Well I think I left you all last night saying Don was resting and attempting to eat some applesauce. About 9:18 pm I took his temperature. It was 100.6 – yep you got it, panic set in. Whenever the temp is 100.5 and above you have to call over to IPOP to get instructions on what to do. So I called – after about 20 minutes I finally was able to talk to the Doctor on call – he told me to get Don over to JH and they would have a bed ready for him. Took awhile to get Don ready for this – he was just so exhausted from a long day over at IPOP anyway. We drove over and by 11:05 he was admitted. His temp at that point had gone down to 99.9. Nurse Mikala did an EKG right in the room, took weight and height. Asked questions – any pain, nausea, headaches, difficulty urinating and many many more. They were just trying to get some background information on him and whether or not he had any problems with those things. Dr. Laura Loubser (not sure of spelling) was Doctor that came to see Don. She ordered fluids immediately and wanted a stool sample as Don told her of his constant battle with diarrhea which has been going on for almost a week now L. A CT scan was ordered and an x-ray of his abdominal area. His blood work was taken and he immediately was hooked up to antibiotics. Because of the CT Scan he had to drink the contrast fluid – believe me I didn’t think he was going to get it down but he did. He had to drink the fluid for hour + - CT Scan tech came to pick Don up around 3:00 a.m. I headed back to the apt then with a security escort (a wonderful service they offer and it was so appreciated) - I was thoroughly exhausted as well as Don. As I walked into the apartment it hit me like a ton of bricks – the reality that Don wasn’t with me and he would be in the room by himself was just too much for me to bear at the time. Yep I did – I had a good cry and fell asleep by 3:30 a.m. I knew in my heart he was fine – this is where he NEEDED to be and that they would take good care of him. Was just so dang hard.
Got up around 8ish – oh now we’re up to today 10/23 – Bri & Kristi came to visit and brought us a goodie box filled with stuff from Gram & Ellen – cards, flowers, food,paper plates (Halloween), a Halloween placemat that Kristi had made when she was in Elementary School which got put on the fridge right away J and a beautiful magnet from Gram to Don (he loved it Gram!!) – it was wonderful JJ. Bri and Kristi walked over to JH – they were able to stand outside of the room and see and talk to Don. With his counts down it was just best they didn’t go in – but believe me they sure wanted to. I know how hard that is on them and him as well. They stayed for quite awhile – and it was so wonderful to see them!
Lunch came for Don – umm no I don’t think so – chicken in gravy, veggies and pasta – cookie for dessert. He, of course wanted no part of it – which I expected. I did eat a little of it. Dinner came later as well – same thing – I ate a little. Kristi will be happy that I did as she’s worried about me not eating – I ate the breakfast bar she gave me also this morning – so yes honey I am J.
Around 6:25 pm temp was up around to 100. Wish they would figure out why his temp keeps going up and down – they are constantly hydrating him and giving him antibiotics. Unfortunately at this time they are not sure what is going on but they are really trying to find out. It’s just so frustrating for him not knowing – and the diarrhea continues – he has to go once every hour and with just liquid you can imagine it’s just wearing him out. They are worried about bacterial infection – of course my feeling is there has to be something somewhere that is making it impossible for him to eat and then to lose most of what he is drinking. We do have faith that they will find something out – the doctor said today they would probably keep him until Tues or Wednesday of next week. Just pray everyone that he somehow gets his appetite back – he can’t continue this. They will have to give him nutrients at some point in time because as of right now he is getting 0 nutrition.
Before I left temp was taken and it was good - blood pressure was up a bit - Nurse Irina was going to let the doctor know to see if they wanted to give him something.
I came back around 8:45 this evening to do some laundry – Don needs a few things tomorrow. Don and I both have so much confidence in the doctors at Johns Hopkins – we know they are working hard to find out what is going on with him – we just hope it’s very very soon.
I pray he sleeps some tonight – that’s hard to do when they are coming in a lot checking his temp, blood pressure – but we know that’s what they need to do but sure doesn’t help when you need to sleep and he needs it!
Here’s hoping for a better day tomorrow.
Please keep the prayers coming – we need and appreciate them all!
Love you all!
Don & Muffin
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