Do you want the good news or the great news?

That was basically what the surgeon had to say when he came to visit Danny this evening.

Yesterday Danny was feeling okay, but was still running a low grade fever. He got a blood transfusion yesterday and that has seemed to help his energy level. Today started out a little rocky when the nurses woke him up out of a sound sleep to tell him the surgeon ordered another CT scan. The bad part about this test is the contrast he has to drink to light up his belly. He's had 6 or 7 of these tests and has thrown up the contrast every time but once. So he got out of bed and prepared himself to drink it. Apparently this stuff really woke up his bowels. They started moving and he was instantly sick at his stomach. So he said forget it and got back into bed. Apparently he had drank enough because they were able to complete the test. So when the surgeon got the results he came to visit Danny. He said that Danny's belly couldn't possibly look better! Everything from the surgery looks great and he even removed 1 of the 2 surgical drains. He said he'd probably remove the other one tomorrow. He also put Danny on a soft bland diet. He told him to take it very slow since his stomach is probably the size of a raisin, but that it was time to start getting food back into his system. We also found out the cause of his fever is due to yeast in his blood. This is mostly to due with the fact that he's been on antibiotics for so long. He will have to complete a 14 day dose of IV anti fungal antibiotics to cure this. So when he gets discharged he'll have to go home with his PICC line and have a nurse come by each day to administer the medicine. During the late afternoon and into the evening he was feeling great. He took 2 strolls up to the 5th floor where he was prior to surgery to visit his old nurses. He ate a little dinner and listened to the Astros game. He even borrowed his mom's laptop and read all of my blogs...that was kinda weird.

Things are really beginning to look up.

I had a job interview today with the principal of Nimitz 9th grade campus in Aldine ISD. I've been out of education for 3 years to stay at home with the kids and have been applying at 6 districts since January of this year. I was ready to go back to work before all of this happened, but now I really need to. I'm certified to teach 6-12 business education classes and there just aren't that many openings in my field. If I taught math I'm sure I would have a contract by now. The interview went really well and the principal asked me to set up an initial interview with HR just in case I'm selected. That interview is next Tuesday. I'm praying for a job offer soon. I just want the security of knowing I have a job for next school year.

Check out Jennifer's link on my blog page. She kept the girls last weekend and posted some really cute pics of her son and my girls.

1 step forward, 2 steps back

Since Danny no longer had the NG tube I decided I needed to sleep at home Monday night. I had been at the hospital since Thursday. So he calls me at 7:45 this morning and tells me he had a horrible night. Danny has been running a low fever (around 101) for the last two days. Not often and it didn't make him feel bad. So the ID (infectious disease) doc was in yesterday morning and said that if he spiked another fever over 101 again she'd start looking at her "smoking guns". This would be the PICC line, the surgical site, his blood, and his urine. She really believed the fever was coming from the PICC line and would order it out if he spiked a fever again. She also informed us she had jury duty Tuesday so would have a partner covering for her. The partner came in at midnight last night to do his rounds for Tuesday b/c his wife was on another floor having a baby. Well Danny had spiked another fever of 101.2 on Monday. The ID doc saw that and decided to order Vancomycin. So they hung a bag at 12:30 am today.

For those of you that have been following our nightmare...it was pretty much understood that he was having allergic reactions to this drug and another antibiotic about 20 days ago. The surgeon at the time believed his fevers and violent shaking were due to antibiotics and fought the other docs to take him off. She won and within 24 hours he was better. So again all of the docs agreed he was having allergic reactions to Vancomycin or Merripenum (sp?).

So they bring in the Vanc and Danny asked what they were hanging. The nurse said the covering ID doc ordered Vanc. Danny immediately said that he was allergic. The nurse called the pharmacy and nobody had any record that he was "officially" allergic to Vanc. It was the middle of the night and Danny said fine..whatever..just let me go to sleep. 20 minutes after hanging the antibiotic he was violently shaking. The shakes were even worse and because of his incision so was the pain. He called the nurse who immediately unhooked the drug. Within 4 hours he was running over a 104 fever. It eventually went up to 105. So he fought the shakes, fever, and nausea all night over 20 minutes of Vancomycin. I get to the hospital at 8:30 and am fit to be tied. I was honestly in a fit of rage. How could some doc that has seen him maybe 3 times in the last 42 days order him an antibiotic without referring to his chart?? So I had the case manager up there asking her what the hell I can do and explaining that this hospital was going to wind up killing him! I also wanted to file a complaint against this doc and was seriously considering consulting a lawyer so I called my rep in patient relations. While I'm on the phone with her crying and screaming the case manager walks up to tell me that his regular ID doc had actually ordered the Vanc. I was blown away. I honestly didn't believe her. How could a physician that has been on his case since day 1 and knew everything he's been through and admitted that it must have been the antibiotics making him so sick a while back--how could she have written for this drug?

So the patient relations rep told me to stay there and she'd be right up. We got the paperwork filled out so I could review his chart. She sat in that room with me for an hour while I read all of the orders from the last week. Sure enough Dr. Yancy, the ID doc, wrote in her progress notes that if fever spiked she'd remove the PICC and add 2 antibiotics including Vancomycin. She made a poor decision and didn't even tell us she was considering this. I can't wait to see her tomorrow.

So about an hour after I got there this morning his kidney doc came in. She is such a sweet and caring doctor. She listened to me go over what had happened through the night and said "bleep bleep! These doctors are making all of us look stupid!" Of course at the time she thought she was talking about the covering physician. I can't wait to see her reaction when she finds out it was Yancy. She went on to say that all the docs assumed he was allergic and it was in his chart--she wrote it herself. She removed the PICC line which is still believed to be the source of the 101 fever and made sure the nurses were on top of things to get his fever under control.

Then we were told that Dr. Newton had been called and he wanted another IV line immediately to get fluids in Danny. They put the order in and radiology said it would be close to 3 before they could fit him in for another PICC. It was around 10 am at this point. So they call an ICU nurse to try to get a regular IV in him temporarily until he could get a PICC. His left hand was swollen from the IV they used during surgery so she could only stick the right hand. She found a few veins and tried to stick him. He wasn't even bleeding. The nurse was blown away and said she didn't feel comfortable doing the IV while he was running a 105 fever. So the nurses said well we will have to wait. Again we anticipated this would be 5 hours so once again I went into a fit of rage. I told the nurses-about 5 involved in his care at this point-that Dr. Newton wanted him to have fluids immediately and they needed to get the orders for the PICC line changed to STAT. Of course they argued saying that radiology had procedures scheduled and couldn't get him in. Hence the word STAT!!!!!!!!! I stopped arguing with her and said just do it. Call a doctor, any doctor and get the orders changed to stat. They were up to get him within about an hour.

So around noon they had another PICC line in him and we could tell his fever was coming down. Dr. Newton was at the nurses station when we got back up to the room and assured us that this wasn't a set back and that everything would be fine. He put Danny on a clear liquid diet and by about 2pm Danny's fever was gone. Except for exhaustion he was feeling okay again. I also explained to the nurses that we want literature on anything they give him. Additionally, Danny will question anything new they give him. He will ask what is it, what is it for, and who ordered it. If it wasn't ordered by Dr. Newton-the surgeon/specialist or by Dr. Kraish-kidney doctor who we just love, the nurses will have to get the drug approved by 1 of those 2 doctors. I told Danny if it is in the middle of the night or he is just too tired to question it then pick up your cell phone, call me, and put the nurse on the phone. There will be no more mistakes or chances taken with his care anymore.

Danny is feeling better now. He took a big nap this afternoon and still walked this evening. When I left around 8:30 tonight he was watching TV and sipping on water. It was a minor set back that he has already overcome. I just wish I could get over it!

Finally!

The tube is out!!! Dr. Newton removed the NG tube around lunch time today. Danny immediately brushed his teeth and ate an ice chip. He's still not on any diet yet-ice chips only, but he feels great. He's going to take a shower in a little while and has already walked twice today. He's had a low grade fever a few times, but the doc says it is to be expected and we shouldn't worry about it. Danny will be up for visitors probably tomorrow. He's in a different room now so just stop by the front desk for the room number.

A slow road

Today is day 2 after surgery and he just took his first walk. His sitting in a chair in his room trying to watch the Astros right now, but is clearly uncomfortable. The important thing is that he is out of bed. The nurses are very worried about pneumonia and blood clots. The surgeon is pushing him to walk to get his bowels to wake up. Normally we would be chatting, but he still has his NG tube in and refuses to speak. The tube goes into his nose, down the back of his throat and into his tummy. It sucks out any air and gastric fluid. Normally our bodies pass all of this but since his tummy is sleeping it is important to get this out before it builds up and causes pressure. We are praying that the tube comes out tomorrow. It is so terribly uncomfortable for him. He's sat up twice since surgery and has sat in a chair for about an hour 2 times as well. Again he just completed his first short walk around the nurses' station. He's supposed to do it at least 2 more times today.

Although his surgery went very well and recovery is going well from the physicians point of view, he's really not doing that well. I don't think he was fully prepared to feel the way he does. He's not saying much but he really has a very sad look on his face. I almost feel like he's saying "why did you let them do this to me?" every time he looks at me. It is truly breaking my heart. I'm afraid if the doc refuses to pull that tube out tomorrow I may have to do it myself! The day after surgery the nurse realized it wasn't sucking anything out because of a clog or improper location. After an X-ray the surgeon just happened to be in the room and decided to fix it himself. So he's tugging and pulling on this tube and Danny is just begging him "please doc just take it out" and of course he refuses claiming it is for his own good. I had to leave the room...I simply could not take it. I'm really hoping one of the surgeons' partners does rounds tomorrow and maybe I can talk that physician into taking it out. I realize the bowels have to be working before they are "comfortable" taking it out, but they don't understand that Danny would be a lot more motivated to move and walk without the tube. UGGGHHHHH

I've stayed up here for the last 2 nights and plan to stay again tonight. I'm not leaving him alone until the tube is out. Today I left for a couple of hours to go home and shower while his mother stayed with him. Some flaming idiot calling himself a physician came to check on Danny and without even looking under his gown started pushing on his belly and incision. This was a physician covering for his admitting doctor, but certainly he could have read in his chart that he just had surgery. The other docs have been feeling his belly, but they always pull up his gown so they don't stick their fingers right through the incision.

I'm sure everyone can tell by my tone I'm running low on fuel and patience.

I've had some calls about visiting. For now I'd say no. He can't comfortably speak right now and is just trying to sleep as much as possible. I'm sure he'll be up for visits in a few days and I'll keep everyone posted.

He's recovering

Surgery lasted for 5 1/2 hours. The results were good, but the surgery itself was pretty brutal to his body. The docs were able to get in his tummy and clean all of the infection out. They were also able to remove the bad, or the area with diverticulitis, part of the colon. During all of this his intestines and other organs were moved around quite a bit. He'll be very sore for several days. After actually getting inside of his belly Dr. Newton agreed that decision for surgery was the right one. He's very uncomfortable right now. He has a NG tube in his nose and throat to remove gastric fluids from his tummy. The tube makes it difficult to talk and hurts his throat. He's trying to manage his pain and get some sleep, but they want him to start moving and trying to sit up. We will see how that goes. He'd be more willing to do that if he didn't have the tube in his throat.

Surgery is going well so far

They took him into the operating room around 3 pm. We've had a few updates since it began and things are going fine so far. Now we are just waiting for the procedure to be completed. I'll keep everyone posted.

Thursday

Surgery is scheduled for Thursday. We won't know what time until late Wednesday night. We are both ready to do something proactive, but now that there is actually a date set Danny is somewhat aprehensive. Please keep us in your prayers.

Surgery it is

Danny has made his final decision to have surgery. We met with the specialist, Dr. Newton, today and should know by tomorrow when he'll be able to do it. He's going to try to get him in this week. Dr. Newton gave us basically three possibilities. Of course it could be something very different once he gets in there and sees what is actually going on.

Best case-He opens Danny up and everything looks great. He'll clean the abscess, remove the part of the colon with diverticuli, remove the fistula, and reconnect the colon. This is not likely to be the case.

Second scenario-He opens him up and does everything the same except he can't reconnect the colon yet because it isn't healthy enough. Then he would have a colostomy and surgery again in a couple of months to reverse the colostomy. This is what we are thinking will actually happen.

Third scenario-He opens Danny up and things are still inflamed, swollen, and stuck together. In this case he'll clean out the abscess, but won't risk cutting out the bad part of his colon for fear of tearing another part of the colon. Danny would then have a colostomy and possibly a drain tube in the bottom part of the colon until everything dries up--maybe a couple of weeks. Then he'd still have surgery again in a couple of months to reverse the colostomy.

We are praying for the first scenario, but hoping for nothing worse than the second scenario. Any way that it goes Danny should feel better once the abscess is out of his body.

I've been sick for the last five days and finally went to the doctor. I actually went to Dr. Billal--Danny's admitting physician. We've never had a family doctor for Danny and I and we both have liked her since she's been treating him. She understands that I CANT be sick right now so she gave me a prescription, several samples of decongestants, and a shot. Hopefully my sinus infection will clear up quickly. I'm also taking Vitamin C tablets and a B complex drop to help give my immune system a boost.

Daley is in VBS again this week. She went to Resurrection last year for VBS with our neighbors and wanted to go to both this year. It is the same theme, but she still had a great time today. I think her and my mom are going to see Ratatouille tomorrow.

Laura is doing great. She stayed home with my mother today because I had spent the night at the hospital to be there when the specialist came in. I asked her this evening if she wanted to stay home with Nana or go to school tomorrow. Her response "Waura cool". That means Laura wants to go to school. As much as I am struggling with my decision of putting her in day care at least she really seems to love it. She also made Daddy some fantastic Father's Day pictures with her little hands while she was there last week.

He's still doing pretty well

Everything was the same again today. Still feeling better. He's still fighting mild nausea and a very low-grade fever. Usually no more than 99.5. He now says that he'll make his decision about surgery tomorrow.

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there. He's seen the girls 2 days in a row now and I'm sure we will spend some time with him on Father's Day as well. Many people have asked how much weight he's lost--35 pounds so far. My mother told me that her mother used to get on to her about being too thin. My grandmother would tell her that she should keep a few extra pounds on in case she ever got sick. She was certainly right. He had a few extra pounds he wanted to lose, but still that is a lot of weight to lose in just over 30 days.

I can't sleep tonight for some reason. I've been on the computer listening to music for the last 2 hours.

Not much to report today

Today was about the same as yesterday. Danny got out of bed a bit more today. He had 2 sessions with the physical therapist and then was told to get out of bed to sit at least 3 times a day for an hour each time. He met that goal today! He spoke with the specialist again this evening and unfortunately I wasn't there again to meet the physician. Danny told me he'd make a decision on Monday whether to have surgery now or not.

A few people have asked about visiting. He's up for it and certainly enjoys visitors. Anytime during the day is fine. Usually if I'm up there when somebody comes I'll leave and use the opportunity to catch up on some work in my office.

Here are a few pictures we took the day of Daley's end of the year program at Kids of the Kingdom. This was the middle of May. Danny will most certainly look different the next time he allows me to take a picture.

VBS at Lord of Life ended this week with a "ho-down". Not really sure how to spell that, but it was a blast. The kids sang all of the songs they learned this week and it ended with ice cream sundaes. Here is a video of Daley singing

He may have surgery

We are not 100% certain yet, but the specialist said everything that the surgeon has been saying. Danny really likes Dr. Newton, but he didn't have much to add. This is really a good thing though. I'd be very concerned about his care if Dr. Newton said that the current physicians were doing many things wrong. He did say that if Danny waited to have elective surgery for diverticulosis 2 months down the road he'd like him to keep the drain tube in for the entire time. None of the other physicians had said that. That way any infection that accumulates would not cause a problem. So then our discussion was should he live with a painful drain tube for 2 months or a temporary colostomy for 2 months.

Then his current surgeon came in and explained that if somebody were to bump into his colostomy it wouldn't hurt, but the drain tube is incredibly painful even when his gown brushes up against it. He saw the current surgeon after he saw the specialist today. After talking with the surgeon this evening he has a few more questions for the specialist. Depending on how that goes I think he'll either have surgery on Saturday or on Tuesday. He wants to get home as soon as possible and we all feel that surgery is the only way for that to happen. His surgeon is out of town until Tuesday. She's been on the case since day 1 and we both really like her and are confident in her decisions. We don't really know Dr. Newton, but he does specialize in this area and we've heard great things about him. So if Danny feels confident after discussing the additional questions tomorrow he may just say do it now. If Danny has any doubt we will wait until Tuesday and have the specialist do the surgery with his current surgeon assisting or possibly the other way around. His current surgeon (Dr. Mossadegh) said that Dr. Newton is one of the best in his field and that she is not at all upset that we called him in. She assured us that it is always wise to have another opinion especially after so long in the hospital. She said that it is completely up to us who does the surgery. She even said that she could assist him if we'd like or just be in the room for the surgery. Or we could just have him do it or have her do it with or without his assistance. This was a big issue for us. We both think Dr. Mossadegh is a fantastic physician and we were really struggling with calling in a specialist and possibly having her leave the case. She put all of our worries at ease. Personally I'd like her assisting with the surgery just because she is so familiar with his case. She's the doctor that spent so much time reviewing his chart with us and figured out that the antibiotics were making him sick. Honestly, we've become emotionally attached to her. Her input and presence each evening is very reassuring to both of us.

I hope all of this makes sense. I know I tend to ramble on, but it is almost 11 and my mind isn't working too well. The time stamp on my blogs are wrong because I haven't fixed my computer since the time change...oh well.

He's still feeling pretty good today. Physical therapy is wearing him out though. Just the little bit of exercises and walking leaves him exhausted. He has a fantastic nurse this evening so I'm sure he will get some rest tonight. His nurse last night was new to the hospital and couldn't figure out how to program his two IV pumps so they kept going off all night. Then when he finally got to sleep after all of that the PCA came in to take his vitals. He was rather frustrated this morning when I called and woke him around 9.

Again, thanks to everyone for all of the cards, emails, e-greetings, and visits as well as the support and prayers.

Today was a good day

Danny was feeling pretty good today. He's been on the IV nutrition for 2 days now and I really think it is making him feel better. This is also his second day back on an antibiotic and he didn't run any fever today. He's starting to get up and move again as well. Physical therapy has finally realized (after quite a bit of fussing from me) that he does need assistance getting his strength back. I asked them to come walk with him a couple of times each day. One lady told me that they are here to help people who can't walk on their own. I explained that he couldn't for fear of fainting again. Anyway after going back and forth with her she took him for a walk and made him do some activities in the hallway. I'm not sure what happened, but she came back with him just as sweet as she could be. Apparently his legs began to shake and she realized how weak he is after laying in a hospital bed for 30 days. They will work with him twice a day now by walking and doing various activities.

We've also asked Dr. Newton to join Danny's physicians. He is a colon/rectal specialist who works closely with Dr. Butts--no comments please!! :) Dr. Butts is one of the top colon/rectal surgeons in the area. Even Danny's primary physician cracked up when I mentioned his name. Anyway, Dr. Newton will be in tomorrow to review the case and give his opinion. I'm hoping to make a decision this week on Danny's care. Either he keeps the drain tube, IV antibiotics, and IV nutrition and comes home to recover or he has surgery. I'm fine with him coming home with all of that. At least he'd be able to watch the Astros and kiss his girls goodnight each day. If Dr. Newton says he can do surgery and believes there is at least a 50% chance he wouldn't need a temporary colostomy--Danny said he'd have surgery tomorrow. So we will see. Hopefully we will have a plan by the end of the week.

I've been really worried about Danny's depression, but today was a great day. He had several visitors and me there off and on so he didn't get a chance to start thinking about everything. He saw Laura today for the first time in about a week. It was bittersweet for him. It was great to see her, but he couldn't believe how much she's changed over the last couple of weeks. He says she's gotten taller. She's also talking a lot more since she started day care. So far she hasn't cried when I drop her off-knock, knock, on wood. She really seems to love it. Daley is enjoying VBS as well. She went to Kirsten's house today to swim after VBS and had a great time. She couldn't believe that they had a pool filled with ocean water! Apparently their pool has a salt-water system and Daley thought that was very cool.

Everyone asks how I am doing. I'm making it is all I can say. I have so many wonderful people around me helping with anything they can. All I want is for someone to promise me that he will come home to his family. I don't care when and I don't care in what condition. Even if he has to have a colostomy for the rest of his life. I just want to know that he will come home. That is my struggle each day. We've been married for 12 years and have accomplished so many things together. We grew up together and made our own life exactly the way we wanted it. I depend on him so much emotionally. He's such a better person and a better parent than I am and I've always fed off of his positive attitude, fun-loving personality, and compassion. I just don't feel like myself without him home. I'm doing what I can each day to make it through all of this for my children and to make him proud.

Yet another complication...

Well the fever has returned, but so has his good mood. He is back to his normal state of mind once again. Visitors are certainly welcome now that he isn't sleeping the day away.

His drain tube was starting to produce an odor today and I felt like it needed to be checked out. Sure enough something else showed up. A fistula has formed from the abscess to the bottom part of the colon. Fistulas are pretty common when it comes to an abscess. It is a small tube of tissue that wants to attach to something else in the body...the bladder, uterus, appendix...whatever. The radiologist and surgeon believes it will dry up and close off itself with him on a liquid diet. So he will now be given nourishment through his IV and only allowed a clear liquid diet. He is also being put back on one mild antibiotic. Not four super strong ones like before. I'm also calling in a gastro surgeon to consult on the case. We are trying to avoid surgery, but I think a fresh pair of eyes will help in his case. Especially one that specializes in colon issues.

Again, please feel free to visit. He needs all the motivation and friendly faces he can get right now.

Also, if anyone in the Spring or Woodlands area knows of a good, honest housekeeper please forward the contact information. I'm trying to keep up with things, but my home is becoming quite dirty.

He received a prayer quilt from Lord of Life today and it is absolutely beautiful. It brings us such a peaceful feeling to look at all of the knots and think about how many people care about our family. Thank you all so very much.

He's still improving

It is day 26 of his hospitalization. Today was better. His WBC is up to 2.8. He'll be off of isolation tomorrow. He can have visitors again, but no sick people and no children. If you do visit please be sure to wash your hands well upon entering his room.

He met with physical therapy today and started walking again. He walked twice and did some exercises in his room. His spirits are getting better and he understands it is now up to him to get better. He won't improve by just lying in bed. He has to push himself to move around and eat as much as possible. The drain is starting to drain less so I'm hoping they will do a CT scan early next week and remove the drain. If that happens he should be home sometime next week.

I'm hoping I'll get to see him tomorrow. I left around 3 today because I'm starting to feel bad. I've got a sore throat and stuffy nose. Hopefully an allergy pill will knock out whatever it is that I'm feeling.

Thanks to everyone for all of the help, support, and prayers. Hopefully this nightmare will soon be over.

I'm not getting my hopes up, but...

Things were better today. Yesterday was his first day off of the antibiotics. His white blood count (WBC) had gone as low as 1.3 and rose to 1.5 yesterday. A low WBC is apparently as dangerous as a high one. Without enough white blood cells your body can't fight infection. His kidney levels and several others things improved slightly as well. He looked terrible though yesterday. He slept most of the day and when he did wake up he was exhausted. So much so that his speech was slurred. Everytime he got out of bed he became faint and had the cold sweats and light-headed feeling. He did not run fever yesterday or have the chills.

Today his kidney levels were in the normal range and his WBC reached 2.0. Normal is 4.8 to about 9. It is baby steps, but even the ID doctor is saying the surgeon may have been right. Again no fever or chills today and the cold sweats were less. He did sleep most of the day again. The docs are saying that his body is just wore out from the fight against the antibiotics for the last five days. I went back up to the hospital around 6:30 this evening and brought him Taco Bell. The surgeon was trying to give him a pep talk and told him if he didn't want to eat the hospital food maybe I could bring him a treat...like Taco Bell. His face lit up because he loves that mess. So he ate 1 1/2 soft tacos and really enjoyed them. After that we washed him up and changed his bed. For those of you that have seen him recently we also shaved that horrible mustache and beard off as well! Then he sat up in bed the rest of the evening drinking apple juice and eating crackers. I really think things are heading in the right direction. They are still running more cultures on his blood to make sure no other infections pop up.

They also put a PICC line in him this week. This is an IV line that goes into a deep vein in his arm. They can give him any meds through this line and draw blood from there as well. He will also see a nutritionist and work with physical therapy tomorrow. He needs to start building up his strength again.

Laura went to visit her new school yesterday and seemed to like the place. She will start Monday for a few hours each day. Daley is going to VBS next week at LOL. It will be a nice break for both children. Also, our anniversay is on Sunday. I don't know what calendar I was looking at before. He will be in the hospital, but hopefully he will still be improving.

We will see what his WBC looks like tomorrow. Maybe he can start having visitors again on Sunday.

A quick update

We just found out this morning that he is now on reverse isolation. He's not on any antibiotics so his visitors need to be limited and I'll have to take special precautions not to pass any germs to him. So please don't visit for the next few days. I'll update everyone when this changes.

I was wrong...

Today was a bad day. Danny called this morning to let me know that he was on his couch enjoying his french toast for breakfast when he decided his sheets needed to be changed. He strolled out of his room to the nurse's station to make his request. On his way back he felt light headed and remembered that I told him to immediately sit down if he ever had that feeling again. He was sitting down and his bottom reached the ground when he fainted again. He was in the hallway so the nurses rushed over and even a neurologist that was on the floor making rounds. They took his blood pressure and it was very low. They took it again a few minutes later and it was normal. They checked his blood sugar levels and did some sort of EKG on him. The neurologist ordered that he be hooked up to a heart monitor and the lab people came in to draw blood. All that being said we still don't know what caused this.

I've basically been crying all day. I guess everything is catching up to me and it all flooded out over the course of the day. I've also decided to put Laura in day care which has upset me. I planned on doing this in August when I went back to work anyway, but I guess I wasn't ready for it now. I'm hoping to get a teaching job for the fall, but so far I haven't had any calls. Whether it is a business position or teaching position I must go back to work full-time very soon. I found a day care close to home and I went for a visit today. I really liked the facility and didn't have any reservations at all. That helped ease my emotions over this decision. She will start Monday for a few hours each day. I just can't entertain her right now and it is difficult to come and go when she needs a nap at a certain time each day. Daley is a lot easier to take to the hospital and also much easier to find a sitter for on short notice. Laura won't be 2 until July and still needs a crib for naps which means I can't just take her to somebody's home in most cases.

Besides fainting Danny isn't doing as well as I thought either. His temp tonight was 103.1 and he had a hard time breaking it. The CT scan on his belly came back as improving once again. The docs are puzzled. We are still waiting on the results from the cultures. The infectious disease doc and kidney doc both said that they are very concerned and that he needs the surgery. The surgeon has a different approach...

She wants him off of all antibiotics for 24-48 hours. She came in with this idea and had already called the infectious disease doc. The ID doc said okay except for the vancomycin (sp?). The surgeon got his chart and sat in the room with us for over an hour. Tracking all his meds and when the problems started up again. She then took out her computer and started looking up side effects for all of his drugs. Vancomycin had the following for COMMON (not rare) reactions: fever, chills, nausea, dizziness, and a few others. She then called the ID doc again and said that she wanted to take him off of everything, and that we agreed, and that she would take full responsibility for the decision. We discussed risks and all of that, but figured that he couldn't get much worse than he is now. He was allergic to many, many things as a small child including several medications. He did outgrow them, but it seems reasonable that this could be an allergic reaction since his been on antibiotics for 23 days. They are going to monitor him closely and hopefully avoid surgery at this time. I've read a little about "drug fever" tonight on the internet and it does make sense. I'm praying that this is our answer.

A sense of peace

I truly believe that things are getting better. Danny's fever this evening was only 100.5 and quickly went away without Tylenol. The fluid draining from his tube seems to be looking better. I won't get into the nasty details, but it doesn't look quite so unhealthy. Not much news for today. One of the doctors ordered another CT scan today, but again we won't know the results until tomorrow. This is his 6th scan and the first time he was actually able to drink all of the contrast (dye used for the scan) without quitting or throwing up. I was so very proud of him. He's really struggled with this before. He struggled this time, but with patience and lots of prayer he got through it. The doctors have finally done what I've been asking them to do for the last two days. They are running cultures on his stool, urine, blood, and fluid from the drain. There just has to be a new infection somewhere for him to start running fever again. He ran a fever when he first came into the ER and then for 1 or 2 days after that. Then he was fine for probably 10-12 days. Then came the intense fever again. I'm not a medical person, but I kept saying that there must be a new infection. I'll pray that the results of today's test are clear to the doctors.

He's very emotional today. He misses his children. He's full of gratitude for me always being there for him, which I appreciate, but I try to explain that I signed up for this many years ago and I'm happy to do anything I can for him. Everytime I tell him about a phone call or email I received or what someone has done for us he becomes overwhelmed with gratitude. Through these trying times God is really showing us how truly blessed we are to have such amazing people in our lives. Thank you so much for all of the comments, emails, phone calls, and cards. I've read all of the comments and emails. Sorry I don't always have time to get back to everyone, but I truly appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers.

All of this information is very confusing, but to clear his diagnosis up for everyone--he still has diverticulitis. Even after everything gets better he will have diverticulosis or little bubbles in some part of his colon. He will have to watch his diet and avoid seeds and popcorn as well as increase his fiber intake. About 4 weeks after he is discharged he will have a colonoscopy to determine how much of his colon has the divertculi. We will probably then elect to have surgery to remove a small part of his colon with the bubbles. If he doesn't have the surgery he will risk getting an infection again. We will research it further and get a few more opinions before that, but it is a great posibility that he will have surgery this summer. They could do the surgery now, but it is much more risky becomes everything is irritated and inflamed. He would also very likely have to have a colostomy for a couple of months and then have surgery again to remove the colostomy. That is why it is taking so long for him to get over this. They are trying to treat it and avoid surgery at this time. His surgeon said that at any time we are tired of the course we are on he could elect surgery to remove the abscess and repair the colon. We are not ready for that yet so he may be in the hospital for several more days or weeks.

Monopoly!

I just got home and it is 10:30. I came in tired and sad and read Mandy's comment. It instantly brought a smile to my face. I will bring Monopoly up to the hospital and have some fun. Her comment made me think that there is a silver lining to all of this. Quality time with my husband. I've been working evenings for the last year and between work and the kids we don't get as much time together as we would both like. Now each day we get several hours with just the two of us. Thank you Mandy for reminding me of such good times and making me see the bright side of this situation.

Well we got the results of the CT scan. As far as the belly and abscess things are looking fine. The abscess has decreased in size and they don't see any other problems. His white blood count is still in the normal range as well. He is still running a fever off and on. Tonight around 8 he felt it coming on and they took his temp. It was 102.2. Thirty minutes later it was 102.8. The doctors don't seem that concerned with the fever issue. They say that he is on the best antibiotics around and they will begin to help whatever infection his body is trying to fight off. So for now we are just staying the course! For those of you that have asked about visiting-he is up for it again. He just had a few rough days. The visits are wonderful for him especially when I can't be there. It takes his mind off of things and gives him comfort.

Next Tuesday, June 10th, will be our 12 year wedding anniversary. I really hope he is home by then.

Tomorrow will be day 21

Danny is still in the hospital. Things were going very well and we were sure he'd go home Friday with the drain tube in place. Then Thursday evening he began running a fever. Friday the fever continued so we began to look at the drain tube. It was not suctioning properly and by Saturday the nurses realized part of the tube had a crack in it. They finally repaired the drain tube, but we think it wasn't working for 2 days. This means the infection was building up inside of him once again. The fever has continued in a 5-6 hour cycle. He gets the chills first then comes the fever along with a horrible headache. He takes Tylenol and eventually the fever breaks. He's usually good for a couple of hours before the cycle begins again. The fever has been 101 to 102.5. The pressure and nasuea (don't know if that is spelled right...my mind is shot) have also returned. He basically has all the symptoms he had when we first took him to the ER...except for vomitting. Fortunately he has not done that again. Finally his kidney doctor said that she was worried this morning (Sunday) and ordered another CT scan. Yes he now has a kidney doctor because his creatin (sp?) levels are elevated due to the medications and infection. They finally did the CT scan this evening, but we won't have any results until the morning.

Friday or Saturday the kidney doctor also realized that he had an infected IV line. She thought that this could cause the fever as well. They did an ultrasound on his arm to check for blood clots, but he didn't have any. One less worry. They are having a terrible time keeping an IV in him or drawing blood. Basically all of his veins are shot.

He's very anxious and so am I. A few of the nurses are upsetting me. I don't feel like they take his symptoms seriously enough. Some aren't following infection control practices like they should. Today a nurse put his IV in him without wearing gloves. Another was draining his drain tube and didn't carefully contain the bacteria filled liquid! My nerves are shot as well and I'm sure I'm over reacting with the nurses just a little, but 20 days is a long time for someone to be in the hospital. I'm just trying to prevent any additionaly complications. I'm also staying on him about drinking his Boost (nutritional drink) and walking as much as possible. He gets irritated, but I know these things will help him get better.

The girls are doing okay. They sure miss their daddy though. They have been fortunate enough to have some very loving people help take care of them while I'm at the hospital. Again, I'd be worse than I am if it weren't for our friends, our wonderful church members, our family, our neighbors, and Danny's co-workers.

Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.