I started planning today's post as soon as I got to the hospital yesterday, but all that has gone out the window. BILL WAS DISCHARGED! I ran into Dr. Threlkeld just as he was coming out of his room and he said he couldn't believe the difference in him. He said he was stopping the antibiotic and he thought that just maybe we had gotten it all. His white count is up a little, but he's attributing that to the Prednisone.

A few minutes after I got there, a bouncy little girl from occupational therapy came in and whisked Bill off to the bathroom. He washed and combed his hair, shaved, washed his body, and got into clean pj pants and a new gown, and then back to his chair. That wore him out, but he recovered pretty fast. Then it was time to remove his IV and I noticed that she pulled the pole over by the door, as if it wouldn't be needed again.

It wasn't long that Cindy the cardiology practitioner came in and said they were working on getting him discharged. We discussed some medicine issues and she said she would get the paperwork done as quickly as possible. I told her that the weather was supposed to get really nasty and she said she would process his first.

As soon as he finished lunch, his nurse came in and removed the picc line, but he had to them lay still for an hour just to make sure it didn't bleed any. Just as it started clouding up she brought in the paperwork and removed the leads from the heart monitor and said he could get dressed and get out of there.

Just as I was pulling into the patient discharge area and he was brought out it started to lightly rain. Horace and I got him loaded and switched over to his other oxygen tank for the ride home and off we went. Luckily it was at a low traffic time, not so luckily it was raining and raining hard at times. We stopped at the pharmacy for his new meds before we came home and I made him stay in the car while I opened the house and turned on his concentrator. His tubing for that is long enough that it will reach the car so I took it out and swapped it over before he came in, had his walker at the door and we were in. He had to use the bathroom and, "those" bathroom visits always lower his oxygen. Finally got him finished and into his chair with a cup of coffee and a cat. Kitty was so happy to see him, Mouse, not quite knowing what to think.

He had mentioned in the hospital that he hadn't had an pizza for a while and the ad looked good, so...Dominos it was for supper. They cut giant pieces this time and he only ate 1, but he munched on Cheez-Its and Hershey Kisses all evening. Again, I don't mind the empty calories right now, his discharge paperwork says he only weighs 142, which is a 10 pound loss from the day he was admitted. So, time to work on fattening him up again. Being that much underweight is just as bad as overweight.

I've called Ricky, the home health nurse to let him know he was discharged, and I'll call Stephanie this morning, at a more appropriate time. Even with the time difference, it's still a little early and all I could do is leave a voicemail. Today was the day we were supposed to be there. I don't know when we will go now, just have to see how strong he gets.

I asked about in-patient rehab and they didn't think he would need it. I'll ask Kevin, the head therapist for home health and see what he thinks or if he can get him re-certified again. I told Bill if he can't do inpatient, he will HAVE to do the exercises on the days that Tammy doesn't come.

We had a good night, Bill was up once using the bathroom (urinal) and he was getting a little upset because he kept hitting the base of his bedside lamp and turning it on. It is very sensitive. The cats behaved themselves and didn't do any fighting on the bed until 5.

Now that we are home I have a ton of things to do. And no, Mom, I'm not going to try to get them all done today! But you can tell that the cats have been on their own way too much and they have toys spread everywhere and I need to rearrange some things to accommodate his walker a little better. If I think I can leave him for a bit I need to go vote and get a few groceries, at least milk and eggs since I bought bread the other day. We'll just have to see when he gets up.

So, there you have it. Another hospital stay is in the books. Hopefully this will be the last one for awhile. All the nurses said to just come and visit with them, not hang around! I'll probably go back to the weekly Saturday posts now that he's home, but as always, if something happens, I'll post it, so check often if you like.

For those of you who have been reading this from the beginning, thanks for being so loyal. For any new readers, I hope that this may help you if you are on a journey for a new life, whether it be organ transplant or just learning to live with serious illness. Or, if you are like me and just enjoy seeing how other people live their daily lives. See you Saturday!