Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Still waiting…..Al has some procedures to do and then hopefully Jim’s transplant will be scheduled. We have learned through all of this to “take it one day at a time”.

The infection from the ruptured cysts has cleared up after 2 weeks of antibiotics. A bad head cold is his recent obstacle.  Of course Jim never just gets a cold…it’s always a “bad” cold. Dr. Karen prescribed plenty of orange juice and rest. Lots of sneezing and coughing accompanied the cold. One sneeze in particular left its mark. Jim sneezed so hard he felt something happen under his rib cage. This also caused labored breathing throughout the next couple of days. Hoping this was not pneumonia, Jim went to the doctor yesterday (Monday) and found out he has a torn cartilage under his rib cage from the sneeze. The doctor gave him some medicated patches to put on the spot with the advice that it will just take time to heal itself.

On the bright side….Jim’s recent visit to the kidney doctor was good. She continues to change his blood pressure medications. It’s been high the last few months. He was also given an iron shot. Hopefully he will be in tip top shape and ready for that transplant.

Thank you for all your prayers and good thoughts. Oh….and about that sneeze….gesundheit!!!

Happy Anniversay

Today Jim and I celebrate 34 years of marriage. Our hope was to spend the day with family and friends at the Weingarten in Belleville. Jim has had a rough week. Last Saturday he "just didn't feel right". Had stomach pain and nausea. It didn't take us long to figure out that a cyst on his kidney had ruptured. This is the first time though it was accompanied with blood in his urine. Having called the PD nurse, she didn't seem concern with the blood but had him come in for a urine test. Lo and behold yes he did have an infection and antibiotics were started immediately. Having been on antibiotics for the past 3 days, his pain is still there. Hoping he would wake up this morning feeling better instead he wakes up with another surprise....GOUT in is foot. His patience is dwindling along with his pain tolerance. A new kidney can't some soon enough!!!

On that note...Al went in Monday to wear a heart monitor for 8 hours. Normal procedure they tell him before surgery. Jim's transplant coordinator says as soon as they get the go ahead from the donor transplant team, things will be moving. But like I said....just not fast enough. Al (along with Jason) left this morning for a hunting trip to Canada. Probably nothing will happen this week which is ok. Jim needs to get well and be in tip top shape. We'll work on getting this infection cleared up as well as the gout. Our patience is wearing thin....Oh....and Happy Anniversary.....we WILL get through this. XOXO