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Still in hospital
I just phoned Dick to find out if there was anything he wanted from home. He said the urologists had been by already and told him they are keeping him another day as they don’t know what the infection is and the source. The cultures have not come back yet. So they don’t know what bacteria was harbored in the abscess near his kidney plus he ran a fever again last night. I hope Dick remembered to ask them to change the orders regarding his insulin so he can get better control of his diabetes while he is in the hospital.
This means I have to call another Doctor to reschedule an appointment as he was supposed to see his retina specialist tomorrow. I hope he is out in time to see his oncologist on Monday.
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSC8 Replies-
Our son is 41 and his in-laws live here so the granddaughters came for a visit this summer and all six of us had a great time with the local attractions.
I’ll have to try some of the eating places you have mentioned.Today they said Dick can come home tomorrow as it has now been 24 hours since he ran a fever although the last one was 102.75 and the Tylenol didn’t work so they had to give him a NSAID that is hard on his kidneys. The latest CT showed the abscess is still present with a lot of the material still in there. The Dr. said we will be making a lot of visits to urology and infectious disease clinics. Maybe we can get away for Ground Hog Day.
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSCJulie,
Get your chili peppers out for Christmas, my dad lived in Saddlebrook, I am sure you know it..I love Tucson, and wouldn’t come North either if I was you and your hubby. The sun is so fortifying, and keeps your mood up. Our daughter is 40 and son 36,,we are bringing them to Tucson over spring break if Gene stops messing around with his heart..I know how you feel, its like when do we get a break here in our so called golden years.My dad passed away there 3 years ago, but his wife is there, we promised we would continue the easter visits with her, we go to Hacienda Del Sole for brunch…love it there. I just love the west, take care, Ginger
We moved here in January, our 39 year old daughter had her baby in March. I had hoped that we could get to Minnesota by August to meet our grandson who from all appearances looks just like his grandfather. We finally decided to have them come here because there never was enough time to leave the medical care here. Plus I’m not going north in the winter. We moved from Wisconsin to Tucson so I would have to endure the cold.
Lets all cross our fingers and toes that we can enjoy some good times with our families.
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSCJulie,
Our daughter is 40 and our son 36,,,Kim was with me not Brian, he would just have laughed, he knows his mom.You have to know we had 6 weeks till surgery so I wanted to fit in a last hurrah,,I was dreaming, about all of it. But we have tickets to Vegas Jan.22nd, for 6 days at the Mirage with some family..cross my fingers til then nothing else happens…Ginger
That is funny. I don’t know how old your daughter is but most children of any age don’t want to know that their parents are interested in sex.
You were ambitious wanting to know about trips to Las Vegas I just asked if he could go out to eat and if I could leave him alone for a couple of hours.
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSCJulie, I hope this makes you laugh, after Gene’s 2nd turb, this one at the cleveland clinic, I was sitting with my daughter waiting, pen in hand, questions for Dr. Campbell after the turb,,I had about 10 questions, well he met us in a consult room, he answered every question before I could ask them, I had two left, when can we have sex and can he fly to Vegas,,,my daughter said, mom, thats always what you ask, I said , so you think Dr. Campbell thinks I am about sex and Vegas,,well he answered every other question I had, my daughter said, no doubt mom. Oh being watched by your children is dreadful..nothing is sacred….
Ginger
The urologists stopped late this afternoon to say the report had come in regarding the abscess and they found AFB (acid fast bacillus) and MRSA and they have asked an infectious disease specialist to see Dick. Later the Infectious Disease Fellow stopped by and interviewed us and reviewed he chart and said he thought the AFB was related to the BCG treatment and the MRSA is what is still causing the fevers.
The abscess was surrounding the area where the nephrostomy tube had been installed which was used to instill BCG into the renal pelvis and ureters. It would seem that the tube was not place the way it should have been and some of the BCG may have entered Dick’s system instead of being confined in the urinary tract. We do know as of May he tested negative on a TB test.
Thanks for the tip Zach, we wrote down a bunch of questions yesterday so he was able to ask them this morning when I was not there and they responded to them again this evening when I was there. Now we have a new series of questions because he is back on Bactrim and off the IV vancomycin.
As soon as the morning does of Tylenol wore off Dick had another fever episode and next his blood glucose was over 250 so he was sleepy. I spoke with the resident about diabetes management this evening and she will write the orders so he can use his own fast acting insulin and titrate it himself based on both his blood glucose levels and the amount of carbs he is eating. She had been concerned about his going low and we are concerned about his eyes and diabetic retinopathy. Believe me Dick does not want to go low, he had a very severe episode a year ago which scared us both.
This afternoon our response to the news was “Oh TB must be the BCG.” Except I don’t know what might happen if the BCG gets into the blood stream. So far the blood cultures have been negative but that was before the drain was inserted. They took more blood cultures this afternoon as well as a chest x-ray and another CT scan. Pretty soon he will be emitting radiation from all the radiology procedures. (joke)
Volunteer Coordinator
ABLSC
[quote author=Julie link=topic=1493.msg11027#msg11027 date=1196260531]
I hope Dick remembered to ask them to change the orders regarding his insulin so he can get better control of his diabetes while he is in the hospital.
[/quote]Hello Julie,
Dick’s hospital experience unfortunately reminds us how many other factors besides just the cancer can complicate our recovery.
I also wanted to emphasize how important it is to keep a notepad nearby to write questions down as they come up. That way Dick won’t have to remember anything.
Sometimes a doctor visit is such a whirlwind of information and emotions and distractions that it’s easy to forget to ask important questions. Plus, it’s very tension-relieving to not have to try and remember crucial concerns–as soon as it’s written down you can release it from your mind. A couple of weeks ago I was cooking dinner for my wife and went to the store *three times* because I didn’t have a list the first time. I kept it in my head.
I hope Dick comes home very soon.
Zach
“Standing on my Head”––my chemo journal
T3a Grade 4 N+M0
RC at USC/Norris June 23, 2006 by Dr. John SteinSign In to reply.
