tuesday afternoon
Stanley continues to do very well. If not for the issue of the blood clot in his calf, he could go home today. The are still trying to decide if they need to operate or not. Stanley’s foot is still numb, so he really wants whatever needs to be done to fix it done. The clot in the kidney seems to be breaking up nicely, if it’s not gone entirely. He walked twice today
So, he might be able to come home tomorrow if they don’t operate on his leg, or maybe Thursday if they do and everything goes well. He got a PICC line “installed” today because the doc wants him on IV antibiotics for six weeks. They are taking no chances this time. Which means we’ll have a visiting nurse again, though not as often as we did two years ago. I’ve got to make sure the coumadin is going to be checked as often as he needs it checked ...
Tomorrow and Thursday I take the kitties to the vet to be checked for Bartonella and, if they have it, they can be treated for it. Treatment takes three weeks—so if they have it, they will be clear of it before Stanley is off the antibiotics. It’s not going to be cheap, but worth it for peace of mind. The culture is still negative for the cats being the cause of the broccoli on the valve. It looks more and more like it was something introduced during the first operation that just lay dormant until recently.
This is Day Eight. I’m so looking forward to having Stanley home and nothing we HAVE to do so I can get a good solid sleep without waking up thinking there’s something I should be doing. Jeff mowed our lawn yesterday, and Maureen and Ben cleaned up the kitchen and vacuumed the dust monsters—I’m still so surprised at how much better that made me feel.
Tonight I will try to get home earlier than midnight so I can spend more time with Ginger and maybe get a little more rest. I am just so tired. I keep thinking about Keith and my clan back home in Michigan since today was the funeral. That leads to more thoughts that could wind up in existential ruminations—and I don’t have the time or the energy for that right now.
I just have to keep reminding myself how lucky I am that Stanley got a clot in his kidney instead of a clot in his brain.
Mike and Florence came by this afternoon to visit and it was very good to see them—they cheered Stanley up quite a bit. And they left him a Tom Tomorrow book he is looking forward to reading just as soon as he can keep his eyes open—so much stuff happened today that it knocked him out. And I saw his latest pile of cheergrams—thank you!
I think I’ll try to doze off for a bit—if I can find a comfortable position is these godawful chairs they provide for visitors. They say they encourage visitors, but do nothing to make them comfortable ... I’m getting crabby, so I’ll stop now.
Next entry: day nine
Previous entry: out of the icu now