Bad news, good news..

Tucson

ARG..this is definitely gonna' be one of "those" years!

We left Lake Havasu City last Thursday heading home. Al wasn't feeling too well when we left Lake Havasu and said he was a little dizzy. He slept until we stopped at a rest stop right outside of Quartzsite on I-10. I took the dogs out for a potty break and when I looked back to the car all I saw was Al throwing up! Needless to say I thought to myself "Oh-oh, here we go again!" He said he wasn't feeling good and I wanted to take him to the nearest hospital, which was in Blythe, CA (the hell hole of the earth for me!) He said no, so I put the pedal to the medal heading home. He slept all the way until we got into Phoenix, where he got sick again. You don't even want to hear that part of the trip. I made my mind up to head directly to the ER at our hospital here in Oro Valley. Once there, Al was so weak he couldn't walk into ER, so two nurses assisted him.

After a 22 hour stay in the ER (yes, 22 hours...no beds available in the hospital)he was transferred to a room. His right knee was swollen and the ER doc had attempted to get some fluid out for testing, but couldn't get enough fluid out to test. Finally on Saturday morning the orthopedic doc got two big vials of fluid out and sent it for testing. By this time Al was hollering to go home, but still very weak.

On Sunday they discharged him from the hospital, on massive doses of antibiotics. We got him home and comfortable. That night as we were trying to get him up from his chair (we being me and him) he slipped and landed on the floor. I couldn't get him up so had to call 911 for an invalid assist. The Fire Department arrived and 4 fireman finally got him up. He said he was okay and was walking with his walker.

Monday arrived and he did fine most of the day, however, he was still too weak to get up from a sitting position by his self, so I was having to pull him up. Monday evening the same thing happened that had happened the night before. I called Bruce and Holly and they came right over to help me get him up. The three of us couldn't get him up, so once more I called 911. This time it took 5 firemen to get him up and he was pretty weak and unstable and they decided they should transport him to the hospital.

After on 14 hours in ER this time (still no beds) we got him to a room. The culture they drew on Saturday was showing an infection, but they weren't sure what type of an infection it was. The orthopedic surgeon who did the original knee replacement on Al was now in on the situation. He drew yet another sample of fluid.

In the middle of all this, Ric and Janet arrived (youngest son and wife) from Seattle for a quick vacation. Some vacation, huh?

Today we found out today that the infection in Al's knee is staff and the methods to get rid of it aren't great. Option 1 is to open the knee up and do an "antibiotic wash out" of the prostheses. This option is not very optimal as it doesn't usually work well and the patient winds up going to option 2 anyway. Option 2 is not good either. It is a removal of the prostheses, insertion of a "antibiotic block" into the knee area for up to 6 weeks, of which Al would have to remain in a skilled nursing facility as no pressure what so ever can be placed on the leg; then a total knee replacement done. This is probably what will happen and he will be layed up for at least a minimum of 12 weeks.

Right now he is on massive doses of antibiotics, which will help with the infection some what, but won't get it all. He is very weak and very sick. He will remain in the hospital until surgery is done and he is not very happy about any of this.

I am hanging in there...Ric and Janet are here now so that is a huge help having family here. I also have Bruce and Holly who live very nearby to help when Ric and Janet leave. Having Bruce and Holly so close is a big comfort to me. It is going to be a long haul, but we will get through it. It just won't be pretty at times.

Thank you all for your prayers, phone calls and emails..they are truly appreciated. Keep the prayers going, we are really going to need them.

Some good news today, I have a new great granddaughter. Ada JoEllen arrived this evening weighing in at 6.5 lbs, 19 inches long. Proud parents are grandson David and Tiffany. She joins big sister Sophie who is 10 1/2 months old.

So until the next update, we hope all of you are happy and healthy and living life to the fullest...it may change tomorrow!