We really may be going home this time!

It's been awhile.  Sorry I haven't written.  No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!  I have just been busy.  Let's see, what's new? 

First of all, the good news, there is a very real chance John and I will be able to go home next week!!!  I mean HOME HOME.  Back to our apartment, family, kitty! 

Things are looking up.  Well, sort of.  John's Creatinin level was 3.2 today (Friday).  It has been as high as 3.5 in the past few days.  But I was told that is because of the Vanco IV antibiotic that he has been getting.  I give him the antibiotic, usually at Day Hospital.  We have been having to go to Day Hospital daily, because John has been needing sodium chloride to flush out his kidneys.  This may sound drastic, but it is not really.  I was told that his Creatinin level will drop, and he will have normal kidney functioning when he stops the Vanco.  This should happen when we return home. 

His counts are not the hottest either, but I guess they are better than when we first came down two months ago.  Sue the Nurse Practitioner says she truly believes that the low counts are due to recent infections of Johns, and not due to any return of MDS.  Personally, I have come to accept that this is probably true, and if it is not, I will deal with it if and when I find out.  There is nothing I can do about it right now, and worrying is not helping me any.  If she really believes this, I am going to accept it.  I am going to ask Dr. Claxton though, because I want to hear it from HIS mouth.

Let's see, what else is new?  John is almost done with all of his infections, LOL.  He still has a viral infection that is winding down.  It causes him to cough.  He was also cultured on Wednesday because he had three infections in his PICC line (two in his blood, one in the actual line) and on Thursday one of the cultures came back positive.  It was positive for coccis which means that he had bacteria in his actual PICC line.  That means thathe had another infection.  I asked the Nurse Practitioner what could be done.  I said, "Now what can possibly be done?  He is already on an antibiotic and it didn't kill the infection.  What more are you possibly going to do?"  She replied, "We will just take out the PICC line."  I thought that was an interesting answer because that means John will have to get stuck with a needle everytime he needs blood drawn, instead of getting it through a port!  Anyway, before removing the port (PICC line) Sue decided to reculture it one more time on Thursday to see if it was still positive.  Cultures take up to three days to grow.  We will find out this weekend if John goes home without a port.  

Well, that's about it for the medical news.  Now here is something kind of cool.  I got a Teddy Bear today!  A nurse walked up to me and gave it to me!  One of my favorite nurses.  She said she was saving it for somebody special.  It is a Boyd's Bear (a collector's item).  I don't care about that though.  I took it out of the numbered bag, and almost ripped the tag off but somebody showed me how to hide the tag under the clothes, LOL.  Said it might be worth something some day.  I told them I didn't care.  I was just floored that I got her.  She has a yellow and green dress on, green bloomers and a yellow sweater.  I am floored that a nurse did this for me!  She just gave her to me and kept hugging me.  As a matter of fact, the nurse (Mary Jo) saw me earlier in the day, then went home and got the bear from home and brought it to me.  Oh, the bear has the cutest headband on too.  When I can add pics I will show her to you.  I can't add pics yet because I am not on my computer at home.

People have been so kind to me.  When John went into the hospital last time somebody left me a prayer shawl that they had crocheted outside the door of my bedroom.  They left a note in it that it was for me.  The note wasn't signed.  I asked a particular person if the present was from them and she said "No".  I can't prove it, but I bet it was.  She is the kindest person.  She gave me comfort just when I needed it.  I have seen her crochet things.  She does it for a business.  She makes a lot of money and her work is just beautiful.  It was very kind of her to give that to me.  It is a beautiful cream color.  People have been so nice to me.

Okay, well I better get off here now.  Time to hit the hay.  Day Hospital comes early, LOL.  Love you all, Krissy :)