Thank You All

   The operation went fine. Lois is still in the hospital and experiencing a fair amount of pain. The anesthesiologist was able to keep the nausea at bay. Last night I stayed at the hospital to make sure she was doing well and that she didn't get sick. She slept right through the night until 4:00 in the morning when her I.V. bag ran out and the machine started chirping. I slept for a little while longer and then took the train into work. It was a pretty brisk morning and I had about a twenty minute walk.
   Lois ate a little food tonight and then started feeling nauseated. They took some time before giving her some medicine and the pharmacist showed up and told everyone that she was absolutely not to reach the stage where she was throwing up. At least everyone is on the same page now. They may let her come home tomorrow, but I'm thinking it won't be until Monday.
   I received a lot of phone calls and e-mails from people today checking in on us. Thanks so much for your prayers and support. Hopefully this surgery will work out like it was supposed to.
   Peace be with you.

Keeping On

   Lois has her surgery on Friday. The doctor said that it will be difficult and has arranged to have another surgeon there. He doesn't feel like he'll need anyone, but wants to take all the precautions he can. In the meanwhile Lois is dying from pain and can't wait for it to be over. She is slamming vitamin C because she thinks she may have a cold coming on.
   I have been having a lot of knee pains. I think it is my psoriatic arthritis. Sometimes it is extremely painful and I can hardly stand it,  I also had another encephalopathy spell at work on Saturday. I was able to recognize it and turn it around it real quick, and by real quick I mean it took a couple of hours. I feel like I'm getting sicker. I am having more bloody noses these days. This past week I even went home early because I wasn't feeling good and I was nauseous, something that I haven't felt for a while. My pain trumps everything else I have going on, but I feel the other symptoms right there beneath the surface. Suddenly I find myself saying, "Hold on."
   My biggest worry right now is Lois and the girls. The next few days will be kind of hectic at our household. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
   Wishing everyone well.

So This Happened...

   I fell several feet off a ladder today. I don't know what hurt worse, the landing on my back, the two by four that kicked me in the stomach or my pride. I was cutting down the neighbors cottonwood tree that is hanging over our fence. For over a year now it has been rubbing across the top of our roof and the siding. About two months ago I told my neighbor that he needed to do something about his tree and that we were worried about roof damage. He said that it was fine with him if we cut down the tree and basically threw it back in to my hands. I had even explained to him that I had some health issues and he seemed very sympathetic. How it ended up that it was up to me to chop his tree down is beyond me. The day I talked to him I was just happy that he was okay with the whole thing, it didn't occur me until a week or two later that he wanted me to take care of the tree myself.
   Yesterday I trimmed some of the branches off the tree so I could rig a line and pull it over with a come-along because it was leaning in the opposite direction. Things didn't go as well as I had planned and it fell a short distance and landed on the corner of the roof. I figured that if Lois tightened the come-along while I pushed up on the tree with a two by four then it would fall quite easily. It did. I just didn't see myself going down with it. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but as near as I can tell the weight of the tree shoved the two by four back at me as I was prying up on it when it cleared the edge of the roof and we all came down. I feel a little sore, but I think fright probably got the best of me.
   Today I had my clinic appointment and the doctor thinks I'm holding up pretty well. He juggled some meds and we spoke about my blood clot. If you recall, I have a blood clot in the portal vein. My question was whether or not the clot would ever break up and leave. He explained to us that it wasn't something they wanted to risk doing right now. Maybe never. The clot is most likely as hard as a cement boulder and they who have to go directly into the site to do anything about it. What usually happens is that blood vessels start forming around it to pump the blood. In the meantime they wanted me on coumadin to help prevent the clot from growing larger and moving into the splenic vein. If the clot moves into the splenic vein then it's game over. They won't transplant. This was some startling news for Lois and I. Something we had never heard before. After the initial shock went away I realized that there was probably no worry at all. They have me on the right medicine and if all goes well I might be transplanted in the next few months anyway.

 Photo by wikipedia commons

   My liver doctor is also the doctor who's did Lois' endoscopy. He talked to her about her CT scan and couldn't understand why everything has been moving so slow. He recommended that we set up an appointment with the doctor who did the surgery and see about getting this taken care of. We stopped on our way out of the hospital and Lois made an appointment for Thursday. Hopefully they will schedule a surgery soon.
   Well, it's late and I should get some sleep. I'm curious how I'll feel in the morning and if I'm going to be licking any wounds. Stay healthy.

In the Past Week

   This really isn't worthy of being called a post but, I am feeling guilty that I haven't had anything to write lately.

   Not a lot happening these days. I had new labs and everything dropped slightly, but my MELD score stayed the same. I am still holding at 22. My muscles really hurt.

   Lois had an esophagram (barrium swallow) and a CT scan. They were able to confirm that the fundoplication had slipped up above the diaphragm. Lois says she can feel everything she eats or drinks in her ribcage. She is still miserable and we are waiting to hear back from the doctor on what to do next.

   In the past two months my hair color has gone from black to blue to purple and now I'm green. Lois refuses to dye it red.

   That is all. I need some cake.