Blake's Health Update 2009/10/07

And the exciting news for today is.........

I FINALLY HAD A SHOWER!!!!!!!!! YIPPPPEEEEEE.

Kingston does not offer showers to families that need a little "freshening up". I was actually a little surprised. I had asked the nurse and she said she'd check into it. A lady came to see me today and indicated that they offer rooms for sleeping and showering to folks who have family members in ICU, but not usually to anyone else. She said she pulled some strings and got me a room for three days. I told her not to worry, that I had lots of offers from folks who live in Kingston to come to their place for a shower or a meal or a place to sleep. I would really rather sleep here by Blake's side anyways. I JUST WANTED A SHOWER!

A few minutes later, my husband is standing in the doorway. He has come to take me to the truck stop for a shower. hahahaha. Bless his heart. But he scared the bejeebies out of me when I saw him because I didn't know he was coming here and I thought perhaps something had happened to one of the boys or my dad (who has suffered with mini-strokes over the last ten years). He said, "No, everything is OK, I just thought you'd appreciate a shower."

Well, yessireeee I certainly WOULD! So off we went to the new Petro-Pass Truckstop. Nothin' better than a hot shower! I'm sure the nurses appreciate my new fresh scent! :O)

Well, I didn't post last night because I was so tired and everything seem jumbled in my head. I thought I'd be better this morning, but... honestly.... I don't think I'm thinking any clearer. haha. The days are all starting to run together and it's hard for me to remember what I've told you and what I haven't, without re-reading all the posts.

So, in hopes that I don't leave anything out, I'll just start rambling and you'll pardon me if I am repetitious.

Blake was weighed yesterday, twice. In the morning on the older type scales where you move the little weights, he was 102.5 lbs. That's right..... 102.5. That's not a typo error. Then he was weighed in the evening on an electronic scale which indicated he was 103.8 lbs. I can't imagine that he gained a whole pound in a matter of hours, so we can assume it's because it was just a different scale, and his weight is now somewhere around 102 and 103.

His heart rate on Monday was 120, a little higher than they'd like to see, but his blood pressure was at a good rate (don't ask, I don't know what it was). On Tuesday, when he got a new pic-line in radiology (more on that in a minute), his heart rate was 105, which was good. However, when he was checked later back in his room, the nurse indicated his rate was still good, but that his blood pressure was a little lower than it should be. (C'mon Blake! Smarten up!!!!) (Just kidding for those of you who didn't realize that!) Today his heart rate is still good, but the blood pressure is still lower.

Hemoglobin has been up and down since being in Kingston; however, it has now reached a level of 68 which means he needs a blood transfusion. That transfusion has already taken place today. Around noon-ish he was given two bags of blood, which would have been a total of somewhere between 400 and 500mL. Thank goodness he was not allergic to the blood. Sometimes this happens. They just stop the transfusion, administer Benedryl and crossmatch to get another donor's blood. Fortunately, Blake was compatible with our dear donor and everything went spectacular. I would imagine he'll feel more energy tomorrow. Jon's Mom always felt better after her transfusions when she was dealing with multiple myeloma. [sigh.... I miss her]

I will take this opportunity to thank all of you blood donors out there who, for reasons such as these, give your time and blood to assist those in need.

I'll tell you a funny short little story here. When the tragedy of September 11th hit, back in 2001, I was truly wanting to do something to help all the people in need. It was a traumatizing time for so many, and I was consumed with wanting to do SOMETHING to help. The day after 9-11, Picton was hosting their regular blood donor clinic. I decided that THAT was what I could do. If they needed blood, surely Canada would ship some blood to the U.S. to assist.

I went to Picton that night and was escorted to a bed and, being my first time, they described what they were going to do, etc. I lay on the bed and the nurse hooks me up. Well, up walks a photographer from the local paper. My picture gets taken and a few days later there's a picture of me in the paper donating blood.

Well!

Let me tell ya!.....

Wannett was flabergasted! (I can't type the word that REALLY describes how she felt...hahahha) She has donated for YEARS. "I" walk in for the FIRST TIME and get my picture in the paper. HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAA.

I thought it was funny.

She didn't!

hahhahaahahahaa. Sorry, Nettie.

My uncle has donated so many times, he's received certificates of recognition (AND his picture in the paper....ahhahahahahahaaa... sorry again, Wannettie.... hahahaha)

So that's my funny story. (Wannett, I can't help it... I couldn't resist. I'd say sorry again, but I really wouldn't mean it. hahahahahahaa)

OK, back to Blakey. Where was I?..... Heart rate... hemoglobin..... oh yes, pic-line....

Doctor D wants to get some weight back on this boney-concentration-camp-looking boy. Since he's lost over 1/3 of his original body weight, we need to fatten him up. The problem is that the food will not get processed properly in his intestines because of the deep irritations. So what Doctor D has prescribed is something called TPN. It's called Total Parental Nutrition. A pic-line is inserted into a large vein in the arm which leads up into his chest, close to the heart (but not into the heart). It is basically one single tube that splits into two at each end. So there are two ends in his chest and there are two ends coming out of his arm.

THIS way, he has two ports that can be used. He can be fed the "food" through these ports, he can receive his two antibiotics through these ports, he can receive Saline solution through these ports, and they can also draw blood from these ports, which is a good thing because they won't have to poke him so many times when they draw blood. They still have a separate apparatus in his arm, they call it a "sub-Q", which they use to give him his morphine injections. Again, this helps so that they are not continually having to jab him everytime he needs a painkiller.

So he has an IV pole FULL of liquids now. His "food" is a really big bag of yellow fluid as well as another small bag of white fluid. When that is finished, they change the yellow fluid bag to a clear fluid bag of "food" along with another white bag of fluid. Then back to yellow then clear.... and so on. These bags will go in 24/7, or in our case 24/10-give-or-take. It goes in 24 hours a day, and they've indicated he'll likely receive it for approximately ten days.

Doctor Y, who is one of the resident doctors and has visited us every day since Monday, has indicated that we were going to see the Rheumotologist in a clinic once the bowels were under control. However, plans have changed. They are having a Rheumotologist come here to the hospital to chat with us. They need to do some investigating to assess whether we are also dealing with Lupus.

If Blake has Lupus as well, we may have to tweek the medications a bit. Apparently, if I'm understanding things correctly, the meds we'll be taking for Crohn's will also assist in dealing with the Lupus disease. But, like I said above, they may have to do a bit of tweeking.

No word yet on the blood work that was sent to Ottawa, but I really didn't expect to hear anything until late this week/early next week.

Oh yes, one more thing on the food..... Blake is still being encouraged to eat by mouth, despite the fact that his "turkey meal" is coming by bags! hahhaa. They still want him eating orally, they just want to speed up the rate of gaining weight. The medicine that will be administered is based on weight, so I guess they'll be watching how much he gains. I want to take some pictures of his body, say every Wednesday, so that we can have a visual record of the weight gain. Blake says we don't need to, but I really think it would be interesting. Besides, maybe they'll feature him someday in a magazine and he can show pictures to show others how he progressed. Maybe he'll one day be a spokesperson for Crohn's Disease.... and Lupus Disease.... there'd better not be any MORE diseases!!!!

The nurse announced a little while ago that it will be literally LIGHTS OUT tonight at 8pm. Apparently electrical work will be taking place and we'll have no lights. We'll have power for the computer and for adjusting the bed if we plug into the red outlets, but there'll be no lights. The nurses will have flashlights, but the rest of us will have to feel around in the dark. I sure hope Blake has good aim when using that urinal!!!! hahahahaha. (Don't pee on me Blake, I've JUST had a flippin' SHOWER!!!!)

OK, folks, I'm sure I've forgotten something, but that's what I can recall right now.

I was in the elevator yesterday and ran into an old high school teacher of mine, Mr. K. His wife is in the hospital the floor above us recovering from a brain tumor. She's been in for nine weeks. Mr. K doesn't expect her to be home before Christmas. He's travelling here every day to every other day from Picton. That's tough. I am thankful that the Lord has made it possible for me to stay here by Blake's side. Even going for that shower today made me apprehensive about leaving his side, so I can't imagine being at home and not here with him.

Anyways, Mr. K and his minister, Rev. W, were here today and I talked with them in the lobby. Please pray for Mrs. K, (they are County-folk), that her healing would continue. She stood up today for the first time. She is able to talk and converse coherently with her family, so that is great news.

Today I was hoping to locate my relatively-new friend, John. You may recall that one year ago the boys and I were first on the scene of a horrific accident. The Lord saw fit to spare the victim's life, and he contacted me a few weeks after the accident. He and his wife have been to our home, we have been to their's, and they are the sweetest couple. I promise one day I'll take the time to write a blogpost about John's accident. I wrote a story for our church's newsletter, so some of you already know the story. I value their friendship and look forward to the news of their baby's arrival in November!

Anyways, I tried to locate John, as he works at Belleville and Kingston hospitals, but I couldn't locate him today. Johnnie-Boy.... give me a call or get up here to Kidd 6 for a visit!!!!

Alright folks, I did it again. Wrote way too much. Are you nodding off yet?

One of these days I'll get Blake to type a post. He'll hopefully be feeling better tomorrow after the blood takes effect in his body.

Thanks to Lynda W. for her surprise visit today! I enjoyed the chat.

Thanks again, everyone, for your prayers and concerns. We've got prayers covered from coast to coast..... the West Coast in Canada (Hey Sami in B.C.), the West Coast in the States (Hey sister-Tammie-girl in Oregon! XO), all the way down to California (Hey there Found Family!), the East Coast in Canada (Hi there to my brother-in-law-Brent's family & church in Newfoundland, or should I say Nw-fn-LAN), and also to the praying folks at Bethany Bible College in New Brunswick (and you too, Sydney!). We've also got people praying in Brasil (Hi Anelyse & friends) along with folks all the way over in Kenya! (Hello to all of Wannett's new friends!), as well as everyone else scattered throughout the provinces and states!!!!!!!

God bless you all. What a lucky family I have!