Up, Up and Away!

Wednesday, 10/28/09, 09:08 AM
St. Mary's Hospital, Decatur, IL

We've been at the hospital for over 24 hours now.  Mom and Dad brought the kids up to visit after school yesterday.  Their visit and non-stop Law & Order: SVU on USA got us through the evening.  But the real sanity-saver has been the free wireless internet.  I grabbed both of our laptops yesterday morning when I went home to shower and change.  I believe this feature is way more important than a private room.

I realize that you might be thinking to yourself, "Jim has some really colorful pants in the proceeding photo."  You're correct.  These are his superhero pants.  It seemed fitting to wear them at the hospital.  Here's a close-up.  These are nice cotton-knit pants with an elastic waist.  But his all-time favorite pajama pants are red fleece with cowboys on them.  Sadly, the cowboy pants are still in Champaign.  I need to go to Champaign today to do more packing and cleaning.  We have to be out of Baytowne by Saturday.  Maybe Dad can watch Jim and Sophie while I'm gone today.

Jim's feeling better today.  His eye is very swollen and he still has the giant knot on his forehead.  But his blood pressure is back to normal and his cough has been much less severe.  The prescription cough meds are clearly helping.  We just took a walk around the 4th floor.  No dizziness!  We're getting sprung today!!!  (Insert Snoopy Dance here)

You can read Jim's first-hand account here: http://justkidneying.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-halloween-horror.html

Drama on the Prairie

I woke up at 5:00 AM this morning to find my husband disoriented and bleeding profusely from a deep cut above his right eye.  There was blood all over the bathroom floor.  I was so thankful that we were in Decatur and my parents were there to help me care for him.  My Dad went with us to the Emergency Room and my Mom stayed behind to clean the bathroom and get the kids to school.  I'm not sure what I would have done if this had happened to us in Champaign.

Other than a swollen, bruised knee, a bad gash over his eye and a giant goose egg filling up the right half of his forehead, Jim is okay.  X-rays, CT scans and EKGs were clear.  The culprit appears to be his horrific cough (the one he's had for about 8 days).  He's experienced at least three coughing fits that were so severe that he blacked out.  One happened very early this morning - around 2 AM.  He lost consciousness and fell head-first off the bed.  Thank goodness he missed the night table and the dresser.

Jim's cough is dry and hacking; his lungs and chest are clear.  The ER doctor said these symptoms are consistent with whooping cough.  But the test for whooping cough is expensive and very time consuming, so the doctor recommended treating Jim for whooping cough (with an antibiotic).  However, he was concerned about the blackouts and decided to keep Jim overnight for observation.

So here we are...in St. Mary's Hospital in Decatur, IL.  The same hospital where we came for The Great Gout Attack in May.  Every room is private and has a loveseat with a pull-out bed.  I'll stay here with Jim tonight and we're confident that he'll be released tomorrow.  Ironically, we had to cancel today's visit with the nephrologist.  Plenty of time for that next week...

My Mom told me this morning, "This just reinforces that this move was the right thing."  I concur.  Jim and I certainly didn't anticipate needing help this soon, but we are so thankful that help was there when we needed it. Mom and Dad - you're the best.  We love you.  (And Sophie - thanks for being such a little trooper this morning - sleeping through the drama and not waking up the kids.  Good girl to sleep peacefully in your house!)