A Man & A Plan

One thing we do know for sure this morning is that Our Hero is definitely in the right place -- these guys know what they're doing. We saw two doctors yesterday, one from the transplant team. He remembers Greg & these guys know how to deal with this (whatever it is).

Yesterday, the first doc came in (once again, one who looked like his mommy had to drive him to work – I must be getting old), and asked Greg, "So, what brought you here to the hospital?" (Shouldn’t HE know???). Without missing a beat, Greg responded, "The ambulance!" Doc responds: "OK, very good sir." Poor guy was humorless. But I guess its good that they hire them for their brains, not their sense of humor.

OK, here’s what I know now (I figure I’m running about 80 percent accurate in what I remember & understand after the docs leave):
Today’s (actually yesterday’s) diagnosis is definitely (maybe?) pneumonia (or "ramonia" as Matthew says). That’s right – we’re back to were we were when we started. They took a chest x-ray within about 20 minutes of his arrival here late Saturday night (they don’t fool around here). They say it shows pneumonia on the right side. However, its not PCP (!), and he’s responding well to the drugs. They also believe his low white count was due to all the meds they were pumping into him in Springfield, so they’ve backed off on a lot of them, concentrating on the ones that fight the pneumonia. When we got in on Saturday, the first doctor looked at his chart & said, "Wow, they really threw the kitchen sink at you!" I’m not sure they knew what to do with him at St. John’s. Oh, and the rash is MUCH worse, covering his whole body. That’s from the meds too. But it doesn’t itch too much, and he has Benadryl as needed if he wants it. Don’t go a hospital – It’ll just make you sick.

No one has officially said a thing about how long we’re supposed to be here, but Skibby is guessing that, if they confirm pneumonia today (they’re also going to run some other tests, but I forgot which ones), and if he keeps responding to the meds, they could actually send him home on oral antibiotics mid to late week. PLEASE keep your fingers crossed & pray that’s the case! Greg is telling people he’ll be back to work by the end of the week. I keep telling him he’s nuts. Even after he gets home, he’ll have some recovery time. But it shows he feels pretty good, and that’s important.

Oh, and we’re on C-Dif precautions once again. Our Loyal Readers will remember, from a previous espisode last season, how obsessed everyone is here with bladder & bowel habits. I think they’re even charting mine! Because he had some intestinal "looseness" (Gee, ya think it could be all the antibiotics?), and because he had C-Dif five years ago, everyone gets to wear the Haz-Mat suits whenever they come in & I have to wear one whenever I leave the room – even to go to the bathroom or to get a drink of water. Sigh. No one believes me when I tell them he doesn’t have it. I am a doctor after all. Maybe if I go sleep at a Holiday Inn Express?

Speaking of sleeping, I am definitely urban camping again. I ‘m staying in the room, and all I have is this chair that kind of folds out into a bed. Its like sleeping on a 2 foot by 5 foot piece of plywood. Its probably OK anyway, as there’s some rule about not allowing people to sleep around here anyway. I can’t use Greg’s bathroom or shower, for contamination purposes, and there’s no "family shower" on this floor. I went down to the transplant unit & got to wait in line. No towels, no soap. I grabbed some towels from a passing cart & used shampoo all over. It’s the little things.....Then I went down to the cafeteria & spent $6 on two Diet Pepsis and a bagel (cream cheese extra, of course).
But, the important thing is we have a plan, and he feels pretty good. He just got back from CT with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face. Seems he was waiting downstairs for transport, and there were a whole bunch of people waiting, so our patient Patient got impatient (imagine that!) and just got up & walked back to his room. At least he was wearing a mask. So, now there’s an abandoned wheel chair on the 3rd floor, and some poor slob who’s sole responsibility it is to get Greg back up here is wandering around looking for him. Greg is very proud of himself. I buzzed the nurse’s station.

Not much more for now. Yet another doctor just came in (his mommy had to drive him to work, too), and said the CT scan confirms "ramonia" and they are going to have a meeting & decide what to do with him. I’m sure there will be plenty of suggestions!

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Us

P.S. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the ambulance ride costs $3500. Sure hope Greg's insurance company still likes him!