Each Day Is a Gift

Early morning lab again.  I was so proud of myself getting hubby to lab in record time until I realize it was President Day thus there were minimal traffic!  Man, we used to go skiing on President Day! O Well!  Steven and Jia-fen are home over the weekend.  He borrowed hubby's gym shoes to go running and I thought he was going to catch up to me.  Apparently I went west and he went east! Ha!  One of these days we really ought to have a Ragnar race in the family! :)

35F wow that felt warm after weeks of running in the teens! :) Ran west to 1500W restroom and back AP: 10:35

32F 93%humidity calm.  Wendy joined me today.  We ran a mile warm up to MCT then I proceeded to do 5X800s going east and turned back at 0.25 mile just before 1200E tunnel. Jogged 0.25 mile back to and with Wendy east.  She turned around at 1200W tunnel while I continued on my 4th 800s and just barely past 1500W restroom where I had a quick drink before resuming my last 800s and chased down Wendy. 

I have not done any speedwork on the road since 2012 and it shows.  I think the fastest pace I could barely hold on to for 100m was 9:00.  So sad!  Instead of feeling "springy legs" on my recovery jog home (like I usually did after doing intervals) it was like death march at end of marathon!  I am SO SO SO terribly out of shape!  :( 

AP 10:32 (11:42, 10:00, 9:29, 11:16, 9:40, 11:03, 10:37)

32F Ran with Wendy easy.  AP:  11:32

Had first visit with our nephrologist (not transplant clinic) Dr. Cline this afternoon.  I was concerned that hubby still had no appetite, fatigue, and pain on his right side.  He gave him a thorough exam and based on Monday's lab results, he said everything is heading the right direction, that it takes time for the hematoma to be reabsored, the bladder to be expanded, the apptetite and strength to come back.  He said there should be no reason why he can't travel to Boston in April, by then the flu season will be done.

This evening, hubby didn't want to eat dinner, had chills and fever.  He took 2 Tylenol and I put ice wash cloth on his forehead.  I monitored him through the night and his vital signs came back down.  Other up every 2 hours to void, he was able to sleep.

After a rough night, I got hubby to lab early.  This is his first Thursday lab as we now dial down from 3X a week (MWF) to twice a week (MTh).  Anxiously waited for lab results so I didn't run outside and on the dreadmill with Netflix.

His WBC went up to 16!!! The transplant clinic nephrologist (Dr. Anand) had hubby changed his antibiotics from Cipro to Keflex a week ago when his lab results were out of normal range and he was having diarrhea suggesting that Cipro was too harsh on him.  He had been off Levoquin for a week which was to treat UTI that he eneded up hosptialzed for on Jan. 15.  On Feb 8 (after being off Levoquin for a week), his WBC went up to 10 and that evening he had chills and fever, so he was put on Cipro.  At that time I texted my children and called the afterhour nurse coordinatior.  The nurse suggested that I monitored him thru the night and let the Cipro takes effect.  Eric suggested I take him to the hospital as he might have something more that UTI.  Well, he felt better after Tylenol and cool wash cloth and didn't want me to take him to the ER (which I've done 3 times since transplant with the last one being admitted for possible spesis).  Anyhow, I didn't take him back to the ER.  In retrospect I should have.  Over the last 10 days, hubby has had less energy and appetitte and using a heated rice bag for some pain under the incision.  I also noticed a lump (swelling) on his right side the last few days.

Anyhow, when Dr. Morris called hubby about the elevated WBC, I told hubby to make sure to mention his chills and fever of last night.  Dr. Morris changed the Keflex to Amoxicillin/Autoclav.  After I picked up the antibiotic and readied to cook dinner, hubby went straight to bed and took his vital signs.  Once again he experienced chills and fever,  I called the after hour transplant coordinator and told her about the chills and fever same as he had on Feb 8 but this time I noticed redness in the upper half of his incision which is also tender to touch.  She agreed with me that I should take him to the ER.

We got to the ER at 7:45 (hubby took his 8pm meds enroute) and the place was packed with patients/families.  The ER doc examined him and ordered ultrasound of the kidney and area under the incision, took blood culture x2 and started IV.  We were admitted to the 10th floor (for the 3rd time) 5 hours later at 1:00am.

Zero sleep last night as we were admitted to the hospital room at 1am (the last time was 5 weeks ago for UTI and possible sepsis).  So every hour there on we had vital signs, weights, lab work done.  The Nephrologist (Morris) and transplant surgeon (Fujita) came in at 10am.  At 10:30 we were taken down to CTscan and straight to OR where Dr. Alonso talked to us about hubby's infected hematoma and incision.  There was no choice but to go back to OR and open up the previous transplant surgery's site to clean out the infection.  Antibiotics alone cannot do it.

The surgery lasted two hours. Dr. Alonso gave him one unit of FFP that brought the INR down to 2.2 and there was minimal bleeding.  She cleaned out the abscess and left a JP drain in.  Because of the amount of infected tissues around the incision she left the wound open so that it would heal from the inside outward.  The open wound is 14x3.5x3cm.  packed with saline saoked  Kurlex and covered with 4x4s under  an ABD and wrapped around with the binder (which was barely off 6 weeks post transplant).  Dr. Alonso said he'll need to wear the binder for three months and it will take about 6 weeks for the wound to heal.  So we are one step forward and two steps backward in hubby's recovery journey!  I was so hoping that he'd be getting better and I can start looking at airline tickets for Boston for the two of us. 

I had Steven bring me some running clotehs to the hospital so I could sneak away for my 16 miler today.  After waiting for the doctors to make rounds, getting hubby fed, up voiding and sitting in the chair and back to bed, I finally got out.  I picked up my car outside of the ED and drove to the JRP via Vine St.  It was 3:15pm by the time I got there. Weather was perfect 43F light breeze and parlty sunny.  I was a bit hungry.  For dinner I had some clam chowder and sour dough bread that Wendy brought me from Market Street Grill (my favorite Utah seafood restaurant).  At lunch today I had a yogurt parfait and dinner roll from the cafeteria.  I carried a 6oz water flask and 2 Gu's, cell phone just in case hubby needs me.)

Plan was to run 4 miles north then turned back to the car for water break (not knowing if any of the parkway's bathrooms would have drinking water turn on) and then 4 miles south and back to the car for 16 miles.  There were heaps of dog walkers, cyclists, families with children on bikes).  I Gu'ed at mile 6 and drank from the stale water bottles in my car at mile 8.  Running south got a bit slower and tired.  By 10 miles my legs were ready to quit.  When I reached the tunnel by Winchester park (I think) in West Jordan at mile 11, the tunnel was blocked and I walked up to the road and saw that there was a backhoe on the other side of the road.  Assessing my situation, the slow rate I was going, I knew it would be getting colder and dark by the time I finish so I turned back (cutting the run two miles short) Gu'ed and used the bathroom at the park which thankfully was opened.  That last 5K back to the car was a death march but I made it back to the hospital before it got dark.

AP: 2:41:23  (11:15, 10:57, 11:12, 10:56, 10:48, 11:06, 11:11, 11:47, 11:31, 11:51, 12:38, 12:26, 12:35, 13:13)  Yep!  Slower than tar!!! Believe me, I was not walking, these are my jogging pace.  :(

This run was a failure!  I seriously don't know if I can make it to Boston.  I am battling with chronic PF, 20 lbs overweight, stressed to the max, doing most of my runs at a snail pace and mostly by my lonesome.  Lowell and I talked later that night and he was leaning towards not going to Boston.  But hubby really wants to make the trip.  It's been three years since we went to Boston (or travel for that matter).  He had gone through so much with his illness that a vacation to celebrate our 38th anniversary in Boston is much needed and something he looks forward to every year.  So I will continue to put in the run whenever I can, howerver long my body let me and if I can't make it to the start line, I'll just have a much needed get away to Boston.  Who knows when I'll ever BQ again!