Transfer is on HOLD

We just can't win. They've discovered that Jim has phlebitis in his arm and therefore putting him back on antibiotics and will also put a pic line back in next week. What does this mean??? It means they cannot transfer him to Ballard as planned.

Disappointing news!


What is Phlebitis?
Phlebitis (fle-BYE-tis) means inflammation of a vein. Thrombophlebitis is the term used when a blood clot in the vein causes the inflammation. Thrombophlebitis usually occurs in leg veins, but it may occur in an arm. The thrombus (clot) in the vein causes pain and irritation and may block blood flow in the veins. Phlebitis can occur in both the surface (superficial) or deep veins.

• Superficial phlebitis affects veins on the skin surface. The condition is rarely serious and, with proper care, usually resolves rapidly. Sometimes people with superficial phlebitis also get deep vein thrombophlebitis, so a medical evaluation is necessary.

Accessories

I am still working on putting Zane's bedroom together. Baby steps. I ordered a custom sign to go above his bed, which has his name on it. I love how it turned out.

Also ordered a couple cute throw pillows I found, a football & a baseball. Purely for decoration.

And the finished look...

I'll continue to add things as I find them and/or can afford them. He could use a small bookcase as he has tons of books. Also need to finish his dresser situation. All in all it is coming together nicely. Most importantly Zane is loving his new room.

Transfer

Martha was all packed up and ready to head back home today and called Valerie with RML one last time. She then told Martha he is scheduled to be transferred either today or tomorrow to Ballard in Des Plaines, IL. As of 4pm he hadn't been transferred yet. Martha was very emotional when she called Scott to inform him. Sort of the next chapter in Jim's battle. She also had to change plans and stay another night to make sure he gets settled in the new place.

They had Jim up in a chair today for a couple hours and apparently he thinks he can still walk and was angry with Martha for not getting his cane for him. The infections have subsided and he now has an IV in his hand for his meds. The doctor told Martha that his head CT has improved since his last so that is great news. A neurologist was also in to see Jim and said he didn't see any reason why Jim shouldn't be able to feel his legs. So I guess they won't do anything further regarding his legs.

Debbie is going up Friday and will be with Jim over the weekend.

A Weekend Alone

Haven't had much to report on Jim. He was alone this weekend as I had previously mentioned. As far as we can tell he did lots of sleeping and did not wean. He is still running a fever. I suppose a good weekend for no one to have been there since he did lots of sleeping. Martha is there now and he is more alert, probably excited to see his wife. He still is not weaning this week. We're assuming because of the infection, but no one has really said. Martha is waiting to talk to someone about it.

The wound nurse suggested a wound vac so sounds like that should be helpful to Jim. The nurse said his head CT was the same, but Martha is going to talk to the doctor about it. She hasn't heard anything about his legs yet. Martha noticed they have him on a different antibiotic now, not sure why it was changed. His thyroid is improving, but he will need to be on thyroid meds for the rest of his life.

All this travel Scott is doing is really hitting our pocket book. Looks like we are postponing some of our basement remodel. Luckily, Debbie is going up this weekend so that will give Scott a bit of a financial break. Staying in a hotel, paying for gas and eating out for every meal for 3-4 days, every other weekend certainly adds up. Martha is there the most so I am sure she is feeling the same. There have been some talk of doing a benefit for Jim in the near future to raise a little money for medical expenses, travel expenses, etc.

Kite Flying

Zane got a kite from grandma Marilyn & grandpa Rick for his birthday. A Thomas kite no less. =) We just finally got around to testing it out, partially due to the weather and partially due to Scott's absence. It has been either raining, hot as hell and humid or no wind. Sunday we had a nice windy day. Although we quickly found out that it was too windy for our cheap little kite. The string was ripped off almost immediately because the kite was only rated for 15 mph winds. Scott ended up duct tapping the string to the kite and it worked great, that is until the kite ripped about 40 minutes later. At least Zane got some enjoyment out of it. We purchased a 2nd kite, so we will have to use that next time.

Flying kite with daddy

the kite

Zane just being cute

still flying

my boys

Fighting Infection

As with every infection Jim has had, he is very sleepy while fighting this off. It just has him knocked out, that and the fact that he's on 3 different antibiotics. They had to do a sternal rub on him to get him to wake up. Therefore he is still not weaning as he doesn't have the energy, etc.

They did another benchmark head CT yesterday and we probably won't hear back about results for a couple days. The doctor checked his legs for the loss of feeling and also found that he cannot feel his left arm anymore either. He will have a neurologist review the head CT.

There have been some discussions about doing a DNR for Jim, per a doctors suggestion. The family is still mulling over this decision to determine whether this is right at this time or not.

I'm not sure anyone will be there this weekend with Jim. Scott has been up there 2 weekends in a row, Liza was there as well last weekend and Liza is shooting a wedding Saturday and has enlisted Scott's help. They usually alternate weekends, so I'm guessing no one will be there, but I haven't heard for certain.

In addition to Jim's infection concerns, my grandma Koger went to the emergency room last night. She is diabetic and has a red, swollen knee. They gave her antibiotics and pain killers. She has macular degeneration so she cannot read the print on her meds and we think she overdosed on the pain meds because she thinks she took 2 and was supposed to take 1. Plus she did it on an empty stomach. She was vomiting, dizzy and had blurry vision. So my mom was at the emergency room with her from 5:30pm to 2:30am. They did blood work and every time she nodded off, her oxygen levels would plummet. She then got a horrible headache all of a sudden. They gave her oxygen and she was then fine and it went away. They didn't admit her, but just kept her in the ER for observation while they waited for her blood work. She is back home and doing well today. Hopefully it was just a fluke accident of overdosing. My mom laid all her meds out with directions in LARGE print.

Pic Line

Jim has been placed on 3 more antibiotics. They are pulling his pic line out, they think that may be the cause of his infections. He is not weaning today either. He is still very sleepy. Martha forgot to ask about his legs, but the doctor is coming again tomorrow so she will ask him then. She also has a voicemail into Valerie on whether or not she has heard anything about transfer, although I don't think he will be going anywhere for awhile. They are doing a head CT tomorrow just to see if there has been any changes.

Father's Day Visit with Jim

Scott and Liza went to see Jim this weekend since it was father's day. Jim does have an infection in his lungs, which we figured. It is gram stain negative. The difficulty is that the bacteria cell wall is more difficult to penetrate with antibiotics. They do have him on a new antibiotic to treat it.

He did not wean Saturday afternoon or Sunday. Scott said he was pretty out of it most of the weekend. They went to visit 2 different facilities that they could possibly transfer Jim to. This is what they had to say about the place they liked best. "Went to Ballard. This place is sooo awesome. The entry way is like a 5 star hotel. The rehab facility is unlike any I have EVER seen. They have a car inside for patients to practice getting in and out of, a replica of a grocery store, an ATM, bedroom, kitchen, shower, etc. Everything you could possible need for rehab. Their goal is to get you weaned and physically rehabbed as fast as possible. They do rehab 7 days per week. Scott and I REALLY loved this place."

Scott had noticed awhile back that Jim could no longer feel the touch on his legs. Scott and Liza mentioned that while there so they are looking into that.

As of today, Jim is running a fever and not weaning. They also debrided his bedsore. No one is with him today, but Martha will be back up Tuesday (tomorrow).