Compared to the last two days, yesterday was fantastic!! Bill was awake and "chatty" when I got there. His trach had shifted so air was getting through and he was making noises. Some of them were actual words at times, other times it was just noise, and other times he was burping. There's still a lot of air in his stomach, I guess from all the fluid draining out now, but he was quite noisy. Then Erin from respiratory came in and repositioned him some and put some air in his cuff and that was the end of the noise.

He stayed awake all morning and interacted with the doctors. Dr. Shirwany said there were no clots in his leg and they would just continue treatment as is. His urine and turned bloody again and Allison said that the night nurse had reported the same thing, bloody to clear and back, so there is a bleed somewhere that is making it's way out of his body. The extra Lasix hadn't affected his potassium level yet and he didn't need any potassium yesterday so that's good. One thing Lasix does is leach the potassium from the body as it increases fluid output.

I told Dr. Morris, the kidney doctor, about the bleeding and he asked if the urologist had been in. I told him if he had, it was after I left for the night. The staff hadn't said anything about any new notes from him so no-one seems to know if he's been there or not. The irrigation is continuing also.

Dr. Threlkeld said that he has a few more days on the antibiotics and then we'll see again what happens. Dr. King from GI came in to see about the feeding tube and it has just about stopped seeping. The dressings are still getting wet, at times, but it's not running down his body like it did. He also hasn't vomited anymore, although he sounds like it at times, and makes horrible faces. But when asked if he's going to throw up he says no.

The swelling has gone done considerably so it must have just been fluid build-up. But, like I said, where it's coming from, or just part of the pulmonary/cardiac failure process, I don't know. I didn't see any weeping from his arms yesterday. His scrotum is still swollen, but not his penis and his left foot looks normal again, although his knee is swollen still. His right foot is still swollen, but not nearly as much as Sunday.

Dr. Sheikh asked if he had been back on CPAP since his episode Wednesday and I told him no. He made some adjustments to the vent, turned the PEEP down to 5 and the respirations down to 20 again and said that he would tell respiratory to put him into a trial. When Erin came to give him his breathing treatment as I was getting ready to leave I asked her if she was going to start it and he had forgotten to tell her! I told her the last thing he said to me was that he was going to tell respiratory right then to do it! So, we decided that we would wait until today, which was fine with me since I do want to be there.

He did both physical and occupational therapy and while he didn't sit up on the edge of the bed, he did exercises on both his legs and shoulders and arms. He did participate with them without complaint and I could tell from the therapists that he was actively participating and not just letting them move his limbs. 

After both of those, and a good bath from Magnolia, he was done for the day. He didn't even wake up when I left! It was also the first day that we had turned the TV on since Friday. I don't know how much attention he paid to it. Yesterday if was an American Pickers marathon. I mostly listened as I tried to finish the baby afghan I'm working on. Just have the edging to do on the top and weave in the ends and it's done.

I have to leave a little early today to take care of some business. Emily or Brianna could do it for me, but sometimes I need to do it myself. I talked with one of the chaplains about this very thing last week, how the world keeps moving forward and the "normal" things of life still have to be done, like paying the bills and different things. And, while it takes me away from the hospital, it also gives me a sense of normalcy in this crazy world. And I'm not leaving really early, about 2, which still gives me time to do what I need to do. All, or most of the doctors will have been there by then so I shouldn't miss anything I need to know.

So, a good day for Bill, which makes it a good day for me. And now, it's that time to get ready and get things gathered up to head out. Let's all hope for another good day today!

A beautiful Sunday morning and Bill was again awake, but he was making noises! The inner collar had lost some air and when that happens, he can get sound out around it. It wasn't words but just sounds, and mostly of his passing air. He does have a lot of gas in his belly and if it isn't squeaking out around his peg tube, it's coming out in burps. 

When Mikala was doing her assessment of him she told him she needed to look at his stomach and he told her no and pulled the blanket back up! But, good nurse that she is, she went on to the next task and when she came back to that, there was no problem. It has quit leaking fluid now, so maybe what was coming out was just the fluid that had built up and was showing on the CT. 

He's very swollen all over still. They did an ultrasound late yesterday afternoon of his right leg, which is twice the size of his left leg, to see if there were any blood clots since he had been taken off Eliquis. I won't know anything about that until today.

Both arms are now weeping from the swelling, but if the fluid can get pulled off that should stop. His kidney numbers have improved enough that they are going to increase his Lasix to see if that helps. 

Dr. Threlkeld said that his albumin was a little low so I imagine he'll get some of that today if he didn't get it in the night. And, I've been wondering about the fluid he's been getting since Wednesday. He hadn't been getting any IV fluid, just the fluid from his feeding tube flushes and Dr. Edwards ordered some fluids thinking that his unresponsiveness could have been because he was dry. Not dry in the sense that he was dehydrated, but dry in his blood volume. So he's been continuous fluids since then and now I'm wondering if he's over hydrated. We'll find out when Dr. Edwards is back today.

His urine was bloody again yesterday morning. Mikala said that about 6 the night before it started turning red again. But, about 11 I looked over toward the bed and the catheter bag was on that side and the urine coming down the tubing was clear! So, it's a mystery of where the bleed may be. Is it still in the bladder and ureter? Is it just irritation from the Foley site itself, is it from the kidneys? So many questions, with no answers.

His private area was still swollen, but not as swollen as before. He does have a little skin tear on his bottom now that wasn't there before, but it's very small and treatable.

I noticed this week-end that some of the doctors who cover on week-ends don't like to make changes to the orders of the attendings. I never thought I would say the words "I'll be glad with Dr. Edwards is back", but that's what I was thinking yesterday!

This was placed at the entrance to the hospital sometime Saturday. And it does say it all. That means more to the staff, that someone paid to have this made and then installed, than to have food sent in. Not everyone gets to eat the goodies, but everyone, including the housekeepers and support staff, get to see this and get some recognition. 


When I left yesterday I told Bill I loved him and he told me he loved me too and gave me an air kiss. He got his kiss on the top of his head! It's the little things!

That's it. Hopefully we'll have another good, if boring day. At least I should have the baby afghan I'm making finished by tomorrow! The on to booties and who knows what else!

Yesterday started out well with Bill awake and aware and flirting with Mikala with double winks. But, it soon went downhill.

There's no real way to describe the leaking from around his peg tube. The fluid, whatever it is, just runs out. We stood there and watched it as we were trying to change the gauze pads. It's not the gray goopy stuff anymore, it's clear and pretty thin and we could see it running down his stomach. As Mikala tried to get more gauze packed around it, every time she pushed, more poured out, and then we could hear air escaping. It was all very strange. Dr. Nara had left a note in his chart that she would be back on Monday, which kind of told Mikala not to call her. But, she said if it were a true emergency she would call for whoever was on call for the week-end.

During his bath it was discovered that not only was his right foot extremely swollen again, but his genitals were swollen. I showed Dr. Naseer the kidney doctor on this week-end and he said about all that could be done to alleviate that was to roll a towel and elevate his scrotum. So that was done. Bill wasn't complaining that it hurt, but I don't know how it couldn't be. His left hand was somewhat swollen, but not as bad as it had been. However, his left arm is "weeping" in a couple of places from being so swollen earlier.

After his bath he seemed to be more comfortable and went to sleep and slept most of the day again. When his belly was checked to see if he needed the gauze changed, it was dry! We could still hear air escaping periodically, but no fluid.

Every doctor who came in was told about these new presentations, but none of them really had anything to say. Dr. Threlkeld said he would check with GI to see what they thought. And since he told me that he doesn't trust many people, but he trusts Dr. Nara, he'll talk to her. And since I don't trust many people anymore, I do trust him. He has always followed through when he says he's going to do something.

His urine was quite bloody again in the morning, but when Mikala changed the flush bag and emptied the collection bag, it all started running clear. She thought there was just some sediment that had settled in the bottom of the bag from before that got mixed in. It will be interesting to see what it looks like today. Dr. Greenberger didn't say how long to keep the flush running and he hasn't been by for a few days now, so we may have to wait until Dr. Edwards is back on Monday. Dr. Shirwany is reluctant to make any changes to things unless it is one of his actual patients, so we'll wait for Dr. Edwards.

His kidney numbers have stabilized as far as his creatinine goes and he's still getting the daily dose of Lasix. But, he may need more than what he's getting to pull more of this fluid off.

In the late afternoon, when we could tell he was really relaxed, his blood pressure started dropping. There was a 20 point difference than the pressure taken with a cuff and the pressure measured from the ART line. Mikala tried adjusting different things to get them to even out more, but it just wasn't happening, so she reluctantly re-started the Levo. It had been restarted in the night too. Chris, the night nurse said that when Bill was really relaxed and sleeping his pressure started dropping so he had restarted it. And then it stayed up in the morning so Mikala turned it off. So, we'll see when I get there.

His other numbers were good and Dr. El Hadad is making no changes to the vent settings.

That's about it for yesterday. I was quite tired when I got home. I'm finding that the days where I just sit and knit with him sleeping tire me out more. On the days he's awake more  and engaged in the TV, even if it's just watching Animal Planet all day, I still have a little energy left when I get home. Yesterday it was all I could do to feed the cats and feed me. I went to bed at 8 and only woke up once at 11:30 to go to the bathroom. After that I didn't wake up again until 4:45 when the alarm went off. And here we are, nearly an hour later, and I've fed the cats and had 1/2 cup of coffee. So, I need to get my coffee finished and start getting dressed and ready to go, although I don't need to leave as early now. I'm still surprised by the amount of cars on the road, especially out of state cars, but it has dropped off. I'm also surprised that I'm still getting into the hospital. They are calling up to the unit each time now, but they always tell them that he's waiting for me to get there and to send me on up. I am getting tired of wearing a mask all the time I'm there. I told Mike, the respiratory tech that I'm starting to live for lunch, when I can take it off!

Stay safe everyone!

Yesterday was one of those days to begin with. Had to go back in the house twice before I ever got the car door open. It was raining so I had to get my raincoat instead of the sweater I was wearing, then again I didn't put my wallet in my pocket. At least I didn't get down the highway. Had to get gas and then started to drive off with only 1/2 of my McDonald's order!

Bill was awake and aware again when I got there. Mikala said that he had stayed awake most of the night watching TV. I noticed that Bill's food was off and the top half of him was covered with the bed pads they put under the patients, so he must have started throwing up again, and that was confirmed by Mikala. It was only a little when he was suctioned. That's what we've been noticing, when he's turned or suctioned after a breathing treatment it seems to jostle him too much. There will be more on this later.

His urine was really bloody again, and it was bright red so there's still a bleed somewhere. Mikala said that the flush had been running too fast which was why it had looked so good the last few days and they had to slow it down, so that accounted for the difference. But, if the blood was caused by the clot they removed, and that was done so many days ago, shouldn't the blood be flushed out by now? And it is bright red, not dark like old blood. So, another question on my list to ask.

The Levo to keep his blood pressure up was still off and he didn't need it all during the day. Dr. Edwards said that his acidity has returned to normal and they are stopping the frequent ABGs, but they are going to leave the ART line in a little longer just in case it is needed again. 

His kidney function continues to improve with the extra fluids and his creatinine is still going down. He's still getting the daily dose of Lasix and already, even after 1 dose, the swelling in his feet and left hand has gone down considerably. His left arm is still very sore and red, but Dr. Threlkeld is keeping an eye on it.

Therapy came in and Bill did not argue about working with them. He sat on the edge of the bed twice and then did some leg and shoulder exercises. He did pretty well with them. He did tell Travis that his back hurst and he told him it was because he was laying in bed all the time. He had been sitting in chair position in the bed all morning, so they let him go back to bed when they finished.

We thought the PICC line was leaking again, but it turned out that the stopcock on his feeding tube hadn't been turned completely off from when he got some meds, but it was enough that the dressing had to be changed. I ran into the PICC nurse who does the dressing changes in the hallway and she asked me what had been going on. She'll be in Wednesday to do the normal dressing change, but Mikala did this one.

And now, for the feeding tube. It is draining so much around the site where it comes out of his belly that he went through 2 hospital gowns in 30 minutes. Dr. Nara looked at it and said that nothing can really be done about it until his nutrition improves. I don't think she realizes that this is it, he's not ever going to be able to eat real food again. So, now we're trying to come up with some way to keep him drier so that his skin doesn't breakdown any more. It's already so think that any little touch bruises him. What we had come up with when I left was to fold the bedpads around it. Since they are plastic on one side (and it's not plastic, but you know what I mean) it will keep the moisture away from his gown which keeps it dry to keep him dry. We had tried the ABD pads for dressings but those didn't work to keep him dry. If the pads don't work, we're going to try cutting a diaper since they are very absorbant. Emily told me when he dad had a surgical site that wouldn't heal, she finally just slapped a maxi-sized sanitary napking on it. The nurse told her that was a great idea, it pulled in the mositure, yet stiill let the wound get some air around it to start healing. So, we could try that. 

I asked about switching to bolus feeds instead of the continuous feed to see if giving a break between them would actually let it start closing some. If it stops draining when the food stops, that just makes sense to me. Mikala thought that was a good idea and she paged the dietician but hadn't heard back before I left We're all kind of grasping at straws here. 

But, this could be totally unrelated to his food. The CT did show fluid in his stomach from somewhere and I had been telling them that he had never been thick through his stomach or have a belly and he's been really big. Yesterday he wasn't as big it seemed. So, maybe we just need to let this stuff drain out, whatever it is. 

I thought yesterday was going to be the day Jennifer came and told me not to leave. She did come by and stood in the hallway and talked to a nurse, and then went into the room next door. After she came out, she just walked away. So, I won't know until I get there this morning. Hopefully I'll be let in.

That's it for now. Time to round up Mouse and get dressed and things gathered up. Luckily I didn't unpack my backpack except to take out the laptop and my notebook, which is quickly running out of pages! At least I don't have to stop for gas, and if I can keep my foot off the gas (I do like to drive fast I've found) I'll be good that way until tomorrow. 

Stay safe!

Someone was awake and aware and "talking" yesterday when I got to the hospital! H e said he felt better and he looked better. His numbers were good, but his oxygen was down a little. His vent settings had been changed again. His oxygen was lowered to 40% from 50, his peep, which is pressure was increased from 5 to 8, his breaths given was increased from 20 to 26 and and pressure was decreased from 480 to 450. He said it was harder to breathe and I told him about the oxygen being lower and to just let the machine do it for him. 

The doctors are having a little war over the cause of his episode Wednesday. Dr. Edwards thinks it was a pulmonary event that caused the problem, and Dr. Aswan saiys it was not pulmonary, there was no reason to change the vent settings, and that it was all metabolic, with everything that is going on in his body. As he left the room, he just reminded me that we had talked about recurring pneumonias happening. He's the dr. that initially told me to call the kids and start the palliative care process. This was the first he had seen him in a month and I think he was surprised that he was still with us. He then said we would just see what Dr. Edwards was going to do. So, I think Dr. Edwards won the battle.

Dr. Edwards was also surprised at the turn-around, although by now he shouldn't have been. He made the comment that Bill definitely is a morning person. He said they would continue to check the blood gases and adjust things as necessary. Then, to my surprise, he asked if there was anything he could get for ME and told me not to worry too much, they were taking good care of Bill! The man continues to surprise me!

Part of the reason for the vent settings change is that Bill is still retaining CO2. So these settings help his lungs expel it. His pH has been out of whack through all of this, and that could have been the start of the episode. Normal pH is 7.35-7.45. His yesterday morning was 7.3. So, still a little low. I think it dropped it the afternoon because he got another boost of sodium bicarb. He had also gotten a bag of Potassium before I got there so it must have been lower.

When Dr. Nara came in to check his feeding tube site, it had drained a large amount of a gray, think, sticky substance. She didn't seem too concerned about what it looked like, just kept wiping it up. At one point she pressed around it and I could hear it bubble and gurgle. He was still on the IV nutrition, but the tube feeds were also restarted, and as of when I left, he had not had any episodes of vomiting.

He was still on the Levo for his blood pressure, and Ella kept adjusting it as his pressure fluctuated. During a cleanup (I asked him if he pooped and he just grinned and nodded like a little boy) we noticed that his PICC line site had been weeping and the bandage was coming off. This has to have a sterile bandage covering it so that it doesn't get infected. When Ella came to put a new one on, she noticed that it had come out about 3 inches. So, a call to the PICC team, a chest xray to see where it actually was, a new PICC line placed, another xray to see where it was, and we were back in business. During all this time, all of his IVs had been stopped and when she was hooking them back up, she did not start the Levo again. It was just put on standby since he had maintained his pressure all the time it had been stopped.

Dr. Morris said that his kidney function had improved and that his creatinine was coming down! He was quite thrilled with that. He did order a once a day dose of Lasix to draw the extra fluid off and make the kidneys work more. His urine looked good, although at one time what was coming through the tubing looked awful, about what was coming from around the peg site, but for the most part it was clear or barely pink tinged.

Dr. Threlkeld doesn't think that it is cellutlitis on his left arm. He thinks is echymosis (I'm not sure of the spelling or if that's exactly what he said). That means it's just bruising. But, his left hand is still very swollen, he said his arm hurts at times, so we're just going to keep an eye on it. That's the arm that had the infected midline, so there could be the infection still in it. He's still on antibiotics so that's about all they can do for that right now.

It was a much better day compared to the day before. He was awake when I left and he said he would behave himself but couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be any shenanigans. It will be interesting to see if this is the day they tell me not to leave. The Tennessee governor has issued a mandatory stay at home order. Now Arkansas is the only southern state  without one.

One thing I've noticed are all the out of state cars on the highways, complete with families. I guess they decided to go ahead and go on their spring break vacation. There are bicycles attached and some cars are so loaded down it's like they are trying to outrun this virus. In some ways it reminds me of The Stand, a book by Stephen King where a supervirus overtakes at least the US and turns into good vs. evil with the people who didn't catch it. It has some eerie parallels. I had started re-reading it (it's one of my favorite books) until the virus started spreading so fast and then decided I didn't need to read it right now!

The traffic in Memphis had been very light until the last couple of days and now it's business as usual it seems. No curfews have been lifted, non-essential businesses are closed, they finally closed the parks but not the golf courses. I go by one when I go home through town and the parking lot has been packed, but the course looks empty, so they are all in the clubhouse!

All for this morning. It's late and I'm not dressed yet. I hope my clothes got dry last night, otherwise I'll be even later getting started. Stay safe!

This morning I was met in the hallway by the Stacy, one of the charge nurses and taken to the conference room. That is usually not a good sign. She said they had taken Bill for a CT and since his room is so small, they asked that it stay empty until they got him back in and settled. It's quite the operation when they move patients with IVs and vents and all the other stuff that goes with it.

After he got back to the room, his night nurse came in and said that around 5 this morning his blood pressure dropped and he became slightly unresponsive and twitchy. They drew some blood gases and his pH was low so they gave him some bicarb and then restarted the Levo for his blood pressure. They said he perked up a little after that and Dr. Edwards ordered the CT. They did one from skull to pelvis. The respiratory tech told me that he did wake up and respond to her while they were transporting and in CT.

Dr. Edwards wanted an ART line (arterial) put in to check his blood gases frequently since he's such a hard stick. They can also monitor his arterial blood pressure with this. When Dr. Edwards came in he said he thought the mental status was from being dry, so he ordered fluids. He did increase the vent from 12 to 20. Dr. Aswan did not like that and told me that from his standpoint, and the blood gases, they did not need to be changed. He said the fluids would also help his BUN and creatinine levels.

When Dr. Nara, the GI doctor came in, she looked to see if the scans were ready and she said the lung showed a pneumonia and the abdominal one showed some fluid in the stomach. She stopped his tube feeds and started him on some IV nutrition. She wants to do an EDG to see what is causing the vomiting and the fluid in the stomach, but she wants him more alert to do that. 

Dr. Threlkeld doesn't agree with the other drs. that the infection he had in his blood has caused the pneumonia. He's more sure that Bill did aspirate some when he vomited. Both he and Dr. Nara said that his belly is very tense, probably from not having a bowel movement since Saturday. He's already on good antibiotics and he's not going to change them unless something grows that they aren't expecting.

Dr. Morris didn't say anything about dialysis today. He said his numbers are staying about the same so we'll just stay the course we're on now. 

At one point Dr. Edwards did not like the numbers he was seeing, so he wanted him bronched. That was done and there were no mucus plugs and they got very little greenish-yellow gunk from the bottom of his lungs. So, there is some infection there, especially since his white count is up again.

His urine almost back to a normal color and he's got good output. And...he finally had a bowel movement! They were going to give him a stronger laxative but she hadn't gotten it to him yet before he went on his own. I don't know how much he went, but at least he went some.

I'm still at the hospital. I want to see if Dr. Edwards comes around before midnight. I've already arranged for the cats to be taken care of tonight and just need to text Emily if I need her to do them in the morning in case I stay. But, I want to be sure he's stable before I go home, or if I get too tired, I'll go ahead and stay.

So, that's been our day. Bill has woken up from the bronch sedation and told me hi. I asked if he was going to stay awake and he said no, and he meant it! He's back snoozing away! Since he's sleeping it wouldn't matter if I was here or not, but for my peace of mind, I'll stick around a little longer anyway.

The feeding tube got replaced a little after noon yesterday and took all of 10 minutes! No anesthesia, not even a Tylenol, or a ittle spray of something to numb the site. She just told Bill is was going to hurt and gave it a pull! I could tell watching his face that it indeed hurt. She popped the new one in and Richie, who was covering for Ella, connected his food and covered the site with some drain sponges and it was done! This one has a balloon on the inside that is inflated to keep it tight. She said if it needs to be replaced again, it can just be deflated and pulled out, much easier than the one he had. This was the kind he had at Mayo.

The rest of the afternoon was as quiet as the morning. He was awake and would respond to a direct question, but he would not try to get my attention by banging the call device on the bed rail like he had done in the past.

They are still waiting on results of the last blood cultures. They know that "something" grew, but don't know what yet. He's still on the antibiotics that they would generally use for most bacteria, and can add different ones if necessary. I'm seeing more of the infectious disease nurse practitioners than Dr. Threlkeld as he's kept busy at the "Covid Corral". Those are his words, not mine. I think I heard someone say that Memphis had the highest rate of infection in Tennessee. Not a comforting thought!

His left arm is still swollen and red and that was concerning to Ashley since that was the arm that had the infected midline in it. I noticed that his hand, that was very swollen at the time, was warm, while the rest of the arm was cool. But it was the same on his right arm, too. 

His urine has become much clearer. They are still flushing his bladder, but I could see mostly urine in the tubing, although the bag was still darker. But it looked more like very concentrated urine than blood. 

Dr. Morris is getting concerned about his kidneys more now. His creatinine level went the wrong way and went up again to 3.4. I could tell he is just mystified some and I think a little upset that Dr. Edwards waited so long to call him in to consult. He's still mulling things around. He mentioned that he could try a one time dose of Lasix to pull some of the fluid off that's making his feet and legs swell. He also mentioned that we may have to go to dialysis and that's where I need some input from you kind people. I'm just not sure if I want to put him through that. If it's only a one or two time deal, then maybe his body could handle it, but for something long term, I don't know that it would really benefit him, although I'm sure it would speed things up, as far as going to comfort care. Not that I want things to speed up, don't get me wrong on that. But, he is getting weaker by the day and I just don't know if his body could handle it. So, any suggestions you may have would be appreciated.

I also woke up with a thought, clear as a bell. He did throw up again yesteray afternoon, without making a sound. I walked over to his bed to wipe his nose which has started to do his normal spring drip, and he had thrown up. It had soaked into his gown and was on his pillow case and blanket, so I think he had pulled the blanket up to wipe up. It was all just bile, didn't look anything like his formula. My thought was that the ultrasound Dr. Edwards had done was of his gall bladder and kidney and there were cysts on both if you remember. I'm now thinking, and this was my waking thought, that it is his gall bladder. I remember with mine throwing up bile. I also don't think he could even tolerate laproscopic surgery to remove it. I don't know what kind of anesthesia they would use. And again, when is enough enough?

I know as a family we agreed to continue all treatments until he said enough, or became unresponsive, but there has to be a point where, even though it would benefit in the long run, how long is the long run going to be?

I'll talk to his nurse today and whatever Dr. I see about it. The dietician said she could change his formula to something a little gentler to see if that helped. But, he's been on this one for quite a while now.

He still hasn't had a bowel movement even though he started getting his stool softener again yesterday. That could also be a factor in the vomiting, there's no place for the food to go. They may have to go to harsher measures today to get things to move.

That's about it. Today may end up being a day of "why won't someone listen to me". And it still all comes back to "I'm just a wife, what do I know?", althought by now they are finding out that I DO know some things.

Just as an aside, early in this current journey I looked at the odometer on my car, for no reason and it was showing something over 78,000 miles. Sunday afternoon, I went over 100,000 on my way home. I figure I put a little over 1000 miles a week on, 150 miles/day times 7 days. That's a lot of miles! But, he's worth it, and I'm keeping up the maintenance on it as best I can right now.

With today being the first of the month I get to take my bill paying book with me and try to get the bills paid, or at least the ones that have to be done in the first few days. The internet at the hospital has been working much better lately, maybe since there aren't as may people using it. 

I'll let you know how the day goes, and please, if you have any ideas or suggestions, comment here, or on Facebook, or sent me a private message or text if you don't want everyone to see it. And now it's time to get ready. I don't have to leave quite as early now that there is less traffic and easier parking.