Simple Gifts

At 7:30am, I called Dr. Adkins office, chasing Denny's records.  I wanted to confirm that they had been sent to Dr. Murphy at Vanderbilt.  I also wanted to let them know what Denny's status was; that he had been admitted to Vanderbilt with a blood clot and infection.

At 7:41am, Denny texted me, " Had a good night and feel much better this morning. :)"  I thought, "Great!  Maybe we have gotten ahead of this thing."  I told him I would come to the hospital between 9 and 10am.  However, with phone calls going back and forth between me and St. Louis, I was delayed.  I finally got to the hospital a little before 11am. 

This is what I saw: Denny's neck had swelled even more since the evening before.  He was feeling "better" because they had him on Dilaudid.  As soon as he started talking, I knew something was very wrong.  His voice was slurred and in the wrong pitch. It was higher and nasally-sounding.  He said he had eaten breakfast and was feeling good.  I stepped out in the hallway and flagged down the nurse.  I requested that she call the doctor.  I wanted to know what was going on.

A short time later, the doctor came into the room and spoke with us.  She said they had doubled up the strong antibiotics to cover all possibilities.  They still have no idea what type of infection he has.  The blood cultures should be back in 48 -72 hours.  That should be tomorrow.

An ENT doc came in late this afternoon and ran a scope down Denny's right nostril into his throat.  It appears the infection is pressing on the left side of his voice box but his airways are clear.  Denny has also developed Thrush on the back of his tongue; probably due to being bombed with maximum strength antibiotics. 

I left around 6pm to come home. Denny is still in the hospital.  All the activity had ceased for the day so he was just resting.  No more docs were going to come in tonight.  I came home to take care of some bills and fix supper.  It feels like some kind of crazy time warp, bouncing between two completely different environments but we are managing.

Tomorrow, Dana is taking me back to the hospital since we had 2 cars there.  She is going to visit with her dad for awhile and then take the car home.  That way I won't have to try to find another driver when Denny is discharged because he is convinced he will be driving himself home.  I don't think the hospital will be on board with this but he remains unconvinced.  Stubborn man!

Denny appreciates all the cards, emails and prayers being sent his way.  These simple gifts mean the world to him.  Thank you so much.  As always, thanks for checking in.  I'll keep posting as soon as the information becomes available.

'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be fair,
'Tis a gift to wake and breathe the morning air.
And each day we walk on the path that we choose,
'Tis a gift we pray we never shall lose."
                                 (Lyrics to "Simple Gifts")