Well, the dude is sprung....AGAIN. Let's hope he stays out this time. I had brought Jimmy by for a visit and the doctor just happened to be there doing his rounds, and Jim got to go home. Jim's still a little congested and is still coughing, but nothing like before.
Now for an outrageous story...Jim's pulmonary guy gives him a few prescriptions to go home with: one for a drug that will make him less queasy after he uses his liquid food in his stomach tube so he can get more calories into him, two for a couple different kinds of nebulizer treatments, and one antibiotic. The one he was sent home with from Lahey wasn't cutting it. I get to CVS, and get the "this antibiotic isn't covered by your insurance" bit. Now here's the good part...a ten-day supply of this stuff is $1600. Yeah- you saw that right: $1600. As in sixteen-hundred dollars. Well, these chicks are looking at me like do I still want it. I told them, "Which would YOU choose...to spend sixteen hundred dollars or be a widow?" I mean, that's a no-brainer. But BOY- I've got to get to the bottom of THAT one. I'm guessing maybe it needs to be pre-certified or something, but come hell or high water I'm finding a way to get that money back. Maybe I'll hang out in the Aetna employee parking lot and snatch purses.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Thursday March 29, 2007 10:06 PM
Well, I tried to get Jim sprung out of the hospital today, but it didn't work. He even called me at 7:15 a.m. asking me to get him out of there. I told him, "I'm trying...I'm trying." He had to miss his therapy appointment. Apparently this is how it works: After they biopsy the stuff from your lungs, they need 24 hours for the stuff to start growing in the petri dish. Then it takes another 24 hours for them to be able to identify what the organism is. Then it takes them another day to come up with a treatment plan. I'm thinking...do they really need Jim's ass sitting in that bed for the petri dish to grow stuff? They just need the petri dish..not him. They can call in an antibiotic order after they figure out what it is. Then I asked if maybe I could just "borrow" Jim for a couple of hours and I'd bring him back after his therapy. Of course, that didn't fly with them. I told Jim to just put up and shut up because he may get pneumonia again and really needs to establish a good relationship with a pulmonary group in the area. Don't piss them off because you may be back. And this pulmonary group seems to be really on the ball. Lahey may have been great with carotid body tumors, but pnemonia was just not their bag. Here at Kennedy Jim's getting all sorts of breathing treatments...some with sulfur, which I never heard of, and they switch off different kinds of stuff in the nebulizer. Very inventive.
Jim called me this afternoon and told me that apparently they had identified the organism that was in his lungs. It was the staph infection that he picked up at Lahey. So he may get out of Kennedy either tomorrow or Saturday. I was also able to reschedule his therapy for Monday, which is my birthday, but I've stopped celebrating those. Getting him into therapy will be the best birthday present.
Tonight my mother and step-father came down and we all went to Jimmy's Little League practice. His Little League had started while I was in Boston so my parents had taken over the responsibility of getting him there two evenings a week. I didn't have any idea where the field was. One of the Dad's there was wheelchair-bound from a car accident. The wife was telling me that her husband had had a stomach feeding tube for awhile also but was able to get rid of it. But I'm thinking, well, at least Jim can WALK. On that note, my step-sister sent me an e-mail today. It's long, so I won't include the whole thing, but everyone should remember some of these things, Jim especially when he finally gets out of the hospital (except for the food part):
I'm thankful for the taxes I pay, because it means I'm employed.
I'm thankful for the messes to clean after a party, because it means I've been surrounded by friends.
I'm thankful for clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means I have enough to eat.
I'm thankful for the lady behind me in church who sings off key, because it means I can hear.
I'm thankful for the pile of dirty laundry, because it means I have clothes to wear.
I'm thankful for the parking spot I find at the end of the parking lot, because it means I'm capable of walking and have been blessed with transportation.
And most of all, I'm thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means I'm alive.
Jim called me this afternoon and told me that apparently they had identified the organism that was in his lungs. It was the staph infection that he picked up at Lahey. So he may get out of Kennedy either tomorrow or Saturday. I was also able to reschedule his therapy for Monday, which is my birthday, but I've stopped celebrating those. Getting him into therapy will be the best birthday present.
Tonight my mother and step-father came down and we all went to Jimmy's Little League practice. His Little League had started while I was in Boston so my parents had taken over the responsibility of getting him there two evenings a week. I didn't have any idea where the field was. One of the Dad's there was wheelchair-bound from a car accident. The wife was telling me that her husband had had a stomach feeding tube for awhile also but was able to get rid of it. But I'm thinking, well, at least Jim can WALK. On that note, my step-sister sent me an e-mail today. It's long, so I won't include the whole thing, but everyone should remember some of these things, Jim especially when he finally gets out of the hospital (except for the food part):
I'm thankful for the taxes I pay, because it means I'm employed.
I'm thankful for the messes to clean after a party, because it means I've been surrounded by friends.
I'm thankful for clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means I have enough to eat.
I'm thankful for the lady behind me in church who sings off key, because it means I can hear.
I'm thankful for the pile of dirty laundry, because it means I have clothes to wear.
I'm thankful for the parking spot I find at the end of the parking lot, because it means I'm capable of walking and have been blessed with transportation.
And most of all, I'm thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means I'm alive.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Wednesday March 28, 2007 9:47 PM
Jim got his bronchoscopy this morning at about 9 a.m. They apparently pulled a lot of gargage out of him. They've also sent it off the be biopsied to see exactly what kind of bacteria it is so they can come up with the best treatment plan. There's three pulmonary guys at this hospital that work together. The one that did the procedure has an Italian last name...I can't remember it so I'll just call him Guy with the Italian Last Name. Then they also sent ENT down to give Jim another swallowing assessment. Well, I could guess how that was going to come out...he still aspirates his food. But he hasn't started his therapy yet, so that doesn't surprise me.
I called Lahey Clinic this morning and spoke to Bill Nye the Science Guy and told him that Jim wound up having a bronchoscopy today. He said that sounded like a good idea. Well, if it sounded like such a good idea why didn't they do that before he left Lahey? Whatever. It's water under the bridge now and at least it's done...and we're back in NJ for it.
I had another concern today also. I sent Jim to the emergency room with all his meds that he was prescribed to take when he left Lahey. One of them was an anti-fungal medicine that he still has several days left to finish. This is to prevent further fungal infection in his neck, and he really needs to finish that course of treatment. Pnemonia can be cured anywhere. The fungal infection could lead to another blown out artery and that could mean death or stroke, so that's far more important. I tried to communicate this with Jim's nurse today, but you could hear the wind between her ears. Ever talk to someone and you KNOW they were shorted a few buckets of brain neurons at birth so there's really no point? Well, that's her. So I told Jim to just take his anti-fungal meds. If they queston you about it, just play stupid like you were drugged out on your happy juice from the procedure this morning and didn't know what you were doing. Tonight I paged Dr. Italian and told him about these meds. He agreed with me and said Jim could keep taking them. He'd write an order allowing him to take his own. I also talked to Dr. Italian about something else...I know they need to treat Jim for this pnemonia, but if he doesn't start his therapy soon he's only going to keep aspirating his own spit and wind up with pnemonia again, so we have a type of "chicken or the egg" kind of thing going on here. Jim's scheduled for his first therapy appointment tomorrow. I asked the doctor if there was any way Jim could just go home on new antibiotics so I wouldn't have to reschedule therapy. Dr. Italian needs to find out the organism first beore he can come up with a treatment...so that makes sense...but he also understands the need for Jim to start that therapy as soon as possible. In the meantime I called the therapy place and told them what was going on and that I might not know if Jim can keep the appointment or not until the morning. We'll see what happens.
I brought Jimmy to see him tonight. He does look better...he doesn't have that "death warmed over" look that he had before. He certainly is not the picture of HEALTH by any means, but he just seems a little more normal looking. I'm hoping that culture comes back tomorrow and he gets out. If not, it will probably be Friday. I just hope he doesn't have to wait another two weeks to get into therapy if I do have to cancel.
I called Lahey Clinic this morning and spoke to Bill Nye the Science Guy and told him that Jim wound up having a bronchoscopy today. He said that sounded like a good idea. Well, if it sounded like such a good idea why didn't they do that before he left Lahey? Whatever. It's water under the bridge now and at least it's done...and we're back in NJ for it.
I had another concern today also. I sent Jim to the emergency room with all his meds that he was prescribed to take when he left Lahey. One of them was an anti-fungal medicine that he still has several days left to finish. This is to prevent further fungal infection in his neck, and he really needs to finish that course of treatment. Pnemonia can be cured anywhere. The fungal infection could lead to another blown out artery and that could mean death or stroke, so that's far more important. I tried to communicate this with Jim's nurse today, but you could hear the wind between her ears. Ever talk to someone and you KNOW they were shorted a few buckets of brain neurons at birth so there's really no point? Well, that's her. So I told Jim to just take his anti-fungal meds. If they queston you about it, just play stupid like you were drugged out on your happy juice from the procedure this morning and didn't know what you were doing. Tonight I paged Dr. Italian and told him about these meds. He agreed with me and said Jim could keep taking them. He'd write an order allowing him to take his own. I also talked to Dr. Italian about something else...I know they need to treat Jim for this pnemonia, but if he doesn't start his therapy soon he's only going to keep aspirating his own spit and wind up with pnemonia again, so we have a type of "chicken or the egg" kind of thing going on here. Jim's scheduled for his first therapy appointment tomorrow. I asked the doctor if there was any way Jim could just go home on new antibiotics so I wouldn't have to reschedule therapy. Dr. Italian needs to find out the organism first beore he can come up with a treatment...so that makes sense...but he also understands the need for Jim to start that therapy as soon as possible. In the meantime I called the therapy place and told them what was going on and that I might not know if Jim can keep the appointment or not until the morning. We'll see what happens.
I brought Jimmy to see him tonight. He does look better...he doesn't have that "death warmed over" look that he had before. He certainly is not the picture of HEALTH by any means, but he just seems a little more normal looking. I'm hoping that culture comes back tomorrow and he gets out. If not, it will probably be Friday. I just hope he doesn't have to wait another two weeks to get into therapy if I do have to cancel.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Tuesday March 27, 2007 10:18 PM
So Jim's back in the hospital tonight. No, not in Boston, in New Jersey, not far from our house.
I was a little uncomfortable from the moment he got released on Saturday. He just seemed to be hacking way too much for my comfort. I even took his nurse aside and asked her if infectious disease had cleared him for release because he just sounded so congested in the lungs. She told me they had. I had also asked the ENT people about breathing treatments at home...he had been on them every day in the hospital....did he still need them? Oh, no they told me. Saturday night he was hacking. Sunday night he was hacking. We got home yesterday and he was still hacking, and hacking up brown goo. This just didn't seem right to me. When he got up this morning Jim wanted to go to the emergency room, and I agreed with him. I thought he still had pnemonia and the drugs he was sent home on just didn't seem to be helping.
I was going to take him to Deborah Heart and Lung but my boss Jerry called and said Deborah disbanded their emergency department, so I brought him to Kennedy Health Systems in Washington Twp, Gloucester County. I figured they bring all the car accident patients there, and it's a beautiful place, and it's close, so that's where we went. We got there at 10 a.m. They took him in around noon. We brought a sample of what he was spitting up, so that helped. They ran all kinds of tests...another chest x-ray, a cat-scan, blood work, and they got a hold of Bill Nye the Science Guy and Dr. Tannas at Lahey. Jim has pnemonia on the left side of his chest. The right side has cleared up. But this pnemonia has been going on for AGES...everyone reading this blog knows that. Enough is enough already.
The ER doctor got a hold of a pulmonary specialist and at first they were talking about releasing him on some new meds, but the pulmonary guy decided Jim needed a bronchoscopy to just get that crap out of him once and for all. This was what they had talked about doing at Lahey but didn't do. So they say that they'll do that tomorrow. I think Jim will feel a lot better once he can take a deep breath and sleep. The only bad thing is now he may miss his first therapy appointment on Thursday. He may get out of Kennedy tomorrow, but he may not, so I'll call them tomorrow and just put them on notice that I may not know until Thursday morning whether he can make the appointment or not.
I actually just got home a little while ago. I had run out of the ER to go pick up Jimmy, got him to do his homework, then came back to the ER. We left around 9 pm, I got him a Happy Meal, then gave him his bath and put him to bed. Jimmy wants to sleep in my bed to "keep me company" so I went ahead and let him. He started crying when he heard Daddy had to stay in the hospital, so I'll indulge him.
I'm scared they're going to screw up Jim's vocal chords. I'm scared he may pick up another infection from the hospital. I'm scared about everything. But there's nothing I can do. The only good thing is I'm so wiped out from not getting any sleep last night listening to Jim gagging into his cup that I don't need a valium tonight to fall asleep.
I was a little uncomfortable from the moment he got released on Saturday. He just seemed to be hacking way too much for my comfort. I even took his nurse aside and asked her if infectious disease had cleared him for release because he just sounded so congested in the lungs. She told me they had. I had also asked the ENT people about breathing treatments at home...he had been on them every day in the hospital....did he still need them? Oh, no they told me. Saturday night he was hacking. Sunday night he was hacking. We got home yesterday and he was still hacking, and hacking up brown goo. This just didn't seem right to me. When he got up this morning Jim wanted to go to the emergency room, and I agreed with him. I thought he still had pnemonia and the drugs he was sent home on just didn't seem to be helping.
I was going to take him to Deborah Heart and Lung but my boss Jerry called and said Deborah disbanded their emergency department, so I brought him to Kennedy Health Systems in Washington Twp, Gloucester County. I figured they bring all the car accident patients there, and it's a beautiful place, and it's close, so that's where we went. We got there at 10 a.m. They took him in around noon. We brought a sample of what he was spitting up, so that helped. They ran all kinds of tests...another chest x-ray, a cat-scan, blood work, and they got a hold of Bill Nye the Science Guy and Dr. Tannas at Lahey. Jim has pnemonia on the left side of his chest. The right side has cleared up. But this pnemonia has been going on for AGES...everyone reading this blog knows that. Enough is enough already.
The ER doctor got a hold of a pulmonary specialist and at first they were talking about releasing him on some new meds, but the pulmonary guy decided Jim needed a bronchoscopy to just get that crap out of him once and for all. This was what they had talked about doing at Lahey but didn't do. So they say that they'll do that tomorrow. I think Jim will feel a lot better once he can take a deep breath and sleep. The only bad thing is now he may miss his first therapy appointment on Thursday. He may get out of Kennedy tomorrow, but he may not, so I'll call them tomorrow and just put them on notice that I may not know until Thursday morning whether he can make the appointment or not.
I actually just got home a little while ago. I had run out of the ER to go pick up Jimmy, got him to do his homework, then came back to the ER. We left around 9 pm, I got him a Happy Meal, then gave him his bath and put him to bed. Jimmy wants to sleep in my bed to "keep me company" so I went ahead and let him. He started crying when he heard Daddy had to stay in the hospital, so I'll indulge him.
I'm scared they're going to screw up Jim's vocal chords. I'm scared he may pick up another infection from the hospital. I'm scared about everything. But there's nothing I can do. The only good thing is I'm so wiped out from not getting any sleep last night listening to Jim gagging into his cup that I don't need a valium tonight to fall asleep.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Sunday March 25, 2007 7:46 PM
After a lot of cajoling I actually got Jim into the shower this morning, but we was very reluctant about it. I can't understand why someone who hasn't bathed in 6 weeks wouldn't be DYING to get clean. The man is miserable, miserable, miserable. I told him if he doesn't start focusing on the fact that he's not dead and he's going home tomorrow I'm going to drop his ass off at the hospital again. He had such a good attitude while he was an inpatient. Now that he's out I thought he would brighten up, but no. Insted of fucusing in on what he CAN do he just focuses on what he can't, and he has zero joy in life. I'm hoping that by the time we get home and he sees his own house and Jimmy it might help to lift that, but if not, I'm taking him to the shrink with me. He needs some help, and I'm not equipped to give it to him. He also needs to make himself useful in some way.
His first therapy appointment is next Thursday, so maybe that will help. Maybe he'll feel like he's making some progress working toward having a normal life again. Jimmy's second Little League practice is tomorrow night. My step-father has been attending the meetings and took him to the first practice. Maybe I can get Jim to go to that so he can realize how devastating it would have been to Jimmmy if he hadn't made it.
His first therapy appointment is next Thursday, so maybe that will help. Maybe he'll feel like he's making some progress working toward having a normal life again. Jimmy's second Little League practice is tomorrow night. My step-father has been attending the meetings and took him to the first practice. Maybe I can get Jim to go to that so he can realize how devastating it would have been to Jimmmy if he hadn't made it.
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