Update from Barb (and the woes of Vista) - 3:00 PM CDT Thursday

July 12, 2007

Being on the 14th floor is very dangerous! Yesterday, I almost threw this new

laptop out the window. Everything anyone has ever said about Vista is true, be

afraid, be very afraid!

Thursday's update is titled - Sick man walking!

Tuesday, between Plasmapheresis & kidney dialysis, Ken was gone until 8pm.

Really frustrating for Ken (and me) because they told him - if he ate 75% of his

lunch and dinner trays, they'd take out his feeding tube (which he hates). But

he wasn't in his room long enough to eat. After some deal making, they removed

the tube anyway. Yesterday, he only had Plasmapheresis (it's a 14 day course),

so he was able to get up and walk in he afternoon.

About a 6 inch long area of his incision is infected, so the doctor removed

several staples, cleaned the area and packed it. The packing has to be removed

and re-inserted twice a day. Doesn't feel good when they do that, but it has to

be done, so it can heal from the inside out. (I remember Ron's photos (see the

photo page on PSC site) and will show them to Ken if he complains too much ;-)

Yesterday, Ken gained about 3 pounds, on top of what he is already retaining, so

today he has Plasma exchange and dialysis again. His kidneys just don't want to

get back to work. Being swollen from all the fluid, makes moving around and

breathing harder work than it should be. His gluose is all over the place, so

he's still getting insulin shots. If things don't even out, it looks like he

will be a diabetic when all this is over. Guess I'll have to learn how to cook

all over again. But hey - it's 'Whatever It Takes' time. The doc still hasn't

figured out which immune suppressant (in addition to Cellcept) he'll be on.

I learned today that we'll probably have to stay in Twice Blessed House for 2

months. To be honest, I found that info really depressing, I had hoped we could

go home sooner. I'm going to hold off believeing that for now and wait until I

talk to Dr McKenna and see what he says, before believing anyone else.

Well that's it from here. If I don't update tomorrow or the next day, it will be

because I threw Vista out the window!

Barb

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