Early post this morning, and next weeks post will be late.

Bill has not had a good week, which in turn means I didn't have a good week. He started feeling bad during the night Weds. He was complaining about muscle cramps and when I woke up he said he had a headache and hurt from his toes to his hair. So, I dosed him with Tylenol. His appetite was also off, which for Bill, means he's sick! He started with a cough and some sinus drainage by mid-morning so gave him some cold meds he can take. He seemed to feel better by evening and ate a good dinner.

Thursday he seemed to be OK until late evening when he started complaining about chills. He said he had been cold (and since he stays cold I wasn't too concerned) and then he got hot and then freezing cold. He didn't have any fever and since his temp runs low I really have to guess and what is a fever. But I know what his temp usually runs so I can get a pretty good idea. He was shaking so hard when we went to bed he could hardly unbutton his shirt! As he got into bed he said it was hard to breathe so I really had to question him to see HOW it was hard. Because of the stroke, he has a hard time expressing himself at times. He also coughed some, so I think it was more congestion than fluid build-up. When he sent to sleep he slept peacefully all night. I, on the other hand, slept much lighter than my usual light sleep!

Yesterday was the worst day. He wasn't as chilled, but he did not want to get up. He still had no fever but just seemed very tired. He finally got up about 10:30 but didn't shave or even comb his hair much. And for those of you who know him, you know he always shaves! He didn't seem to be quite as chilled, and he still had no fever. In fact, his temp was a little lower than usual. But, the rest of his vitals were good, including O2 saturation. Later in the day he seemed to warm up some and ate a good dinner again. He wanted to go to bed early and when I did his vitals he did have a fever but his blood pressure was very low. The bp was probably due to not enough fluids. I was really having to make him drink.

We both slept until about 7, and I know he had been up a couple of times during the night. But, he's shaved and combed and looks a lot better. He also said he feels better.
So maybe the crisis is over.

I should have called Stephanie yesterday but, again, weighing the balance between that and dealing with his anger, it was better to not call. But, made lots of notes and I'll tell her about it when we see her. I did tell him if he was not better he was going to our dr. here and the dr. could call Mayo to see what they wanted to do. It's so hard to try to gauge things. All of his symptoms mimicked the cold/upper respiratory thing that's going around here. Ryan, Amanda and Emily have all had it and even though we try to stay away it doesn't always work. But, the symptoms were all signs of rejection, too. So, just had to go with my gut but it was really hard this time. If it wasn't so close to going to Mayo I would have called.

As I've said before, Mayo does a really good job training caregivers, but they don't take into consideration of having to live and deal with the patient 24/7. The patient also wants to take back some control of their life so it's a really delicate line to walk. Ms. A, I'm sure you've seen some of this with the mood swings that some of the meds can cause.

Onto better things. We had a good Easter. Gabriel did sing with me and was quite the little showman. I could tell he and mommy had done some practicing. But, everyone loved it and it was a hard act to follow! After church we went out to eat and then spent a quiet day at home.

The weather has been lovely but that's going to change. We had some storms Thursday afternoon into night but they weren't severe or last long. But, the forecast for the next few days is rather scary. Storms and tornadoes are possible from tomorrow evening through Tuesday so we'll really have to keep an eye open. One forecaster has told people to get helmets of every kind ready for adults and kids. This forecaster is usually pretty accurate.

We leave next Saturday for Mayo, and by this time we should be on the road. I'm hoping to leave pretty early. I'm not planning on updating this until we get to our hotel in Jacksonville on Sunday, which is why next week's will be late. But, of course, it's all subject to change.

I hope everyone's week was better than ours and I hope that next week is a better one for us! If you're in the path of this storm system, and from what I'm seeing at least 32 million people will be affected, stay safe and out of the weather.