I was so busy on the phone when I got home last night I didn't even unpack my laptop until this morning. I feel totally exhausted this morning and would really like to stay home. But I hate missing when the drs. round and I know Bill gets lonely. Maybe after some coffee I'll perk up.

Yesterday turned into an eventful day. One of our favorite nurses was assigned to Bill and he is so nice and good. He had a student shadowing him and he was very patient with her. I know he's still going to school but I don't know if he's studying to be a nurse practitioner or just getting a lesser degree.

Bill's IV site bit the dust yesterday. They had been using the one put in at the emergency room here, so it lasted quite a while. They were trying to get another site and the veins kept blowing and I told Marcus that they had needed to use a midline the last time. So he called the dr. and got the paperwork ready, and then the dr. called and said to do a picc line instead because he would be going home with IV antibiotics. So, more signatures and then had to wait for the speciality nurse. Since this is a sterile procedure, I was surprised that she let me stay in the room. She just gave me a mask and proceeded to insert the line. Bill doesn't really understand what this line is and we finally told him it's just a souped up IV and that worked. When she was finished he was worried that he would catch it on everything. They used one with a double port. Anyway, Mary-Rose is also a picc line specialist and she was texting me different things during the procedure. She told me there is a mesh sleeve that can be put over it to keep it from just dangling. I went over to the bed to show him on his arm and he was bleeding all over the place. I got the nurse, and it was the student who came, Marcus was busy elsewhere, and wrapped it in towels and then called the picc group. The nurse who came to look at it said that it was OK. The catheter they use to insert the line is of course bigger than the line and it hadn't clotted well enough yet. The student asked about changing the bandage, (one of those window ones) and the picc nurse said that it needed to stay at least 24 hours or it would just pull the clot loose again. It looks nasty but it wasn't bleeding anymore. However, there was blood all over his bed and his t shirt and pajama pants, so new clothes today. When I talked to him last night they still hadn't changed his bedding, even though he had been taken to the bathroom so they could see the blood everywhere. So that will be one of the first things to request done when I get there today.

Bill really wants to come home. He even asked Dr. Threlkeld when and he just said that we were on the right track but not there yet.  He had asked for the ENT consult and said that should tell us more. Then the young lung dr. came in that I liked and listened and looked and he was very interested to know they were now going the ENT route also and thanked me for giving him that information. Dr. Fox, the lung dr. I don't really like, came in shortly after that and said that Bill was moving air well and didn't sound as junky as he had. He actually said he sounded better than Bill's coughing indicated. So I think Bill has moved some of the junk to his upper airways now and he just can't cough hard enough to expel it.

I decided to come home then to get to the bank and it was a bad traffic time, so I took the extra hour and drove through town. Even there was a lot of traffic and stop lights, it was actually a little relaxing than trying to get onto the highway, since I have to immediately merge 4 lanes to the left, while a lot of that traffic is trying to merge 4 lanes to the right to go to Nashville. It will be easier this morning since it's the week-end, but I don't know if they are still closing the highway for construction and I will have to take the detour.

Bill called last night and said another dr. came in after I left and cleaned his nose, so I'm thinking it was the ENT and he was not only cleaning his nose but taking some samples He said it felt really weird.

Bill's sats still drop when he moves, but the lung drs. said they don't really care how low they drop as long as he recovers quickly. But that's not what happens. He doesn't recover quickly and when it drops so low he can't breathe so he panics and just gasps for air. That's a total normal reaction for anyone, but it just makes it that much harder on him. I don't want him to come home if he still can't walk to the bathroom or bedroom without get winded, or at least as winded.

So, we still have lots of questions, and a lot of waiting to do. I need to get the main home health number to give to them to set up the home IVs. They will show me how to do them and I always have Mary-Rose to fall back on by phone if necessary. Of course any of the nurses from Em's office would be glad to come and do it, but none of them will want to come in the middle of the night. Right now the meds run for 30 minutes every 6 hours. There will be some broken sleep for a time. Marcus, the nurse, thought that he would be on them for about 6 weeks. That's right about the time we head to Mayo, which should make for an interesting trip. I'll have to really look at the calendar. I don't know if Memphis has consulted with Mayo so I need to call Stephanie and see. 

I think I've covered the highlights of everything. It seems like Cat is getting sick again. I would like to stay home and take her to the vet this morning but they are so busy on Saturday mornings that I wouldn't be able to leave for the hospital until noon. So, I'll just watch her. It could be nothing too, just showing her displeasure of me not being her the last few days.

Better get busy. I still have the outside cats to feed, the alarm sensor for the garage door is not answering its ping from the company so it needs taken care of, I need to put trash bags and some money out for Ryan. He's coming to trim the hedges. When he came last week-end it was too wet to trim. And then it will be time to gather things together and head to the hospital.

Oh, I stopped and picked up some ribs last night. They are about my favorite thing to eat and the last time I tried I just couldn't get them down. Last night...success! I still ate smaller bites and ate very slowly, but they went down with no problem! Lunch yesterday was a little more difficult. I had chosen something that couldn't easily be eaten in small bites and I made the mistake of putting mustard on it. The mustard burned and although the food went down fine it was a little painful, in a different way. Breakfast was wonderful, so I think that just taking things slowly, even though I can eat anything I want, will do the trick.

OK, I'm done for now. Another update either tonight or in the morning.