From room # 2043 on 2 South

Yea!  David has a room.  It is quiet, dimly lit with a very nice nursing staff.  We are still waiting for the hospitalist to visit.  David is doing a lot better and got to the bathroom with only one person helping...and a lot of grab bars.  They may get him a walker to help.  One of the nursing staff wanted to get him oxygen because he is having trouble breathing and wheezing but his oxygen cons is nearly 100% so that is more oxygen is not going to be useful.  We brought his iPhone, iPad and Fire.  Both the iPhone and Fire are charging so he is using the iPad.  My iPad is down to 17% and I have no additional charger here.  I have a recliner that is a lot more comfy than the chairs in the ER but not as good as the one at home.  He is not clammoring to come home and is in a very good mood.  Go figure.  By the time anyone reads this it will be daylight and I will be home in bed.

Mary Washington Hospital ER

About 2 this afternoon I was happily eating lunch and planning the next couple of semesters of water sampling, David was dizzy, fell, hit his head and couldn't get up.  He was sitting on the floor when I came home looking confused and wanted me to help him get up.  After a lot of maneuvering with the ottoman and coffee table, we got him to the couch.  I took his b.p. Then I called Dr. Clemo.  She came to the phone right away, listened to me and said to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital.  We're in the ER waiting for results from a heat CT and a lot of blood work.  This doctor identified two issues:  damage from the fall and the dizziness that preceded the fall.

The nurse got me stuff to crush his meds and give him his Jevity for this evening.  He has one more pill to take for sure and possibly another one, pending the doctor's decision after the test results are in.  David is in a good mood, clear headed and happily using his Kindle Fire on the hospital's WiFi to read his blogs, podcasts, check the weather and email.  The TV doesn't have MSNBC and that doesn't make him happy.  He's going to miss Rachael and Chris but I've got them being recorded at home.

His head CT showed no change and the blood work showed a little kidney damage that is also unchanged over the last few visits here.  He will be monitored overnight and probably released tomorrow afternoon.  They are admitting him into a room upstairs and once he is comfortable, I will go home.  I will update when there is news.

Bladder infection
David and I met with Dr. Lynne Clelmo today.  She is our internist.  David had blood in his urine this morning and so called her.  Since the prostate is enlarged but does not appear to be inflamed, she believes it is a bladder infection and will culture his urine.  She prescribed a sulfa drug to treat it rather an an antibiotic to prevent any interaction with the Flecainade for the arrhythmia.   Then she mentioned the CT scans and I told her that David is seeing the pulmonologist and that Dr. Davidson is taking his case with the head and neck growths to the differential diagnosis committee.  She was relieved that we know about the results and are already dealing with it.  She really hopes that the urine culture comes back with an infection.  A UTI can explain his having no energy and needing more sleep.  He is gone to a political meeting tonight so his mood has certainly improved. He has another one on Wednesday and then one to choose delegates to the national Democratic convention.  He is a delegate to the Virginia convention.  He does love politics.

Today I got up at 6 and by 6:35 was driving David to Prince William Forest for his "weekly walk" and breakfast with Fred.  Fred started his walk before we arrived.  David and I walked for 19 minutes with stops as necessary.  Fred got to our car just after we did and David was in the passenger's seat getting the dog treats out.  Ali jumped into the driver's seat to get her treats.  She was extremely excited to see David and strained to get to him (and the treat).  We went to the Dumfries' Diner for breakfast.  Fred and I ate.  David had his meal before we left home.  One of the frequent patrons came over to the table and commented that there were no raised voices.  Fred, David and I calmly disagreed about the presidential race.  Fred mentioned Fox News' reports of "The Energizer" who supposedly is having an affair with Bill Clinton as well as owning an energy company and getting $$ from Clinton's foundation and the government.  David was a bit quiet and not arguing.  Fred did not get upset either.  We talked about water quality, pandemics and Ron's going away party.  I had some good coffee, french toast and bacon.  We got back home about 9:30.  I got all the newspapers for recycling into David's trunk and he headed off to the temple to recycle the and go inside for more conversations.  He had his walking stick throughout the walk, stopped and started and was wheezing but not short of breath once he stopped.  He seemed to move more easily to day compared to yesterday when we were in Alexandria; however, when I asked him if he felt stronger/better he said no, it is about the same.  Nonetheless, he had the energy to go out to the temple after we got home so I do see an improvement in his overall physical and mental state.

New info about CT

We just spoke with Dr. Davidson from Georgetown.  He thinks that the mass in David's head looks like a mucoid growth, not a recurrence of the ameloblastoma.  He plans to take this to his differential diagnosis group next Thursday for their input about the diagnosis and follow up tests.  He said that an MRI will be difficult with the kind of pacemaker David has so he is thinking that a PET scan will be the next step. That will be able to detect cancer.  The two enlarged lymph nodes could be due to an infection but will be clarified with the PET.  This sounds a LOT better than the radiological report.  Dr. Davidson is a rock star and an expert on ameloblastoma, so I believe him that it isn't that.  He is going to call us at the end of next week with his recommendation.
David continues to be easily fatigued.  He took the recycling can to the street and that wore him out.  At the library he could not walk from the car to the door without stopping to rest.  I think that the lung problem may be the culprit.  He sees Dr. Goyal on the 25th.  I think I will call his office early in the week and ask to get fit in if there is a cancellation.
Otherwise, keep up the prayers.

CT of chest, neck and head

David had a CT of the chest, neck and head yesterday.  Today he went to the Imaging place and got a copy of the radiologist's findings.  

The head CT showed soft tissue growth suggestive of a recurrent tumor in the left side of the head, as well as enlarged supraclavicular (around the collarbone) right and left lymph nodes.  The radiologist suggested a follow-up MRI.  David called Georgetown to discuss their MRI that he can have with the pacemaker and is waiting for a call back.

The chest CT indicates atelectasis in the right lower lung with small left and small to moderate right pleural effusions.  Pneumonitis is not excluded.  I looked up atelectasis and can mean a partially collapsed lung.  He has a call in to the pulmonologist about this one and is waiting for a call back.

He is really tired and wheezing with not enough energy to go to the Silver Sneakers classes, walk in the mall or, today, even stop by GoodWill to make a donation.  He has been taking his new medications religiously, hoping to regulate the heartbeat and reduce the number of times he wakes up each night to use the bathroom.

We are scheduled to meet Lorrie, Richard and David for lunch on Saturday and we are both looking forward to that get together.

I write more once appointments are set and when we learn more about what all of this means.  Prayers are really appreciated.

Cardiologist on board

David saw Dr. Henry Clemo (his wife Dr. Lynne Clemo is his internist.) the cardiologist today on the advice of his internist because he is tired and short of breath. His heart if "throwing" extra beats causing the pacemaker to be ineffective.  He prescribed a medication to try to regularize the beat and did an echocardiogram.  David will see him again in two weeks to see how the meds work and discuss the results of the echocardiogram.  Side effects can be numb extremeties, vivid dreams, dizziness, fainting.  If he can't tolerate them he can halve the pills.  He is not happy about it but wants to regularize his heart so he'll do it.  Next Tuesday is his lung and neck CT to see what's going on with his lungs, as well as a routine follow-up from the cancer surgeries.  Stay tuned.