Category Archives: Blog

Day 55: Sunday, July 5

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This was the first night in a while that I’ve gotten a “Good” from my Fitbit sleep tracking. The sleep score was 81, although only 27 minutes of deep sleep.

Today was Maureen’s Birthday. I totally forgot to wish her a “Happy Birthday” when she woke up. I guess I’m too self-absorbed in my own health.

Today was not a great day overall. Nausea continued unabated and I could not face solid food, except for breakfast. My blood pressure was running high, and I took lots of breaks. I’m easing off of the morphine as I only have minimal pain during the day and I think it’s not helping with the nausea. Miranda bought me some ginger ale and ginger tea. Also a bottle of an OTC nausea medicine called Emetrol – it’s basically just sugar and phosphoric acid, like concentrated Coca-Cola.

I watched the England-Mexico game on my phone – at least the first part. I saw the amazing double goals from Bellingham, just 98 seconds apart. Mexico had been playing better than England up to that point. I could feel my blood pressure creeping up! Then there was the goal from Quinones for Mexico to narrow the lead to 2-1. Thought to myself “I just can’t take it – too much excitement!” Put the phone down and napped. Woke up and checked the phone: we won!!

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Day 54: Saturday, July 4

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An OK night. Maureen and I woke up a lot until Miranda got here at 12:40 am. She came upstairs and we talked for a bit, then went back to sleep. In the morning I was “not quite so chipper,” as Maureen put it. I’m a bit sweaty – the brace and boot are digging into me. Later in the morning I took my blood pressure 159/83, which is pretty high for me. I lay down and rested and later it went down to 121/68.

Miranda tested the pool water. It’s already turning a bit green. pH was fine, but Cl was low.

I walked Miranda through the basics of pruning the indeterminate tomatoes and attaching them to the trellis. They’re growing vigorously, overtopping the trellis, and probably should have been pruned a couple of weeks ago. She did a good job though.

I felt nauseous at various times today, almost certainly due to the high doses of Bactrim that I’m taking. It was accompanied by a repeat of high blood pressure, though it eventually settled down to the 130s range after lying down and listening to music. Selected the most relaxing singer I know: John Martyn. Maureen and I used to listen to him all the time when we were first married.

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One Step Beyond!

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It’s now 52 days since I broke my tibia and began my medical journey. Numerous doctors, surgeons, hospital staff, rehab staff, my friends, you, my correspondents, my daughter Miranda, and above all, my wife Maureen, have kept me from descending into madness, for which I am sincerely thankful. I was discharged from MGH today and am writing this from home. I was previously discharged to rehab, but it turned out that somewhere along the line I’d picked up a nasty variant of e-coli. That meant sending me back to MGH for diagnosis and selection of the right antibiotic: Bactrim.  My right leg is in a rigid brace that prevents it from bending; I’ll have it on for several more weeks. And hey, although I’ll admit to being a fair-weather fan, with both US and England still in the World Cup, it’s not the worst thing to have some spare time.

Day 52: Thursday, July 02 – Discharge

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PT came early and we talked about equipment. She adjusted my brace which had not been right since the CAT Scan techs took it off two nights ago. She also talked about the importance of keeping the foot in the proper position, otherwise it may set in a bad position when I take off the brace. The boot is used for when I’m lying down or I’m in a chair, which is most of the time; it’s not a boot for walking. She gave me an exercise to strengthen the foot with a band. We also did the stairs bum-sliding and she was satisfied with that.

Back in the room I still expected that discharge would be Friday, but after Maureen had left I saw a doctor from infectious diseases who said I might be discharged today. This was confirmed by another infectious diseases doctor, who also told me about the antibiotic I had to take. When Maureen arrived she joined in the discussion. The doctor ordered the required medications from the hospital pharmacy. At 3:00 PM I started watching the Spain Austria game in the World Cup. I wished Martin was still around to see it. I was supporting Spain, Maureen, although not following the game, was for Austria. Just after the first hydration break Oyarzabal scored to give Spain a 1-0 lead.

The game had just resumed when I got a message from the pharmacy that the meds were ready for pick up. The nurse, Vallerie, came in with a Doctor Jill something to discuss discharge, and to tell us that there was another medication we had to pick up. While waiting for the pharmacy she told us about the antibiotic, it’s called Bactrim. We talked about dosage, also possible minor and major side effects.

A little after half time everything was in order for me to leave. I took 15 milligrams of morphine, got into wheelchair, and Maureen wheeled me to the hospital pharmacy to stand in line for the remaining medication. Maureen wheeled me outside and parked me while she left to get the car. I had never gotten in the car before with the brace so I wasn’t sure if it could do it. But it did. It was harder even than when I had the cast.

It was a relatively quick drive home, and I bum-slid up to the bedroom and to the bed. Quite exhausting! Took another 15 mg of morphine. Maureen left to get milk and a few groceries, and to pick up Trixie from Andrea’s. Maureen back home. Trixie very curious! Happy to be home!

I sent out an update to my correspondents “One Step Beyond.” So far, no one has caught the reference to the song by Madness.

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Day 51: Wednesday, July 01

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Best sleep for a while except for nurses waking me up every few hours. The good news is that for the first time I had no chills or shivering last night. Fitbit can’t calculate a sleep score. Blood tests show WBC down from critical levels at Encompass. Other counts are a bit worse.

Bridget, the nurse practitioner, stopped by to tell me that the most recent blood cultures at MGH were negative. That’s a good thing, meaning they didn’t detect any bacteria. I obviously had something at Encompass, however, but MGH doesn’t have access to the blood cultures that they did there and are trying to get copies.

Because the blood cultures are negative, it’s possible that I can be discharged in a day or two. It really depends on Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy assessments. OT was just here and they watched me transfer from the bed to the recliner, and use the walker. I’m still waiting on PT.

The pool water was delivered this morning, and I watched most of it with the backyard Eufy camera. It appears to have been successful. I had Maureen prime and run the pump and it’s working correctly.

Kylie, the PCA, helped me to the bathroom for a BM. Then she did another blood draw. I guess there’s a real knack to drawing blood. Some nurses are really good at it and others poke painfully around before they find the vein. It’s important, of course, to be properly hydrated, but it also helps I’ve found if they warm the area before they try to draw the blood. Not all nurses do this.

Doctor Gace confirmed what Bridget said that the most recent blood cultures were negative. But they need another 24 hours for the blood cultures to continue negative. They’re still trying to get results from Trident.

My roommate, Andy, had a couple of procedures today. I don’t know all the details, but he’s been treated for cancer before and now it has metastasized to his brain. I overheard the doctor yesterday talking about what to expect. He’s able to walk but needs a walker because he’s a bit steady. It certainly sounds as if the treatment is to control the tumor rather than it. He’s an ex-Marine, about 50. years old. We talked about what happens when we die. It sounded a bit like what I’ve thought about the eternal now. And it sounds like he’s made peace with the world.

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