from

[Guest guest]

Dearest family and friends, First: Happy Thanksgiving! Here's

what's going on: we came to Tampa last Monday for what was to be

a " follow-up appt. " for Rick. We had been home in Ft. Myers a grand

total of a week and two days. Rick's appointment went well and we

were scheduled to return in two months. We spent the night at a

hotel, as it's too long a drive for Rick roundtrip. That night Rick's

fever rose to 102.8: enormously dangerous for a transplant recipient.

I called 911 and the paramedics helped me pour Rick into the car. I

didn't want him in the ambulance because he wasn't lucid and I

thought it would scare him. We arrived at the ER where he was seen

IMMEDIATELY and admitted to the hospital. He spent from last Monday

night until this past Tuesday in the hospital. He had contracted a

very serious bacteriological infection that was pretty obscure

because it took lots of conferences with the infectious disease

doctors to decide what antibiotics to put him on. Now, we're in

ANOTHER apartment in a different location with Rick having a PCC line

in his arm. The nurse come daily to change to replace the bags of

antibiotics and we'll see the doctors on Tuesday. At this point I'm

not going to go into how difficult this has all been. It's clear that

we're not going back to Ft. Myers for some time. The good news is

that Rick's liver functions are back to normal (they weren't in the

hospital) and we're settling into our new digs. With love to you all,