Here it is, almost 5:30 and I just poured a second cup of coffee! I normally would have this down to nearly the end, the coffee gone, and the race beginning to get dressed and out the door. But, today I'm taking the cats to the vet so I'm not going to the hospital until later. Of course, I'll miss all of the doctors most likely, but the vet is only open between 8 and 12 and they have to go before they go crazy with scratching, taking me with them! So, it's been a leisurely morning so far with perusing the news and email and coffee, wonderful coffee! 

OK, enough of that. Yesterday was a great day! Bill was awake and aware and chatty when I got there. And things had happened in the night! I noticed the collection bag for his catheter was different and then looked at his IV pole, and the bag of flush was gone! Dr. Edwards finally got ahold of Dr. Greenberger and the triple catheter and flush was discontinued. Sharon, the nurse, said that they finally got the order right at shift change. The only problem they had was trying to get a regular Foley catheter in place. The nurse had a hard time and they ended up using a condom cath. I'm surprised it was still on by morning. But, from the time they removed the old catheter until after noon yesterday, not one drop of urine. And he was swelling again from fluid buildup.

Dr. Morris ordered some Lasix again and a regular Foley and Sharon got it placed with no problem and within 3 hours he put out a lot of lovely pale yellow urine. There was a little sediment to begin with, but no blood at all. Of course, it wasn't pleasant for Bill, but Diane, who was observing, said that Sharon was the Foley expert.

His Levofed was stopped yesterday also. That's the medicine keeping his blood pressure above 100. It had been fluctuating between 1 and 2 since the night before, so Sharon said that she was just stopping it and would watch his pressure. If it dropped below 100 she would see if it came back up on its own and if it stayed low she could re-start it. It was still off when I left.

The GI doctor is afraid that the feeding tube will have to be replaced again. He's just waiting to see what antibiotics the bacteria responds to. The Nystatin cream and Zinc oxide that Sharon was using has cleared his skin a lot and it didn't do a lot of draining yesterday. But there was a lot of air escaping. I couldn't tell at times if he was passing gas or if it was coming from his belly!

Dr. Threlkeld said he looked a lot better, and he did. He also said not to go out and buy a handheld UV wand, or God forbid, start drinking bleach or rubbing alcohol. I cringe to think that some people will actually do that! 

Dr. Okpor did his usual thing of looking at the vent, writing down some numbers, nodding his head and leaving. I saw Dr. Henderson on the floor as I was leaving so I think he's got the rotation this week. He's not one of my favorites of all of the pulmonologists as he was ready to give up on Bill while he was in restorative care. 

Bill told me he would try to behave overnight, so he was interacting. And he responded to questions from the doctors or nurses. He did well with moving during his bath and getting settled into new positions.

I told Crystal the respiratory tech who came to visit him that I wouldn't be there this morning and she said she was working and she would remind him. I also told him, but I doubt he remembers. I told the secretary Rikaya also and she said they would remind him periodically. I'm hoping to be one of the first ones in (going to sit in the parking lot before they open) and then, after dropping them back off at home, hitting the drive through at the credit union and then on my way.

That's about it. I don't think I left anything out, of any importance anyway. If so, after I've looked at my notebook when I get to the hospital for today's notes, I'll include it in the next update. Until then, have a great week-end!