Somethings Not Right

 We were so ready to be released from the hospital on Friday last week, some nurses were great, others not so much.  The room was about the size of a utility closet, the hospital didn't have adequate supplies for Jerry's care, which had to be brought in from home. It's just so much easier to care for him at home so it was a blessing when he was released or so we thought.  Jerry has not been doing so well since diagnosed with PE (Pulmonary Embolism), his pain is not being managed so well at home.  The first four days at home Jerry did well, he had to double up on pain meds but for the most part he felt comfortable as long as he was taking his meds. Tuesdays blood test showed Jerry's INR level to be at 4.6, if you remember it's supposed to be between 2 and 3.  Jerry was taken off the blood thinning medication Coumadin for a few days until his INR drops back into range. Wednesday things started to go down hill with pain management and difficulty taking deep breaths, by Wednesday night a fever set in.  After consulting with Jerry's doctor Wednesday night we were instructed to be at the hospital in the morning for a series of tests which included a chest x-ray, x-rays of both shoulders and an MRI of his C-Spine. Unfortunately the MRI machine was broke so we will be getting the MRI on Monday, the shoulder x-rays came back normal however the chest x-ray shows a "lung infarct", you can click that for a clinical definition.  A lung infarct basically means that the lung tissue that the clot attached itself to died from lack of oxygen and blood flow. The doctor believes that the pain in Jerry's right arm and shoulder are a result of the clot and infarct however he wants an MRI to rule out a "Syrinx". In layman's terms a syrinx is a cavity that develops in the spinal cord and has spinal fluid filter through it. The syrinx can expand and put pressure on nerves or damage the spinal cord. Jerry's symptoms are consistent with a syrinx, I pray that it's not, I want to get to the bottom of the problem but I don't want it to be serious. If we cannot manage Jerry's pain at home then his doctor is going to admit him back to the hospital and we so don't want to do that.  Jerry's been in bed for two days with limited activity to avoid a flare up in the pain, sitting in his wheel chair only intensifies the pain.  It's sort of a catch 22, being idle in bed makes him feel a little better but puts him at a higher risk of pneumonia.

On a positive note Jerry was able to use the new FES bike three times since he got home from the hospital last Friday.  I'm excited for Jerry to be able to get into a normal routine using the FES bike, we just need to get him healthy first.

I feel a little sad, missing my son Josh, he moved to San Diego on Tuesday.  Josh will be attending UCSD to work on his masters for civil engineering.  I'm very proud of him but will miss him all the same.  Dennis left on Tuesday for San Diego to help Josh move and didn't get home until late Friday night. It was a little rough not having much help with Jer especially when the power went out Thursday morning at 3 am.  Jerry has an alternating air pressure mattress which requires electricity, without it the mattress is as flat as a pancake.  I waited a few minutes hoping the power would come back on but decided I had to get Jerry off that mattress, so I loaded him in the Hoyer lift and transported him into my bed. Just as soon as I got Jerry settled in my bed the power came back on and seeing as how Jerry was not to thrilled about sleeping in my bed and would be more comfortable in his own bed, I loaded him back in the Hoyer and transported him back to his own bed.  Needless to say I think I got about 4 hours of very broken up sleep, I'm still feeling a little tired. It's good to have Big D home.

That's all for now, I'll keep you posted about the MRI and doctor appointment on Monday.

Oh by the way, great news we are now close to raising $8,000 for the China fund. I added an image so you can watch the thermometer climb on the top right corner. 


God Bless!

Katie