It was a very full morning, but we are finally back at the hotel. Dr. Leoni was pretty happy with the way things were going. He said he didn't see anything alarming in the scan or the echo and his x-ray looked almost the same as the one they did in November. He also didn't hear much in his lungs so he doesn't think he will need to stay on the oxygen for an extended time. He doesn't have asthma or COPD. He does want the CT scan of his chest repeated in 3 months and they may schedule it for May when he has his annual check. He also doesn't think he needs to come back at the end of the month to see the pulmonologist, but he would like for him to see one at home, whether it is Memphis or Jonesboro.

We are both pretty relieved and the appointments were the few parts of this trip that nothing went wrong, even though Dr. Leoni was running late. He is also covering the hospital today and there was a transplant overnight.

It was raining when we left Saturday morning and rained off and on all day. We didn't have the heavy rain we thought we would. When we got to our hotel for the night, the oxygen concentrator fell over and broke the one part that our technician told us not to break! It's the end of the hose that fills his portable tanks. As we were unloading the car yesterday I discovered that I had left the bag with Bill's blood pressure cuff and other medical items in the hotel room. So, had to call them and tell them to hold it since we were coming back through Tuesday. Then, I tried yesterday afternoon to see if our company works with a local company and didn't get anywhere.

The food I have eaten the last 2 days hasn't agreed with me. I don't know if it's just from stress or what, but I have been miserable both nights. I desperately wanted a Coke to settle my stomach last night and the machine wouldn't take coins or paper money or read by debit card! Hopefully tonight will be better. When we left this morning I realized I had left the room keycard on the desk...just as the door latched!

I found a medical supply place that can replace the part and I gave her the information she needed to get a copy of the prescription. The last I spoke with her she was waiting on it to be faxed. And, just a few minutes ago, the company called from home to see just where we were to get a replacement for it! I told her that I was already working on it and she said she would call them and get a fax # and do it RIGHT NOW! So, I'm just waiting on the call back and I'm ready to program the address into my navigation system.

Hopefully the trip home the trip home will be uneventful with nothing breaking and I'll remember to pick up the medical bag. 

Thanks for all of the good thoughts and prayers...they worked! I'll let you know when we get home!

Bill has had all of his tests run that Mayo wanted and we are heading there Saturday morning. He has appointments all Monday morning and then we go back for more appointments on the 26th with one of the lung Drs.

The CT of his chest shows "something" on one lung. Best case scenario is that it is from the pneumonia. Worst case scenario is that it is a cancer. Because of the pneumonia the radiologist wasn't able to tell and he recommends a follow-up in 2-3 months. I'll let Stephanie know this when we are there and they may schedule something while we are there, or when we go back.

He's been feeling better and has been able to walk instead of using a wheelchair the last 2 days for his appointments. Emily got concerned looking at his labs this morning because his blood sugar had been all over the place the last couple of days. But, the Prednisone could be responsible for that.

He's not real thrilled about having to go back at the end of the month, but I reminded him that it was his idea to go and get checked out. So, we'll just see how things go. 

The hardest part will be taking the oxygen. The part of the machine that fills the portable canisters is really heavy and I'm not sure I can get it in and out of the car. I haven't tried the other part. If he didn't have to sleep with it, I think he could get by with the 2 travel canisters, but I don't want to take that chance. So, I'll figure something out!

Tomorrow I'm getting the recall on my car taken care of and then travel money, pack, stop mail, keys to the neighbor and who knows what else. I'd like to get a haircut but I don't know if that will happen or not. 

I'll probably wait and update this after we are finished with his appointments on Monday. Good thoughts please!

Bill saw the dr. this morning and she was pleased that he was doing better and looked better. She said his chest still sounds tight and he's still wheezing some, but not like he was before. He's still getting winded some, but had a good night last night.

He's sitting without his oxygen now to see how he does without it.

I heard from Stephanie and she talked to Dr. Patel who wants some tests run. They also want to see him in the next couple of weeks. We can have 1 of the test run at the dr. office, but the others have to be done at the hospital. He's really leary of the hospital now, but I told him it will be on an outpatient basis and they are non-invasive. They want a chest CT, a Pulmonary Function Test and an Echo. The PFT can be done in the dr. office. Once those tests are done they will schedule some follow-up appointments at Mayo. I told Stephanie that Bill would feel better going to Mayo than Memphis. Since things will be done last minute, I'm hoping that we will be able to get rooms at the last minute.

I'll update again when we know when the test will be done. It's looking up for now...finally.

Bill didn't have a good night. He did a lot of coughing and wheezing. He was also tired most of the morning, but did perk up after a while. His blood pressure has been up today and he's getting winded more and more. I'm so glad we're going to the dr. tomorrow. I have a feeling she will want to ship him to Memphis.

He's fine as long as he sits still, but going to the bathroom seems to trigger something. I still haven't figure out that correlation.

His appetite has been good and he's in good spirits, except when he's moving around. I haven't seen that look of terror in his eyes for the last couple of days, and he recovers faster than he did before. 

That's about it for today, only so so, no better but no worse either, except for the high blood pressure, but it comes down so I think it is also from the shortness of breath.

I'll post again tomorrow after we go to the dr. I'm going to pack a suitcase tonight, just in case we have to go.

We've had a better day today. Bill has only had to have one breathing treatment and has only gotten winded once. He was able to clean himself up and get dressed without getting winded or sitting down to rest. He also said that he feels much better today.

We found out last night that if Mayo wants him in Memphis we can call the local ambulance service, tell them that he's a transplant patient and as long as he's stable they will take him straight to the med-evac helicopter based next to the hospital here. We can bypass this hospital. There is also a chance, depending on where the evac planes are located, that he could be flown straight to Florida.

I noticed yesterday that at times he's almost running moving from one place to another. I don't know if that is a cause of the shortness of breath, or a result. It could be that he's hurrying to sit down so that he can breathe, or it could be that he doesn't realize how fast he's walking. So I keep reminding him to slow down and he's done much better today, at least so far.

I got the laundry finished today and got the house undecorated. Still have to get everything back into the attic, but the major part of it is done. I think Bill feels bad that he can't help right now, but he's never helped decorate/undecorate much anyway so I don't know why he's feeling bad about it!

Well, he just had a little spell. After questioning him it seems like a bowel movement is triggering something. He did the same thing yesterday. He said he's not having to strain,but that seems to take something out of him. He recovered quickly and got some more junk coughed up. Still a good day altogether.

Hope everyone is having a good day, too!

Our old year did not end well, and the new year is not starting out well. Bill is not getting better. Wednesday night he started having shortness of breath when he was walking, and all he was doing was walking to the bathroom. It happened again when he walked to the bedroom and again from the bedroom to the bathroom. I measured it in steps and it is about 20 steps from his side of the bed to the commode. He would just be gasping for air and the look on his face was pure terror that he couldn't breathe.

Yesterday morning I took him to the dr. and we had to have a wheelchair meet us in the parking lot. Thankfully our daughter works there! We were there all morning. Had some labs done, but weren't able to get x-rays or EKG because of the short hours. It was decided that he should be on oxygen at home. So, a wonderful medical supplies rep came in on her day off and got everything ordered. They also wanted us to have a nebulizer, but insurance wouldn't pay for it since he doesn't have a diagnosis of COPD. So, she worked with her office and we got the machine at cost for $50. The plan they have right now for him is to use the oxygen and the nebulizer, both as needed. But they would prefer the oxygen 24/7 and the nebulizer every 4 hours. They also increased the antibiotic (length of time, not strength) and added some prednisone. He's to go back Monday morning for a chest x-ray and EKG. Of course they said if he still has problems to take him back to ER since it is a 4 day week-end. They did say they would take to Mayo before the day was out, but I haven't heard from them.

I was in total brain overload yesterday by the time the oxygen was set up and I was shown how to use it. It is very simple, so far, and I managed to get his 2 small tanks filled with no problems. I have the technician's # and he said as long as I call with a problem before 10 the night before or first thing in the morning, he will re-arrange his schedule. He said oxygen patients get priority. The concentrator running all the time has now shattered my total silence quiet time in the morning. I suppose I could sit at my desktop computer instead of using my laptop in the recliner, but it's just not the same. Some how being curled up with a cup of coffee in the dark is more appealing than sitting at the computer stand. I suppose I'll get used to it.

One thing we found out yesterday is that Bill's bloodwork from the hospital was NOT normal, as the Dr. had told us. It shows there is some fluid at the bottom of his heart which could easily explain the shortness of breath. That could also be 2 things. It could signal that congestive heart failure is beginning with this heart, or it could be that he is now trying for some reason to reject the heart. They repeated the test yesterday but won't have the results until Monday. Again, because of the holiday.

I asked Bill when I took him his meds this morning if he wanted me to call the transplant cardiologist on call at Mayo and see what they suggest or if he wanted to just wait until Monday. I told him it was only Friday and he said he thought he could wait. I told him I didn't know if I could. I'm so stressed right now!!!

He just came out of the bedroom and said he wanted to discuss something with me. He wants to go to Florida. I don't think I can get him to Florida right now, but I can get him to Memphis and let those transplant drs. take a look at him. They can then confer with Mayo better on a plan. We did notice that he was not as winded walking out this morning. On one hand he wants to continue to wait through the week-end, but on the other hand he wants to just get in the car and go. We have decided that we are going to see how he does through the day as far as his breathing goes and tomorrow call Mayo. I told him that if I drive him to Memphis, he will have to go through the emergency room. But, I can take him to our ER, have Mayo call them and tell them to ship to Memphis and he will be a direct admit to the cardiac unit. That is the way it will go and we will take it from there as to how and when we get to Mayo. 

So, we've started the new year with a good cry and a heart to heart talk (no pun intended). I know this isn't the upbeat post, but right now, or at least when I started it, there was nothing to be upbeat about.

We didn't have too much gunfire in the neighborhood last night, far less than usual. The police had put the word out that there would be zero tolerance for gunfire inside the city limits and they would be patrolling the neighborhoods. I heard some, nothing extremely close, and it didn't last long.

I hope your new year is starting out better than ours. I wish you happiness, health, and all things good for the coming year. My word for the year is CHANGE. Or at least I think it is change. My words for the last 2 years have not been good choices. But, I need to make some changes personally, so we will see if I can make it happen.
 

Bill has been discharged and is now home. He decided this morning that he did not want the ultrasound of his gall bladder. It would have been an unnecessary test, and insurance probably would have covered it he didn't think that would be fair to the insurance company. The dr. did not try to change his mind and since he hadn't thrown up since yesterday morning he said there was not reason to keep him. Sent him home with a script for Keflex and Phenergan. I doubt he'll need that one, but it will be good to have around.

I took the scripts to Walgreen's since it is closer to our house than Wal-mart. The locally owned pharmacy we usually use has been bought out by Kroger and right now it is a nightmare to get something filled. When I handed the girl at Walgreen's my military ID card as the insurance, she told me that it only applied to drs. and not pharmacy services. I'm still really ticked off about it and haven't decided what to do yet. I'm considering contacting corporate to complain to them. We've used that card at pharmacies all over the country to fill precscriptions. So, if you are retired military and want to have your meds filled at Walgreen's be prepared. I was just tired and stressed enough today to just take the script and leave instead of pushing the issue.

I still have to let Kim know that he has been discharged and I have the bedclothes in the washer that I need to check on. I think it will be a very early night for both of us tonight! Bill has to check in with out dr. sometime next week so I'll let you know how he's doing then. I'm not sure if I'll get a weekly one in Saturday, that remains to be seen. If I don't Happy New Year!