It's Jim's PEG tube! Or should I say, former peg tube. Dr. Kaulback came by on Monday night and pulled it out in our family room. Gross, isn't it? As he had Jim on the couch he says, gee- I've never seen a tube exactly like this before....I guess they all come out the same...and YANK...gone. Thank God I wasn't home.
Of course, Jim had to bust my chops. When I got home he showed me the trash in the kitchen and said, "Look...I got bored and pulled it out myself." NO YOU DIDN'T I yelled at him...then he told me the truth. I told him to save it. He's got it in a plastic bag. I think we should give it to my mother and see what she can do artistically with it. I told Jim that if anyone can figure out a way to get it into a picture frame and make it look nice, she could.
Now don't everyone get excited, though. Just because he doesn't need the tube anymore doesn't mean he can eat like you and I yet. We're getting there.
Today he saw an infectious disease specialist in Philly which now makes our Philadelphia team of doctors complete. No more Boston. So Miss Infectious Disease, Dr. Belden, doesn't think it's a good idea to give Jim that drug cocktail for the staph infection like they wanted to do at Lahey. I agree with her. He's just starting to feel better and get back on his feet. Is it really necessary to knock him on his ass again with some potent cocktail? Dr. Belden said he could take that cocktail 20 times and it still wouldn't guarantee that the staph infection would be eradicated from his body. Instead she recommended a nasal ointment and a body wash for the shower and she's going to coordinate with Jim's other Philly docs to add another drug as part of his pre-op regimen.
Jim's been all over me to quit smoking. Harping on my health doesn't work because I still have the mentality of a 15 year old in that regard....I'm invincible...didn't you all know that? Nothing's going to kill ME. So how he finally got me was..."I quit but you're going to make it hard for me to STAY quit if you're smoking." Now I don't know if that was a crock of bull just to get me to do it or if it was real, but I made a deal with him. My biggest fear about quitting is gaining weight. I told him I'll quit, but I'm going to the gym to keep the weight off. That will mean that HE'S got to chip in with some of the evening chores WITHOUT BITCHING ABOUT IT. So that's where I was last night...signing up for a program at L.A. Fitness. I had my first workout with my personal trainer, Steve, tonight. I'm going to feel it when my feet hit the floor getting out of bed tomorrow.
