Bill has improved. His white count yesterday was 17,000 which was a considerable drop. He's still very short of breath, even when he sits up for them to listen to him. He says he isn't, but he says that as he just lays in his bed!

We saw the hospitalist, Dr. Zada, and he is the one who will make the decision on discharge. We saw the nurse practitioner and a transplant cardiologist and they are just monitoring his med levels. His prograf level is too high. That's one of his anti-rejection meds and the range for the amount in his blood is between 5 and 15. His was at 10 yesterday which is a little high, so they were going to hold his evening dose. In May at Mayo it was 7.7 which is just about ideal. So they thought that skipping the dose would help get him evened out, without actually changing the dosage. Of course that could still happen and that drug has been tweaked several times. We also saw the nurse practitioner and an infectious disease dr. This one is a brother to the one we saw last time. He again said that so far everything had come back negative on all of the cultures. Bill was able to give them a sputum sample this time so maybe that will show what is brewing. Dr. Threlkeld, who is actually the brother of the one we saw in November, has suggested that if the cultures still don't show anything, that a bronchoscopy be done by the pulmonologists. That's where a scope is inserted into the lungs to look around and take samples if necessary. That had not been mentioned before by any drs., only my sister. I don't think Bill heard him say it since the dr. was facing me, but it does make sense. He said on the CT that there were several areas that have shown up.

They are giving him 3 different IV antibiotics, but no other IV fluids now. He was a little dehydrated when he got to the hospital, but he stays that way most of the time. But, his kidney function has been a little better so they stopped the other fluids.

He called me yesterday evening after I got home, I left after he had eaten his dinner, and he was very belligerent. Apparently he got out of bed and went to the bathroom without calling for the nurse and they chided him for it. He also walked around the bed and put his slippers on, even though he has the nonskid socks on. He and I had talked about it yesterday, that if he needed to use the bathroom he just needed to use the urinal unless he needed to have a bowel movement and then he would call for the nurse. They did lengthen his tubing yesterday for him to go into the bathroom, but we also have to move his IV pole if his meds are running and we have about the wobbliest pole in the place. He was also so short of breath that he was not listening about trying to control his breathing and just saying the oxygen was turned off. So, he said he was going to have to have a talk with them about getting up that he wasn't going to stay in that bed until he died. I told him if he wanted to sit in the chair to call the nurse and tell them he'd like to sit in the chair and then would help him. He was also worried about the cord for his cellphone. If he unplugs his phone the cord falls to the floor no matter how I try to anchor it. I told him his phone was fully charged, even after calling me and that it would be fine during the night. I also told him to nicely ask the nurse to pick it up for him the next time they came into the room. I just thought that this is reminiscent of how he acted at times in skilled nursing. Maybe too many steroids again.

While he is improving, there has been no talk of discharge yet, although Bill wants to come home today. I think he'll be there until tomorrow or Tuesday at the earliest. But, it all hinges on how he improves.

I came home after he ate dinner last night and got home about 7. The cat was very happy to see me and after she ate she roamed the house meowing looking for Bill. She did play for awhile and then wanted to go to bed. She started out where she usually does, between my knees, but I turned over once and she was on Bill's side, just below his pillow and she stayed there all night.

I told Bill that I would be back about 9 this morning. That seemed to be a good time yesterday. I hadn't been there long before the drs. started coming in so I didn't miss anyone. They know that he can't answer any really hard questions or ones that pertaining to his transplant.

So, that's the latest update. Again, no hives, but I did get a terrible cramp in my right leg that started at my toes and went up behind my knee. I think it was due to the chair. I moved to it and it is not made for short people. I could hardly reach the lever to recline it (the arm of the chair was in my armpit and I couldn't get the footrest up far enough. So I'll figure something else out today. I'm going to take Bill's wheelchair pillow today so that if he sits in the chair he'll be a little more comfortable. The chair and couch are both rock hard!

Depending on how tired I am tonight, this may get updated tonight, or again, early in the morning like today. That seems easier for me, even though I don't really feel rested I know I slept. So, just keep checking. And, there will be mini updates on facebook. Some of you will be able to see them if we are facebook friends, and if we aren't friends but you follow the blog, send me a friend request with a message that you follow it and I'll add you. Happy July!