Sunday, December 27, 2009

Is it still 2009??


Thought we were done with hospital stays for the year, but have had a couple of "bonus" visits this week. Our hero is currently relaxing at UCSF after having chest pains early on the morning of the 26th.....they did not disappear with the usual sitting or standing, so we drove to the ER to get him taken care of at the best possible place - the pain was not severe enough to make us try the local hospital. Once we arrived at the ER, the pain disappeared like magic - arrggghh. But lab work showed some irregular numbers so he was admitted and whisked away to dialysis right away to get his potassium levels back down and remove the always-dangerous extra fluid. I hope to bring him home today if all the medical minds concur.

The other bonus visit was a quick but tiring outpatient visit to Mt. Diablo hospital at 5:30 am on the 24th. Dialysis had to be cancelled on the 23rd when his access graft clotted. His vascular surgeon got it fixed promptly on the 24th, but his dialysis was delayed until that evening. It went well, but the extra day without dialysis probably contributed to the fluid overload. We are very grateful that we got to enjoy a wonderful Christmas day with our kids ( all 4!) and Cook and Caples families, especially getting to meet our new 4 day-old grand niece!

One more week in this crazy year...........we hope for a better one in 2010 - or at least not worse than 2009. And that goes for everyone! Happy New Year!
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RJ/Bob/Irv is a 61-year-old beloved husband, father, uncle, brother, motor racing fanatic, and Livermore resident who received a heart and kidney transplant in February of 2010. Bob's recent years have been defined by his health, which forced him into early retirement. Unfortunately, many of his days were spent in a dialysis center or at various medical appointments, primarily due to his living with diabetes for over 40 years. Numerous were panic visits to various Emergency Rooms all over California for treatment of chest pain. But now no more dialysis and no more late-night dashes to UCSF! The main focus of Bob's family, friends, and doctors has been a prompt transplant, so that he can get back to traveling with his Sweetie, driving fast cars, enjoying great music and laughing with his friends. This blog will function as a way to communicate with all interested parties and to keep everyone informed. And hopefully it can serve a great purpose also, in making people more aware of the importance of organ donation and how each life saved has a positive effect on dozens of related friends and relatives.