This is what insanity looks like

This is what insanity looks like!

Joe had his scheduled oncology appointment this morning at 8am and it was there that he got the unfortunate news: the last blood drawn for cultures last week had bacterial growth....on Sunday night. That might explain his 2 fevers yesterday, especially the 102.8 last night. The infection this time however is E. coli. So he is back in the hospital looking at at least a stay until Friday. Also, with this mornings labs, his bilirubin count was at 3.5 instead of the normal .5 that he has hovered around since his last stint placement in January 2011. So the GI folks will be in to talk about doing another ERCP (down his throat to the pancreas) to see if the stint is clogged, moved or whatever might be causing the increased count. We won't know until later when that surgery will be but it will be very soon.

Meanwhile they will start him on new antibiotics to take care of the E. coli and the gram negative rods from last week. We are in a "steel room" again. Just like the one when Joe was in the hospital in December 2010. They are a real pain since you have to push the auto door opener on the wall to open or close. That means lots of light at night when the nurses come in. Arrrggghhhhh!!

My bad mood from yesterday just got worse. To make matters worse, Joe is eating my lunch. Is nothing sacred?

Stay tuned. I'm sure there will be more as more doctors check in.

2:45pm: Joe was taken for an ultrasound.  Got to see what that stint is or isn't doing.  I'm just sitting here watching news on Sandy.

7:00pm:  Joe just left to have a CT scan.  He should be back within the hour.  It's not that far once you take the elevator to the 1st floor.   I'm still watching news on Sandy (there is nothing else on! Arrrrrgggghhhhhh)

Okay, Joe is insisting that I tell this story.  While Joe was gone to get the ultrasound, the doctor came in (same one as last week - Dr. Lee) and thought I was Joe. She started describing what they were planning to do even telling me they would be doing an ultrasound. I said that "he is down getting the ultrasound now. They took him about 30 minutes ago" but that didn't seem to register. It wasn't until I said " I'm not the patient" that it finally dawned on her that I was not Joe. She says, "I'm sorry but you two look so much alike".... I know people start to look like their pets, but I truly do not see any 
resemblance between me and Joe. Oh well.

Joe is all nestled, snug in his bed!

And thus came the end of the first full day of this trip to Duke. It was an excitement filled day at the Club Duke Spa. Port removal, several visitors, antibiotics flowing, blood drawing, meals eaten, long phone conversations, FaceTime with me during lunch, and of course iPad usage. All in all not a bad day....considering he's in the hospital.

Joe also found the time to volunteer for another research study. This one on Bloodstream Infections Database/Repository. Once a teacher, always a teacher even if his blood is what will help with research. This must be at least the 5th study he has been a part of. Oh well, that's my Joe, always giving.

Anyway, since he did not sleep well last night, he is already sound asleep with little snores here and there.   Next interruption should be around 11 pm when he gets his next antibiotic (Zosyn).  Until then, I'll just watch a movie on Netflix.

Thank you to everyone.  This is easier because we know we have so many people praying and sending positive, healing energy our way.

A Long Day of Nothing Except 15 minutes of Treatment

That's what today was.  Not much of anything happening (not that either of us is complaining mind you) except his 15 minutes of treatment on the antibiotic.  Seems a shame to be here all day watching mindless television for just 15 minutes.  But we do know it's necessary.  We did get the results of the second batch of labs that were done upon our return to the hospital on Thursday and they did not have any bacteria growth.  Negative.  That is a very good thing.  However, since Joe had a fever that spiked at 102.6 last night and had another round of labs done, we will most assuredly be waiting another 48 hours for those results to come back.  What that means is that it will most likely be Monday before he can go home, assuming those labs come back negative and he doesn't have any more relapses.  

Today we took 3 walks.  One before lunch, one after lunch and one after dinner.  The one before lunch was over the new concourse that connects the hospital to the Duke Cancer Center.  Between those two points is where all the current construction is going on.  Above you can see the progress on the new Learning Center for medical students as well as the architectural/artist rendering of the finished project.  My photos don't do it justice.  I'm sure the current and future med students here at Duke are anticipating the opening.  Definitely state of the art.

The second walk was intended to be down to the first floor to look around.  Instead, as soon as we got to the first floor lobby, Joe headed straight over to the baby grande piano and sat down to play.  There were a couple of books containing popular hymns so he just turned to the first familiar one and started playing.  It was only moments before some of the people roaming the lobby, mostly patients, came over and sat down to listen to him.  On his third hymn a gentleman approached and asked if he could sing along with him.  Joe of course said sure, what do you want to sing.  Someone sitting there listening, requested "Amazing Grace" so that's what they did.  Soon after came "Rock of Ages" and the finale was "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling".  The gentleman, an Irish tenor, was not familiar with that song, so I had to help just a little by first singing the melody (softly) while Joe ran through it one time.  Then the gentleman sang loud and clear when he was ready.  By the time he was at the chorus, I couldn't help but sing along and offer a little harmony.  By then, what was supposed to be our walk, had turned into more of a concert so we excused ourselves and made our way out to the garden courtyard.  The photos below are of Joe at the piano, obviously, as well as the gentleman who sang and a shot of Joe smiling while we were in the courtyard.

Our last excursion of the day was also over the concourse to the DCC. The photos above are of the back side of the DCC, the new hospital wing which is HUGE, and the spires of Duke Chapel in the distance past the construction. You can even make out the Chapel spires over Joe's shoulder.

So today was a 15 minute treatment, 2 walks, 1 piano playing and mindless TV. But once again, I'm not complaining. After the day yesterday, I'll take a little boredom. It was a good day, although we did have to say goodbye to Dr. Mowery. She will be doing a 30 day rotation over at the VA Hospital across the street starting Monday, so we won't be seeing her again. She is such a kind and caring person. We will miss her. Don't get us wrong, we like Dr. Fager and Dr. Peppercorn as well, but she is so easy to talk to and even laughs at Joe's quirky sense of humor. Thanks Yvonne.

So now I will close. No pity party tonight. Susan, Jasmine & Lucie are taking care of Joe (and me) and we are all tucked in for the night. I can already hear Joe's little snores which make me smile.

Maybe tomorrow will be a little more exciting, but in a good way!

Thanks for the caring, prayers and sentiments of concern. Our readers are the best! Bless you.

Some May Say It Was A Cruel Joke

Joe was discharged at 10:30am today and we went by the pharmacy and dropped off his prescriptions. We had one quick errand and then returned to the pharmacy to pick up his antibiotics and headed the 1 mile home. Upon our arrival, Joe got a call from Dr. Mowery that the last of the blood culture results had just come in and that it was positive for bacteria. So now we are back at Duke and Joe has been readmitted. Soon the IV will be back up running and more antibiotics as they try to determine the source and type of bacteria. Joe was able to get a shower at home and see Dolly, so at least that was positive.

We feel like prison inmates who were let out on work release for an hour and a half. But if there is bacteria swimming around in Joe's blood, we want the source found and eradicated ASAP!

Joe feels good, looks good and is ok with us retuning since it is necessary. The big guns of antibiotics will be going soon. We even got to see one of our favorite nurses from our first visit here back in 2010, Donna.

Guess it will be a surprise for our nurse Grace when she comes in at 7pm that we are here!

Here Becke and Brittany are hard at work getting 2 blood samples to do new cultures.