Friday Update

Update from Ambrea:

"Aunt Becky, Tammy and Uncle Kent Made it here to Colorado around 3pm. Dad ate a little bit last night but not much because he said that it was salty. He had taken his pills and threw up last night because he didn't have enough food with his meds. Mom wasn't happy that he didn't tell her why he didn't eat until this morning. Dad said that he will be better about telling her what's going on and what he needs.

He has been sleeping most of the day. Mom checked his BP around 2pm and it was 175/75 but he had already taken his meds. She said she wasgoing to wait until he relaxed some to take it again to see if it went down any. Later in the evening he seemed to be doing ok though.

Hope all is well. Love ya!

Ambrea"

Home from the Hospital

Dad was discharged home from the hospital earlier this afternoon. Yeah! I guess they sent him home with a basin to throw up in since he was feeling pretty nauseas. They had given him another dose of iron through his IV and he was having a hard time with it.

I haven't spoken with mom or dad but I heard from Ambrea that they sent him home with some limitations and a list of when to notify the physician.

They have a follow-up appt with dad's nephrologist on Monday for some blood work to check his creatinine levels again. We still need his creatinine levels to come way down (indicating that his kidneys are functioning better). If they don't then there next option is hemodialysis and a kidney transplant. We don't want to have to go to those measures for sure.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Thursday AM Update

Dad has been awake and walking for most of the morning. Mom said she's been letting dad take control and talk to the doctors and ask the questions.

His blood pressure was 118/63 (good).
His creatinine level is still at 3.4 (it needs to go way down).
His WBC count dropped down closer to the normal range (good).
The MRI showed no changes to dad's aortic aneurysm and no additional tears (good).

The nephrologist is ready to send dad home. The other doctors have yet to sign off on dad's case so we'll see when he gets to go home. Hopefully soon.

Mom said that Kent, Becky and Tammy are leaving today to come down and visit them. I know mom and dad will enjoy that.

This picture is of Dad the first day he went into the hospital. He is wearing a hat because he wasn't happy with his hair not being combed. (He's not on oxygen anymore.) I borrowed this picture from Ambrea's blog since I haven't been able to download my pictures yet. We do have pictures of him up and walking and talking. Some of them look like he's ready to go out and work for the day.

Wednesday PM Update

Dad was awake for most of the day today. He was walking and eating good. They said his hematocrit levels have been low so he is going to be getting iron through his IV.

The doctors decided to do an MRI and they took him down for the test. During the test they put some blue dye into his IV and dad was surprised and worried because he knows he's not suppose to be getting a dye because of his delicate kidney situation. After the test was done Mom asked the medical doctor if that was okay a dye had been used and the doctor wasn't sure. She said they'd wait for the results of the MRI.

We're hoping and praying that his kidneys will be able to rebound and start compensating on their own. We're also hoping that the MRI shows no changes on dad's aortic tear. Mom asked the nephrologist why they don't just go in and repair the tear and the nephrologist said that surgery would be just as harmful and dangerous to dad's kidneys as any test would be.

We'll wait and see what tomorrow has in store.

Wednesday AM Update

The results from the nuclear med scan to dad's kidneys showed good blood flow to his kidneys (no blockage). The nephrologist thinks that the kidneys are struggling because of the decreased blood flow to his kidneys now that his blood pressures have dropped and are not continuously running at 250's/100's or higher.

Dad's creatinine level dropped a little to 3.4. If the kidneys are not able to improve then the nephrologist said they would need to put dad onto a kidney transplant list.

The nephrologist is going to check with the radiologist to see if measures need to be taken to check or correct dad's aortic aneurysm at this time. If further testing is needed then they'll discuss if the CT scan with dye is needed or if there is any other test that can be done instead. The nephrologist repeated this morning that if they use the dye it will further damage dad's already delicate kidneys. If no further testing or follow up is needed at this time then they will look at sending dad home.

Dad was awake and alert speaking with the nephrologist. They have a very caring and very professional group of nephrologists working with them. Thank you for your continued care and concern and especially for your prayers in mom and dad's behalf. They need them.

Tuesday PM Update

Today was a little challenging. Dad slept through most of it. We woke him up at lunch time to get up and walk the halls and eat his lunch. He wasn't cooperating too well until we reminded him of his nauseasness from last night and then he said, "No, I don't want to go through that again." He walked and tried really hard to keep his eyes open while mom helped him eat his lunch. He looked up at the clock once he was fully awake and realized it was almost 1pm and said, "It's already 1 o'clock? Where have I been all day?"

They did the nuclear med scan on his kidneys this afternoon and we are hoping for good results from the nephrologist tomorrow.

Mom's update: "Dr Patel came in and told us that Bruce's white blood cell count is high. It was 12,000 when admitted and went down to 8,000. It is now back to up to 12,000 (9,000 is normal). He had more blood work done and because his blood pressure is down they had a hard time getting it drawn. There were three people who tried (very painful). He was taken to have a nuclear test and then again for a chest X ray.We are hoping that some of these tests bring good news in the am."

Ambrea's update: "Dad was feeling good tonight and his blood pressure was 110's/60's." We've discovered this past week that 8-10pm is dad's "happy hour."

I (Chelsea) flew back home to AZ this afternoon and Darin will fly back to North Carolina in the morning. Ambrea, Cameron, and Nicholas all live in Pueblo near mom and dad and have been helping as much as they can.

We will post some pictures of Dad tomorrow.