Not Osteomyelitis

No sign of osteomyelitis in her toe or leg. This is great news. I think.

Got the Fistulagram

She had a fistulagram appointment today, but they came to the hospital to do it instead. Nice of them.

Not a clot

Sonogram eliminated a clot as a suspect. Sounds like they'll continue IV antibiotics and schedule a consult with Ortho in the morning.

Not MRSA

Two specialists saw her, and they don't think it's one of those scary fast moving deep tissue infections. I'm guessing the toe wound she's had for awhile now, is heading south. She's on IV antibiotics now, two of em. I'm heading out to nap in the car for awhile.

Dec ER Visit

I brought Kristan to St Joseph ER after dialysis tonight, because her left leg is swollen and red, and the doc thought it might be a life threatening leg clot. The ER doc says it looks more like a foot infection. The leg is hot. They'll do an ultrasound to find out more.

Bittersweet news

Amazing. Now that K's been officially told she needs to be cancer-free for 5 years, before she can get back on the transplant list, in the past week, two kind souls have each offered up a kidney. So as wonderful as these offers are, they're just a bit too late to be of any near-term help.

Back on Chemo

K went in for a fistulagram, a small outpatient surgery, on the 4th. Her fistula had a narrow section, which they widened. She had strong bad reactions to the Gleevec during September, and her WBC dropped precipitously low. So her Oncologist took her off it for October. She seemed to have less symptoms, especially the nausea, as the Gleevec left her system. On Friday the doc reported her WBC is back up to the top of the "normal" range. He's put her back on Gleevec, but with a 25% reduced dose.

Bad Day

Thanks for checking the blog, and so sorry for not updating it lately. Lots of useless excuses. The main one is that I've been posting most of my news on Facebook this year. I keep trying and failing to remember to put some of it on this blog. Please make the effort to find me on Facebook. I'd love to stay in touch with you there.

Not such great news. Kristan was wound free for several months, but now has two foot wounds, apparently not too serious yet. She was diagnosed with CML (a form of bone cancer) on July 30, but they say they found it early and so it is very treatable. Still, this definitely takes her off the kidney/pancreas transplant list. The dentist told her today that the wound on the back of her tongue may be cancerous. I learned today that our company is dropping Kaiser Permanente from their options for health plans in 2012.

My Sister's been visiting the past Month, and keeping me busy with fun stuff after work. When Bob was here, we went biking three wonderful times, did lots of walks, and went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. Now that Bob's gone, Mikele's focusing on helping us out by going through our many storage boxes, and consolidating stuff. She's making huge progress. She also keeps me company, on my walks after work. We are so lucky to have her helping out.

Home at Last

Home at last! Now if I can only convince K to go to sleep...

Doing Better

I was walking into St Jo this afternoon, and (perfect timing) ran into them wheeling Kristan up from dialysis. She seems to be doing much better, but not really back to her usual baseline ( whatever that is :-/ ). They're planning on discharging her this afternoon, which past experience tells us probably means late evening. Mandy's waiting patiently out in the car for us.

St Jo Overnight

The CAT scan came back normal. So they decided to admit her overnight, and see how it goes. They also saw the high white blood cell count that KP has been reporting. They were thinking of doing a spinal tap, if she doesn't get better by the morning. I left around 2:30, after she was settled into room 467. By then, she was a little more lucid, but still very weak.

CAT Scan

No luck at the local KP. Nothing obvious in the lab tests. Now we're off to St Joseph hospital ER for a cat scan. Heh. Wish I were joking. Lab test. Cat scan.

Shaky and Confused

We're hanging out at KP urgent care this evening. K had a scary low blood sugar late this morning, and doesn't seem to be recovering all that well, still shaky and confused after too many hours. We asked them to check her over, and see if they can figure out what's going on.

Tests done

K says she's finished all the tests requested by Univ of Chicago. Last one was a Cardio stress test, which went well. So the recent high WBC count, and ongoing bouts of nausea, are the only sour notes I'm aware of.

Home the same night

The Swedish ER gave her IV fluid for dehydration with pain and nausea meds, and finally calcium to offset a deficit they found in her labs. She started feeling better very quickly, and her BP started dropping back toward normal. While we were waiting for some of her test results to come back, Freddie kept K company, and Ken walked with me and Mandy to Smashburger, to get a bite to eat. The iPhone app "Around Me" was helpful in finding a place to eat, within walking distance, in that unfamiliar area. Interestingly enough, the lab results didn't show a high white cell count, so maybe that's resolved. They decided not to admit her into the hospital, and sent us home just before midnight. K said she felt better than she has in awhile. However, she started getting nauseous again over the weekend, and is mostly back to the same old routine now.

K at ER

Just followed Littleton Paramedic truck #14 to Swedish Hospital. Kristan's been having major nausea and stomach pain, cold and clammy skin, and was feeling too miserable to even go on dialysis. They measured a super high blood pressure at dialysis, and we decided she'd be better off at an ER. I don't know where she is in the building yet.

Better maybe

K finished her round of antibiotics. No feedback yet, about whether or not it resolved the high white cell count.

Couldn't Last

K is fighting some kind of internal infection. White cell count is up, and she's having regular bouts of fever and night sweats. She's starting on a round of antibiotics today.

Tests

K is continuing to visit Kaiser one or more times a week, for the various tests ordered by Univ of Chicago, to verify that she qualifies to be back on their list for a dual kidney-pancreas transplant. Her feet have been healed for several months now, but I'm still trying to keep her off her feet, when we go out places, so they don't get injured again. She's more interested in walking carefully, using a cane, however. She's nauseaus much of the day, and often can't keep food down, probably due to gastroparesis.

Dog Dozing

Mandy joined me for a short sunning session on the deck this gorgeous Spring afternoon, after our breakfast walk w/Ken. We noticed that the Sterne Park lake is completely thawed, and shows no signs that it was frozen over for several months. Soon we'll have a few more choices for our morning walks, as the temperature begins to support comfortable outdoor seating.

Devastating News

We're feeling a little lost, after the bad news we got yesterday at Porter Hospital. Our supposed "orientation" meeting with the Doctor was really a blow-off session, during which he explained the high risks of Pancreas-Kidney transplant surgery. It's a "big" surgery, they've had two fatalities in the past five years, and she should seriously consider not doing it. He said something about Univ. of Chicago maybe shouldn't be saying they will do the surgery for her. While we were digesting all that, he explained that Porter's age policy prevents them from accepting her as a PK transplant patient, since she passed their age limit, while fighting the various foot wounds for the past few years. She's still eligible for a Kidney transplant, but Porter doesn't do those for Kaiser Permanente, so she will need to go back to Presbyterian St Luke if she still wants to do that. But thanks for coming, and have a nice day!

GOES-P Launched!

We launched D-348, a Delta IV rocket carrying the GOES-P weather satellite, after a late afternoon countdown and an unusually long 5-hour flight. See the writeup at SpaceFlightNow.

K Fighting Infection

K's been dealing with stomach pain for the past few weeks. A lab test last week indicated she's fighting an infection somewhere. They've put her on antibiotics, and she's been pretty much wiped out and sleeping through the days, giving it a chance to work. Both feet are still wound free. She's still not on the transplant list, but she's contacted her transplant coordinator, and I think they need to re-run a bunch of tests, to make sure she's still a qualified organ recipient. The likelihood is that she'll go onto Porter Hospital's list here in the Denver area this time, assuming their wait isn't way longer than Univ. Chicago's list.

Ken and I walked Mandy around Johnson Reservoir in Clement Park this morning, after enjoying a nice 2x2x2 breakfast at IHOP. It's both fun and frightening to realize I qualify for their Senior breakfast. It was nice to have the path finally be clear of snow and ice, after the past few months of slipping and sliding, and the occasional fall on the butt. I'm trying a new approach to dealing with Mandy's "Little Ms. Alpha Dog" approach to meeting other dogs on our walks. I'm picking her up just before we come face to face with another dog, which keeps her calm, but still gives her the chance to eyeball the other dog as it goes by. I want her to get used to having that moment go by quietly, instead of in a flurry of posturing. I dunno, maybe it'll help.

OK, I admit hockey gets exciting if you actually pay attention! I'm following the USA-Canada Olympic gold medal game on HD TV, as I get a few chores done. It helps to be able to see the puck!

Nice snow view

I couldn't resist snapping a panorama this morning, of the pretty view of the recent snow and the mountains.

Sterne Lake Frozen

Walking Mandy home from lunch at Blueberry's, I see that Sterne Lake is still completely frozen over, and has a nice fresh layer of snow. Only one new set of goose prints is visible.

Mandy at Blueberry's

Mandy and I walked down to Blueberry's for lunch, on this chilly day. Here she's wondering what else she can mooch from me, after polishing off half my sandwich. The Cheerio doesn't seem to be making the grade...

Walk

Ken and I enjoyed another cool snowy walk with Mandy around Johnson Reservoir at Clement Park, on this beautiful sunny day. Here's Mandy, just after checking out the shoreline. I still can't get over how cold it's been around here this Winter. Around here the lakes don't usually stay frozen for long, but it's been weeks, if not months, this time.

SDO Launched!

We launched AV-021, an Atlas V rocket carrying the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) payload, after an early morning countdown that started not long after midnight. See the writeup at Space Flight Now.

Johnson Reservoir

Ken and I took Mandy for a cold and snowy walk around Johnson Reservoir. The lake and the path are both frozen over, which made for a slippery adventure in walking. Mandy had a great time sniffing the snow, though. Can't stop her from having a good time, wherever she goes!

Sterne Park Lake

We passed through Sterne Park, on our way to Blueberry’s for lunch today. The lake is still frozen over, since we’ve had quite a cold spell this winter. Notice all the geese who took refuge on the ice in background, shortly after a rogue Italian Greyhound Chihuahua flushed them off the grass, a few minutes ago.

No visible progress yet, on getting K back on the kidney-pancreas transplant list. One assumes the wheels are turning in the invisible background. We’re still wrestling with the question of where to have it done. That might be a no-brainer, if once they get going on this, they assume we want it done at Porter Hospital here in Denver, instead of at University of Chicago.