Lost weekend

K and I have been fighting cold symptoms since last week. The virus hit with full force yesterday, and we pretty much lost today to coughing and dozing and using up tissue boxes, while watching TV marathons. Neither one of us felt much like getting out of bed to fix anything for the other. This is another one of those many moments where we really miss our Moms.

We got caught by surprise this evening, by a phone call from the Dialysis Center. K had missed her Monday afternoon appointment. We were both feeling so miserable, we completely forgot about it. I hit a new lifetime low while driving her over there - I had to pull over to use a sick bag. Ugh. Gross.

Oh yeah. While driving to pick her up from dialysis just now, I was reminded, by the firework shows all around, that our lost day had special significance. So here's a belated "Happy Independence Day!" to all...

Trending better

K saw the Ortho folks today about her recently developed foot wounds. They cut away a bunch of bad tissue and left a foot that's ready to begin healing.

Foot issue

She says her foot looks bad. She's got an appointment with Wound Care tomorrow.

Red Spot

This red spot (click here for photos) showed up on the front of my bicep recently. Sis says it looks like ringworm. Thoughts?

Ducks at Clement Park

Ken and Freddie and I enjoyed watching the ducklings playing, while walking Mandy around Clement Park.

New CML Med

K's Oncologist finally came through. Kaiser just sent the first batch of the alternate CML med Nilotinib. The Doc says moving to this med "isn't settling" for something less than the Imatinib she was using, since it has stats as good or better.

Softball Win

I felt slightly crazy, playing a double header at 8 and 9pm tonight, but it *was* hugely satisfying, if a little surprising, to win 'em both!

Happy Memorial Day

This cheerily waving flag encountered on our morning walk just reminded me... I wanted to say, Thanks Mom and Dad, Uncles and Aunts, relatives and friends, and yes, even all the total strangers, for your service.

Edema / Redness

K's legs have been swollen the past few days. The left one was red and hot, when coming out of dialysis on Monday. They've put her on IV antibiotics to fight whatever bacteria must be causing it. And she's using compression stockings, to deal more directly with the edema.

Take the good with the bad

K has been having such awful side effects (frequent nausea, vomiting, edema, etc. - generally feeling like she's dying) from the Gleevec, that she decided to stop it a few weeks ago. She said she would rather have the CML run its course (and kill her in 2-3 years), than try to live with those symptoms, along with all the others. I'm not sure if she'll be sticking to that philosophy, or if she'll be willing to try something else. Her Oncologist said he would ask Kaiser if they're willing to let him try some alternatives, both of which have seen good results in the short term, but don't have any long term data yet. In the meantime, she's starting to feel better instead of worse, and regaining some control. And her foot wounds are healing.

Bad week

K's had a hard time with nausea this week too. She skipped dialysis today, didn't feel it would be practical to be stuck in the chair with everything else going on. They found her a spot tomorrow morning. I'll be supporting the countdown, so our neighbors will take her and pick her up.

Something new

We saw Endocrinology today, and they put K on a Dexcom continuous BG sensor for a week. See: https://www.dexcom.com/

Then off to Oncology who said her WBC count is normal. It's a good first step. Look up hematologic (versus cytogenetic) remission. Basically the first thing you look for, is the WBC to be back to normal. After a few months of that, then you resample the bone marrow to see if the cancer cell population is reduced or hopefully eliminated.

A good day

Today turned out to be an amazingly good BG day. A whole bunch of readings in a row, all in the good range. Small victory.

Lows

We're doing something wrong, not sure how to fix it. K's been having a series of low morning blood glucose readings, and they really wipe her out. We try to never let her BG get below 90, but the past week we've seen 55, 41, 38, and now 48 this morning. The rest of the day usually consists of wild swings into the frighteningly high range, sometimes pinning the meter at its highest possible reading of 600. This lack of BG control is very disheartening.

Up and down

K was feeling much better yesterday. But today's a new day. She's struggling back from a low (37) BG now, while still hoping to make it out today, to order new glasses for 2011. Not likely.

Ugh cramps

K had a miserable day yesterday, all muscles cramping badly all day and night. She started worrying about her heart, with all the other muscles cramping so badly. She said it's somewhat better today. Suspecting dehydration.

Busy day

Busy day. K had three appointments. She told the oncologist she's having a pretty good week. The endocrinology lady told her to listen to her husband. ;-) The orthotics guy worked on her CROW boots so they will help instead of hurt her feet. Then we took M&B to the Hollywood theater to watch True Grit, while having dinner up in their elegant Skybox seating.

Day lost

Boo. I just lost a day to something particularly nasty, probably a Flu. I'd forgotten just how awful that feels.

Healing

Good visit at the Ortho Dept. yesterday. K's toe surgery is healing well. She has wounds on her other foot that need to be watched.

Mikele and Bob have been here for a week now. They've been fighting colds, so we've been taking things slowly. Bob and I got out for a short walk today along the Platte river, followed by a late lunch at Panera Bread. Mandy liked the new enclosed patio there. Then we checked out Verizon's new Galaxy Tab, pretty cool. The new Apple MacBook Air is also pretty awesome. Hmmm...

Home at Last

All dressed and ready to go HOME! D'ya like the outfit I picked out for her? :-) 'cept the shoes and socks, which were courtesy of St Joseph Hospital. It took them awhile to process her out of the hospital. Not entirely unexpected. We stopped by Abe's Cafe in downtown Littleton on the way home, so I could pick up some of their tasty chicken lemon soup for her, in case she gets hungry later.

Bringing her home

I'm heading home now, then to hospital to get her.

New room

Kristan's definitely staying in hospital tonight. Probably most of tomorrow. And they moved her to 474. She seems pretty chipper, the foot seems to be healing and the swelling is going down. They're keeping her to try to get her glucose level down, which will help with the healing.

Out of surgery

She's out of surgery and into recovery. Doc said it went well.

Into surgery

K is heading into surgery. She's in pre-op now. Her toe is a mess, they're taking it in a few minutes. We didn't get much notice.

Extra dialysis

They took her off to an extra Dialysis. I headed home to try to get some sleep.

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.