Joe's in Hospital

[muffin]

Mary I hope you don't mind that I carried this over here.

Mary-AZ
posted July 05, 2008 06:17 PM
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Just heard from my husband. They are keeping him in the hospital. He said they told him he has pneumonia. I will find out more if I can once he is actually into a room. When my sister-in-law gets here hopefully she will have more to tell me.

[blondie]

MaryAZ, I hope Joe is recovering from pneumonia. It seems like you and Joe have really been through it for a good year.

Pat

[maryaz]

It is late and a long day. I will post what I just put on the Day to Day place. I cannot type it again. Muffin it is fine that you posted it. Pat, this is one time that I have to agree that we are getting our share. It has been a very long year to us.

Joe just cannot seem to get a break on the recovery. They did another CTScan today and again 'no cancer'. That is good. One day will be getting Pet Scan again.

In the end today they could not confirm that it was pneumonia for sure. He does have an infection. I hope they can get him under control. We got some poor handling with our Pulmonary office this past month, and this should not have gone this far, possibly. We don't think so. That has its own story too.

They were giving him 3 antibiotics by IV and the 2nd one he had a reaction to. He broke out in a rash and was itching his head and back, got flushed. Had allergic reaction. He had this with 3 of his chemo treatments too, except no rash.

The antibiotic with the reaction was Clindamycin. I got it when I had the infected root canal last month, the day after he was released from the hospital after surgery. Worked for me. I had a second trip to specialists for my root canal and now I have an appointment with my regular dentist Tuesday to do the permanent. Joe is always in the hospital when I get this root canal worked on. It has to be done within 30 days for some reason. Just more awkward planning. That is just one little side story to our life this year.

I feel so bad for Joe. I just want him to be able to recover. Poor guy. He is not used to this. He is usually the guy in charge and doing for others. He is not like bed-ridden and real bad. Just sick and needs fixed. Very miserable and knew something was still going on.

If you knew all the things that keep happening here, it would be hard to believe. You know when everything goes wrong or out at once, well that is about how it feels.

Thanks for caring. Hopefully this week might be better. Joe has more doctor appointments. That is all he does.

[cocojax]

Oh Mary I feel so badly for you and Joe, you have had your share....hopefully he is on the mend now, and hopefully you will be finished with your dentist....Really thinking and sending positive thoughts your way....

[bobbioh]

Oh Mary I feel for you and Joe, I wish you lived in Ohio so I could help you out. Please try to take care of you. And tell Joe maybe a good old fashioned cry is in order. I know that sounds crazy but sometimes getting that all off your chest is the best thing. You are both in my thoughts and prayers and I hope you are both feeling better this week. Hang in there. We all care! Bobbi

[LindaNY]

Oh Mary, I'm so sorry Joe is not healing well. Hopefully this will be over soon and you two can get back to a somewhat normal life.

Hang in there gal. It will be better.

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Mary; Right now I'm trying to toggle between your e to me, the sputum post you mentioned on CI, and your message here. Please bear with me. Forgive me, and I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to address it all here. Most people know of your situation and Joe's, but there's others who don't.

Before I begin though.....Arlene; thank you for the original notifying post here.

Mary; I can relate a bit to what's been going on; as you recall my own ordeal was no bed of roses. But....

I'll start first with the infection. It's not an unusual "assumption" for hospitals/Dr's etc to make re: pneumonnia in light of his sputum being green and his recent lung surgery. You'd also mentioned that so far the tests have come back negative. One may test positive yet. Another thing to look at is if in fact it IS pneumonnia, is it baterial or viral?

Regardless; an infection's an infection and the quickest way to get antibiotics in and working is via IV. Since they're not sure what "type" of infection (haven't identified the bacteria) it stands to reason they'll be using several different anti's at once. This is a good thing Mary.

BTW; you didn't mention if he is/was running a temp.

On the info/advice I read over at CI which was given to you re: mucus colors (and the jingle); they were, for the most part, all correct but probably the closest was John O in that he added "clinically" correct. It has been my experience that even with sputum/mucus colors it's not always "one size fits all". Green, yellow, brown, gray......I still have green and yellow (even before the LC surgery it was Yellow) and it clears up over the course of the day. BUT that's "normal" for "me. " I think personally it comes down to what is "normal" for the individual as the BIGGEST indicator.....when it CHANGES FROM the norm. (Hope that made sense)

In Joe's case (since he doesn't have COPD, BUT he's had recent surgery) green is definitely NOT normal for him hence he has an infection. This is all pretty redundant right now since we've now passed over THAT question and he's being treated. (I'm adding it here for the benefit of others.)

So much of Joe's energy is going into trying to "heal" the assaults on his body. It was a major assault. He's basically still recovering from some serious rounds of chemo, plus radiation (I believe) and lung surgery. On top of that there's the psychological impact of LC. Believe me; that can be as big a hurdle as anything physical. I know he's always been a "ready and stand up kinda guy"; now he has to be more reliant (and he probably gets impatient, perhaps even frustrated by the slow healing process) Those are some major tough pills to take for anyone. Especially for Joe. But; it WILL get better.

Finally to answer a question you asked of me in your e..... let me put it to you this way. There's been many folks, including COPDer's who've had pneumonnia; even walking pneumonnia and it's cleared up with the proper meds. When I was admitted to ICU after my LC surgery, I was in full respiratory arrest and dx'd with pneumonnia (and a couple of other things). The meds, even in that extreme situation, ultimately worked. And that was an EXTREME case. Joe's not there.

He's in the right place right now Mary and it sounds like they're not taking any chances. As it should be.

I don't know if this will help you or not BUT; I'm confident he'll be fine and he'll get over this hurdle too. As will you; as long as you try to stay as rested as possible since it effects your health mentally and physically. I don't think the Dr's want to have you sharing a room in the hospital with Joe.

Please keep us posted when you can. I'll say a prayer for you both.

[lin]

Mary, it seems like it's one thing after the other for you. My heart goes out to you and Joe! I send my prayers and my thoughts to you and your family. lin

[Vic]

Mary -- it's hard to believe that all these things are happening to you and Joe one right after another...when it rains it pours. That was a great informational post by Jackie, sure makes a whole lot of sense. There will sure be a lot of prayers coming your way for both you and Joe. Hang tough and trust the docs. -- Vic

[aero63]

Mary,
So sorry to hear that Joe is in the hospital again. I feel very bad about the hardships you and Joe keep going through. My thoughts are with you and yours.

[maryaz]

Jackie, Thanks for your time in posting. I know now that you have a lot on your plate too. I did understand and appreciate your post. Very useful for me and I would think others ultimately.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. Joe did sound good today when I talked to him. He even had a couple nurses that he had when he was in for surgery. At least this time he is friendly and coherent.

Muffin, I wrote in over the fence that I love your new avatar.

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Sounds very positive Mary! Thanks for sharing.

[wendyco]

Mary I just noticed this today, don't know that I can add anything that hasn't been said....Jackie gave some good info.....

my thoughts and prayers are with you and hope you can find the time/energy to take care of you too......

[John]

Mary : My thoughts and prayers are with you and Joe

[cheryl]

Mary,

I'll be keeping Joe and you in my thoughts and prayers. You've been through so much. Please take care of yourself.

[maryaz]

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement and prayers.

Joe came home this afternoon. I still don't really know what to think. His BP last night went to 88/45 and he called and it scared me big time. A little later he called back and it was 117/68 or 70. Apparently from all the meds he was being given. Nurse had called doctor immediately and he was treated for it.

Today at home it is very good 122/61. He has been having a difficult time getting it regulated for quite a while.

Came home with more antibiotics. We just wait and see and keep going back to the doctors. He is still using some Percocet. The Bone Marrow test results are not back yet. He had it done yesterday.

I get very frustrated some days with this now because I just don't know who should even be treating him. He is tired and so he could be anemic which I understood they said he was. He does have pneumonia or other infection, and getting the BP controlled is big problem. They all have different ideas on BP. All I know is that I want to help him and get so confused that I just want to scream. I want him well enough that he can build himself back up. Can't seem to level him out.

Sorry for the ranting but it has been a rough week for sure. Lots going on here. Thank you all for being here.

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Rant all you want Mary. I know it's a frustrating and hard road for the both of you. They must be relatively comfortable that they've gotten his BP regulated and that the infection meds are working otherwise I doubt they'd let him come home.

Here's hoping the BM tests are O.K.

Hang in there. There's better days ahead.....

[cocojax]

Mary glad Joe is home and I can understand how hard it is on you, like Jackie said Rant all you want, we are certainly here to listen...Please know that you both are in my thoughts....