Bob is STILL BLEEDING

Family and Friends,

I am very discouraged today. Bob tested positive for a bowel infection called cdiff . "C. diff," is a bacterium that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon. Illness from C. difficile most commonly affects older adults in hospitals or in long term care facilities and typically occurs after use of antibiotic medications. In recent years, C. difficile infections have become more frequent, more severe and more difficult to treat. Because of this they had to take out the pic line in his arm, switch it to his other arm and now they have to take his blood pressure from his leg because his arms can't handle it.

To add insult to injury, I spoke with the docs yesterday regarding Bob's surgery and I found out the whole truth which made me very upset: When the GI doc and surgeon performed Bob's operation on Saturday they went down half way into Bob's intestine, found that huge ulcer and stopped. Come to find out there was still 15 feet of intestine that they didn't look at with a scope, all they did was inspect it on the outside. If Bob has ulcers in his stomach, and a huge ulcer in his intestine, I just don't understand why they didn't finish the job. When I asked them, they said it was too deep and they were worried that they might perferate the intestine. I did not however ask them why they just didn't the scope out of Bob's mouth and stick it right at the site where they were cutting and start there. They said they were confident that the spot where they cut was the culprit of all of Bob's problems.

I really hope that they are right, but I am a realist and I don't believe that is the case. It's been 2 1/2 days now since his surgery and he is bleeding both more frequently and with more volume. This concerns me. His platelets have dropped 100,000 to 220,000 and although they are giving him blood, 4 units a day with plasma the last 2 days, his red blood count has not risen. I asked the surgeon if he was concerned and he said he still believed Bob was bleeding out the remainder from his operation.

With regard to his traecheotomy, I was surprised when I spoke to the pulmonologist yesterday. I was expecting her to make me sign the waivers to immediately do the traech. She said however that Bob's blood gas was in the normal range and that he was only breathing with 20% oxygen so she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and wake him up and see if he could breathe on his own. She woke him up and the good news is that he's still with us. He can recognize faces and blink to communicate. However yesterday they did not believe he was strong enough to breathe on his own. The pulmo doc said that it would be the surgeon who would perform the traech operation. When I spoke to the surgeon however he wanted to do the traech on Thursday. He said he wanted Bob's bleeding issues to be handled first. I knew he was concerned about the bleeding, I guess he just didn't want to admit it. So in the meanwhile for the next two days, they are going to wake him up for an hour or so and see if possibly his breathing is getting stronger so that maybe he doesn't need the traech after all.

I'm very upset at this whole bleeding situation if you couldn't tell. But everyday I have to remind myself to be grateful for little things that Bob has accomplished. These are the things I am grateful for: that Bob can recoginze people. That shows us that after 15 days he's still there. I'm grateful that his blood gas is in the normal range, and I am grateful that Bob's kidneys are getting back to normal and that he hasn't needed dialysis in the last 3 days. I am grateful that Alywn Cosgrove called me yesterday and gave me a kick in the butt to keep me motivated, and most importantly I am grateful that no one including the doctors have given up hope. I appreciate all the kind words and support everyone is sending. To be honest, if I didn't have Bob's aunt and uncle here helping me get through this, I think I would have had a nervous breakdown by now. All the emails and words of encouragement have been wonderful as well. Thank you so much.

Bob has hit a rough patch and is still fighting like hell. Please continue to pray for him.
Love and thanks,
Michele