July 28th 12:00 pm Sorry I have taken awhile to update the site. I have been working furiously on getting out the
invitations to the Moonlight Pond Tour. I was able to send out 126 invitations for people to be on our pond tour this year! I
am expecting a great turn out for people volunteering to let other's come view their water gardens.
Michael did better yesterday. He ate a bit throughout the day and then had a couple tacos for dinner. He is also doing
better with his water and liquids yesterday as well. I just got back from the grocery store and got him a bunch of different
stuff to munch on so he can eat smaller amounts of things throughout the day.
We are also trying to work on a Golf tournament for October to benefit Sarcoma Cancer Research. We feel like there is so
little research on this cancer because it is so rare. If we can put a face to the disease and make people aware of what it is,
maybe we can raise some funds and someday be able to cure this cancer like so many others.
July 30th 7:45 am Sorry we didn't write yesterday, but we were at the clinic all day. We originally went in at 10:00 am to
get the dressing changed on Michael's picc line. When he is there, they did his temperature and vital signs. Everything
was out of whack. He also was not feeling good. He had zero energy and just to walk a few feet was wiping him out. He
had a fever of 101.5. His pulse was up to 130 (for him they expect it to be around 90). They decided to do some blood
tests to see what was going on. When the results came back, his potassium level was so low, they said his heart could stop.
He was also extremely anemic. His fever was also an indication of an infection. At the clinic they began hydrating him and
immediately gave him potassium and antibiotics.. They decided later in the afternoon to admit Michael to the hospital and to
take him there by ambulance. He needed to get blood transfusions to help with the anemia and they needed to find out the
source of the infection.
He moved to the hospital around 6 pm. When I came home around 9:30, he was getting more potassium, antibiotics and
they were getting ready to start the blood transfusions. They were going to do 2 liters of blood last night and 2 more today.
They think the source of the infection is with the tube in his back that goes into his kidney. The Dr. on duty said they were
going to have to take that tube out today. Then Dr. Pan would have to decide this coming week whether or not to out it
back in using a different hole. (Pray that it doesn't have to go back in).
He will be in the hospital until at least Sunday depending upon whether everything else levels out and his fever goes away.
They won't let him go home until everything is back in order as each one of the problems he has is life-threatening in itself.
July 31st 12:00 am I just got home from the hospital. I had to work at the store today and then went to relieve Chris for
awhile at the hospital because he was there all night and then there all day today. So...here's what's going on now:
They replaced the tube in his back and there was a little bit of infection. They flushed it through his kidneys so he will pee it
out basically. They are pumping him full of antibiotics. He still has a fever that is rising and falling between 100-102.5. He
is getting potassium still. When he is laying still, the heartrate goes down to around 99 now. When he gets up to go to the
restroom though, he raises all the way to 150. The good thing is that is does go back down fairly quickly. They won't let
him go home until that stops happening.
This evening, Michael's arm with the picc line began swelling. They tried to flush the line and it wouldn't draw blood or flush
properly. They did and xray and found that the tube placement has slipped so the picc line is no longer good. Instead of
being in the top of his heart, is now at the bottom of his heart. The are going to do an ultrasound on his arm in the morning
to rule out anything like blood clots as well. His arm could be infected as well or the picc line could have broken open in the
vein and in that case the fluids they are giving him are soaking into the muscle tissue of his arm and causing swelling.
He doesn't need anymore blood right now which is good. He was disappointed that he wasn't getting more as he said when
he gets it he feels good. It gives him a real boost of energy I guess.
Chris said something to the Dr about him going home on Sunday and she laughed at him. She said he wouldn't be going
home on Sunday or Monday and maybe not even Tuesday as they have to make sure he is stabilized before they send him
home. She also said that if Dr. Pan still wants to do chemo on Friday as scheduled, then he will be doing it in the hospital
so they can watch him closely.
I will go back to the hospital in the morning so that Chris can come home and sleep. They were able to get him a reclining
chair finally tonight. He really appreciated it as he slept in a waiting room type chair last night and got a horrible kink in his
back. We expect him to get a new picc line tomorrow. They put in a regular IV line for tonight, but they can't run chemo
through a regular line. The chemo can't run in a vein...it has to run through the tube in the vein and then empty into the
heart for distribution.
I'll update again tomorrow night when I come home to sleep.
July 31st 9:20 pm Ok...Michael has a bacterial infection that is caused by a bacteria that grows on all peoples skin. They
feel that is entered his body because of the tube in his back/kidney. His immune system is so low that it wasn't fighting it off
as normal people's immune systems do. The anti-biotics are helping as his fever has stabalized around 100 today.
Now for the glitches: First, they removed the picc line because the infection spread to it also (or may have entered there as
well). I mentioned his arm was swollen yesterday. Today they did an ultrasound and found bloodclots. To get rid of this he
has to take a blood thinning medicine on a regular basis for the next several months. He has to get the blood thinned to a
certain point before he can leave the hospital by getting daily injections. He can't go home for several days because they
thin the blood at a slow level and monitor it with several blood tests. The doctor said that between the infection and the
blood thinner, he will be in the hospital for awhile.
Second...that tube in the back again...the technician that changed out the tube yesterday feels that it could be removed as
he doesn't see it being compressed any longer. The doctor on duty didn't want to remove it without Dr. Pan. He won't be
back until Monday (tomorrow). So, they replaced it yesterday. Now...if Dr. Pan agrees it can be removed, they will hopeful;y
do it soon as the more blood thinner he takes the more risks are involved in removing it.
When they removed the picc line today we had an instant reaction to stirring up the infection. The same could happen with
removing the back tube as well, but while he is in the hospital on all the meds and with all the monitoring, we feel it would be
better. When the picc line came out today, his temperature spiked up to 104. He got severe chills. He was shaking so bad
I thought he could fall off the bed. After covering him in ice packs, tylenol and more antibiotics, he settled back down to
100, but it wiped him out. He didn't get energy back until around 7 tonight.
Aug 1st 9:45 pm PRAISE GOD!!! Today, Michael's fever has been gone all day. He's been hovering between 97.7
and 98.9. Great for him! Then this afternoon the radiology people showed up at the door with a rolling bed and said
"LET'S GO! DR. PAN ORDERED THAT WE REMOVE THE TUBE!!!" They took it out only a few minutes later! Michael was
so happy he got teary-eyed and said he "almost cried". When the removed it and he got back to his room, he asked for
Tylenol right away. His fever did not return! He also ate a double decker Taco Bell taco for lunch and 2 slices of pepperoni
pizza for dinner! Today was a great day for him. He sat up a good part of the day and played his PSP games.
The arm is still swollen and actually started swelling in another area as well. They still think it's a combination of the blood
clots and infection. The fever staying down is a good sign that the antibiotics are working though. His other arm is getting a
big bruise and they said that is probably from all the blood tests, etc...and the blood thinner medicine.