great job organizing this event and enlisted Mom and I to help her execute last night. A great sucess. Thanks Mom for making dinner tonight. Loved It. This week I am going to try to make a digital layout every day. This week it's going to be about Lucas.

Jim is getting lighter

Jim is losing weight little by little. This is a good thing because he is not losing it fast as many sick people do. He's gradually losing a pound or two a week and the doctor says that this is a good thing. He's about 240 right now.

Kidney doctor is hopeful that the urine test will show some cleansing of the toxins. We can only hope. He's up to about 800 cc's a day. Good.

We are still having trouble with the vent. They are going to try him again after dialysis.

Played with my digital scrapbooking today and came up with this adorable page. You just have to love babies.

I'm off to a comedy show at Camelot East next door. My sister is in charge and she assigned me as the photographer. Hope it cheers me up because I've been a little down today and yesterday. But I'll get it together. Hoping for a 8-3 square win tomorrow.