Day 41 Admission

Hi everyone,

Where to begin? This has been a day of frustrations for us. Bob called this am and told me he had some right-sided chest discomfort during the night--worse with deep breathing. He informed the hem/onc attending(our own Dr. Luger is not on call this week) and entourage, who said it sounded like nothing and they would "watch it". They also apparently were leaving the problem of the culture and antibiotics in the hands of the ID drs. Bobs' WBCs today were 3.6, his hgb was stable at 9.2 and his platelets were low, so he got an infusion of them. His ANC was still not back as of 8:45p, so I'm guessing it wasn't even done.

When I arrived I questioned Bobs' nurse as to why there seemed to be such a delay w/ the switch in ABx and was told the ID dr. usually "rounds" late in the afternoon. I than asked why there wasn't at least a chest x-ray ordered when there seemed to be a pleuritic component to Bobs' pain, which he still had.(Us poor nurses...we always get the wrath of the families after the docs leave). So Rachel got a CXR order from God knows who, and Bob was taken down to the department for that at 5pm. Dr.Shuster(ID) arrived on the floor at 6p, but as of 8:45p when I spoke to Bob she still had not been in to see him. And to top it all off, when I was leaving I told Bob he looked flushed and he now has a temp of 100.2. So, I think it's safe to say that Bob will not be discharged tomorrow, and maybe not even Wednesday at this point. We are disgusted, and not even so much that the discharge is being delayed, but b/c there seemed to be such a blase attitude about everything today. On Friday, there was such a sense of urgency, and than...nothing. Just more of the roller coaster ride that you never can adjust to. Bob kept his cool for the most part, but I could tell that it was difficult for him to do so. He had that "bottled up" sort of look that he gets when he's trying not to explode. He told me on the phone that he's going to give them "tsurus"(spelled phonetically) tomorrow. He said that's Yiddish for a pain in the a$$.He was calmer by the time we hung up, and was going to try and sleep. I think the temp was making him punk. We did have a nice dinner together at least...finished up the lasagna, Santa. And no it was not salty at all, it was delicious, very cheesy.

Now on a lighter note, Bob enjoyed the blogs today...got quite a few chuckles, and had a few comments.

To Rich F.....Bob says his cr. is 1.1 and he has been on norvasc for his bp. Today he was 140s/70s. He also said you would know tsurus. I said are you sure you don't mean he is a ....no, no, just kiddin. How do you like that? Blog to Bob and you get insulted.

To Hatfield girl and Jim...the mustache is definitely thinner, but it's still there and I can't see any mole. I think he made that up. In that same vein, I'll tell you it's been almost 2 weeks since Bob had to shave, and every time I straighten his sheets there are hairs on the pillows. So the fringe is definitely sparser also.

To Linda...that's Dr. MOzzola, and if Bob doen't listen to me I know where I can get a great nurse in Flourtown to come and back me up.

To Bonstance, we are quite impressed w/ your card creating capabilities(alliteration unintended). You should go into the business, and Kate loved your Disney stamps...we Noon girls notice all those little details.

To Kris...thank you for all the research, and Bob had some interesting trivia of his own to add. Debbie, maybe you remember this cuz I know you were a big St. Elsewhere fan. Okay, the very last broadcast episode of St. Elsewhere ended with a scene in the ER. Howie Mandels' character heard singing, and pulled back one of the curtains to find a woman dressed as Brunhilde belting out her aria. So everybody knew the show was over cuz the fat lady etc. etc. Bob also told me that in Gotterdammerung, Brunhilde is singing from Hell, b/c her father Odin banished her there back in the second ring, so she's one of the first characters to die. Don't you just love opera? You can still sing your heart out when you're dead or dying of TB. Alright, well that's the second time I've mentioned Wagner on this blog and it's 2 times too many for me.

Well, I feel a little better after getting some of this stuff off my chest. You all have been wonderful. Thank you for the cards, blogs, visits, gifts and calls. I can't find the words to tell you just how much your love and support mean to us both. I can see how touched Bob is every day when he opens a new card or reads the blogs, and that lifts me up. So please hang in there with us. We are still hoping for d/c sometime this week, but not counting on a specific day until it actually happens.

All our love,

Bob and Mo