Blake's Health Update 2009/10/08

Well, I will tell you that Blake is feeling MUCH better today.

The problem with that?

I get less computer time!

So now it's after 10pm and I want to go to bed! I shall make this post quick. (Yah, right, quick. Likely ain't gonna happen. I've only done about ONE quick post!)

Some good things have happened today.

Good news #1 is that the hemoglobin was 90. The nurse said more than once it was 90, but Doctor Y thought it was higher than that when he popped in for a visit. I guess it doesn't really matter.... as long as it stays there or gets higher. They will do one more hemoglobin in the morning and then that's it (unless he becomes weaker again). They don't want to keep drawing blood out of him because of the fact that we've had to pump blood INTO him. As long as he's still going strong, they will stop checking on a daily basis.

Good news #2 is that we were seen today by Doctor T, who is the Rheumatologist. He was here with a couple of folks that are students, and it is his opinion that Blake, in fact, does NOT have Lupus! Can I hear an Amen and a Yee-Hawwwww!!!!! He examined Blake and felt that there are no signs of Lupus at this time. He feels the reason that the bloodwork that was drawn from Doctor C (our own general practictioner in Picton) showed signs of rheumatoid action is because Blake was on Minocycline over a period of a few years. (Minocylcine is a medication to help keep acne from flaring up.) As soon as Blake said Minocycline, Doctor T raised his eyes and just had this expression like, "Ahhhhhh!!!!!" He indicated Minocycline would alter the results for that specific test, and he mentioned that many General Practitioners would not be aware of that. He also said that the test may have just been a false positive, and I understood him to say they'd run the tests again from this hospital. And he added that the Minocycline can throw off those tests even if you've been off Minocycline for three to six months, or maybe even longer. Blake has been off Minocycline since May. Long and the short of it: No Lupus.

Good news #3 is that a couple of Blake's bowel movements through the day today were a tad bit darker in colour... not such a bright red. Wa-hooo! Tonight he had another movement and it was the darkest I've ever seen, as well as being a little thicker, which is a good thing! (Apologies to the weak-kneed folks, but it's an important step forward!)

Good news #4 is that Blake is on solids now! As long as he can tolerate them, he can have solids. Yesterday I gave him a piece of some muffin and a very thin piece of bacon and a slice of toast. He enjoyed it so much! This morning I got him another piece of toast. He enjoyed that! So we asked Doctor Y and he said he'd change the order to solids. For supper, Blake had roast pork with gravy and mashed potatoes. It was delicious! He loved it. I had one taste and wished he would set it aside, but... nay..... he wanted it. He ate it all. All he left for me was the mashed carrots. hahaha. He even ate the mashed potatoes and he has always disliked potatoes!

Good news #5 is that I got down to the cafeteria for supper tonight at a decent time. (I'm used to eating supper later, not at 5 or 5:30!) The cafeteria shuts the grill down at 6, so tonight I went down at 5:30-ish and had a WONDERFUL dish of chicken with rice and baby carrots. It was steamy hot (not spicy) but had a wonderful sauce on it. Can't remember what it was called. Thought it was Chicken Sadana or something like that, but I forget, and Google doesn't seem to recognize that name. Anyways, it was delicious and I wolfed it down like a pig!


So today has really been a good day all in all. The young gentleman across from us, Paul, went home today. Don & Ron, two older gentlemen, are still here, and Frank moved in with us tonight. I'm surrounded by boys at home and I'm surrounded by boys at the hospital. I'm just not a pink kind of girl!!!!

The one gentleman, Don, came in a couple of weeks ago because he apparently had some type of stroke. He's a real comedian. They have an alarm on his bed because he's not supposed to walk unassisted; but he'll try to sneak off to the bathroom by himself, but as soon as he sits up, the alarm goes off. You can see him sit up and look around like he's gonna make a run for it. If I spot him getting up and the alarm is slow to go off, I call his name and he immediately plunks his diapered butt back down on the bed. hahahaha. It's so funny. I say, "Don! You have to wait for the nurse." He says, "Oh, DO I ??" hahahaha. He comes out with some funny stuff. Ron said Don wasn't as funny when he first got here. I guess he was quite angry and tried to kick the nurse. She said, "DON'T YOU KICK ME!" Don said, "I wasn't kickin' ya! I was trying to move ya' outta the way!!!" hahaha.

Ron is very ill and has been here for over three weeks. He's had some radiation since we've been here. He keeps coughing up blood, so that's why their giving him radiation. He's a really nice fellow though. His wife comes in almost every day for a short visit. They don't talk much, but I'm sure it feels nice for him to just have a loved one near.

Paul, the younger fellow (maybe 20's?), went home today. I don't know the scoop on him, he was pretty quiet but exceptionally polite and nice. He had a tube going down his nose most of the week to supply food. He never ate one piece of food orally the whole week! Boy would I ever get back to my proper figure if I did THAT!

I don't know anything about our new roomy, Frank. He's on oxygen and uses puffers. He was already a patient in ICU and now he's joined our little club here in 641.


Ummmm.......

Didn't I say I was going to make this a short post?

Yes, I believe I did, and here I go rattling on again.

Blake has been really alert today. He woke up feeling pretty good so we got him showered. Y'all know how much better "I" felt after my shower yesterday, so I knew he'd feel like a new man after hosing off all that sweat he's accummulated. We spent most of the afternoon in the sunroom and later tonight we spent about an hour and a half in the sunroom (I mean "moonroom") with Jon, Jake, and Jared.

I think Blake is feeling better because he's snapping at me at times. He'll deny it, but he is! Doctor C told us that the Prednisone will do that. It's kinda funny because you can see his mood change depending on who he's talking to. He's talking all happy in person with someone or talking on the phone. After they leave, or after he hangs up, he starts barking at me. But that's ok. I'm keeping a record of it so that when he's feeling better, I can open up a can of whoop-a** on him. hahahahahaha. JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!..... well, not really...... hahahaha.

The "food" going through the IV is going well. I see the second bag is almost empty. They have to change the lines at least once a day. Sometimes bags of good "food" are thrown out. The nurse says, "It just seems like such a waste when we have to do that, but that's our orders!" It's to keep contamination out of the line so it doesn't get into the patient. Makes sense, but I really hate to see all the waste that happens in a hospital. I'd like to raid the portable food cart of all those Ensure energy drinks! They'll all head for the garbage. How sad, especially when there are people starving in the world.

The Remicade will begin tomorrow. That's our new $18,000-medicine. To check out Remicade, you can click HERE FOR WIKIPEDIA or click HERE FOR REMICADE WEBSITE.
It's quite the medicine! Yes, there are possible side effects, but we have to take the chance, just the same as we did with the blood. There are side effects to everything, so you just pray that you're covered under Christ for protection.





It's now after 11pm and I think I'd better close my short post. hahaha. Please pray that Blake's body accepts the drug, please pray there are no side effects, and please pray that whoever took over Ed McMahon's job of handing out big fat cheques will walk into our hospital room or will meet Jon at our door at home with a fist full of balloons and a big poster-sized cheque. haha.





G'night everyone.