Friday

We have great news today.Charlie's lungs were clear!!! Praise the Lord! Last time we heard those words were before September. So if we can keep him well, he does not have to see the pulmonologist again for four months. We are so happy and Charlie was so relieved. His doctor is leaving and moving to Colorado. This was the last time we will see him. However, we do like his partner that will be taking over Charlie's care.
So thank you, thank you everyone, for your prayers. We know, that prayer has gotten Charlie this far and will keep him going for a long time to come.
Loving hugs, Barbee & Charlie

Thursday

I picked up Charlie's antibiotics today. Yesterday the doctor told us he was bringing out the BIG GUNS in antibiotics line. Shortly later the nurse said Wow, he is calling on the Big Ones.. Sure enough he is taking one pill a day for 20 days. That is 20 pills and they were over $300.00. YEP that is right $321.00. So hopefully this will kill any infection he has going on. It is the same meds they were giving him by IV in the hospital but was only on for two days. So surely after 20 days, all infection will be gone. That is our prayer any way. He is getting these meds just in time because he woke today with more coughing and a runny nose.
Tomorrow is off to the Pulmonologist.
Also for those of you who know about the shoulder pain I have been in for the past year, that is keeping me from sleeping in bed, I have an update. Charlie insisted that I make an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon. So I see him on the 8Th. Those that don't know, it is the shoulder I tore all the ligaments in, back in '82. It has bothered me all these years, only off and on. The past few years it is more often, with the last year being nonstop. Over the counter meds no longer work and the only way I can sleep is with a mild sleeping aid usually in the recliner. Even muscle relaxers have stopped working. So hopefully, I can get some arthritis meds and it will help.
So that is it for today.
Loving hugs to all of you.

Wednesday Updatge

Charlie had an appointment with an ENT today. He did x-rays of his face and discovered a lot of infection in his sinus. He put him on high doses of antibiotics for three weeks. The day after his last dose, he goes back for a CAT Scan, from his neck up. He said the elevated white cell count is too high to be caused from this sinus infection, so that is not the culprit.
So, that is it till Friday, when we see the Pulmonary doctor again.

Charlie Update

We heard from our PC doctor today about Charlie's blood work. Everything is looking better. The white blood cell count is getting better and so is the liver. The liver was elevated to 22,000 and they want it to be around 11,000. His has dropped to 17,000. That is some of the best news we have heard in a while.
So we will see what the liver specialist says about it, when he gets a copy of the report. Our PC doctor was pleased with the readings today, considering all that Charlie has been through. He said today the fact that Charlie has been in CHF three times since Jan. could be the cause of the elevated liver readings. Charlie has an appointment with an ENT tomorrow afternoon and the Pulmonary Doctor on Friday. So I will update when we hear from the liver doctor and when we see how his ENT and Pulmonary visits go.

Cheyenne's 6th Grade Graduation

Well everyone, I want to take a little time to brag about Cheyenne. On Wednesday the 27Th, she will be having her 6Th Grade Graduation. We are so proud of her. This may not seem like a big deal but to us is is a HUGE deal because she is making Straight A's...

WTG Cheynaboo!! We are SO proud of you.

With Dan not working, she has had to drop out of Tai~Kwan~Do and Gymnastics; yet she has not let that get her down. She studies hard, and gets involved in every school activity she can. Her teachers consider her a role model. She made these grades while being active in Tai~Kwan~Do, Gymnastics, Indoor and Outdoor Soccer, Girl Scouts, D.A.R.E. and other school activities.

So, thank you for letting this proud Grannie, brag about her shining star.

Grandpa and I love you Cheyenne!

Thursday

Hi Everyone,
Well today we went to see our Primary Doctor and the doctor about the liver elevations. What a day! Our PD, said Charlie lungs sounded clear. He ordered some blood work, to see if the white blood cell counts have gone back to normal or not. Then a couple hours later we met the with the doctor about the liver test. He never received all the records from hospital, so he was not sure why he was there. So he ordered over the records and we waiting in the lobby for them to arrive. Upon reviewing them, he said the CAT Scan that was taken, was not for the abdomen area, so he had no answers about anything. He wanted to order blood work too. When he gets the results, then he will call us as to what IF anything, to do next. He was concerned about the occasional yellowing of Charlies skin and eyes. He was concerned about the elevated liver readings that were obtained while he was in the hospital. What is causing the elevation??? He does not know. Could it have been the steroids he was on? Possibly was his answer.
So again, we sit and we wait, for blood work results. The best I can do right now is when he turns yellow, take him to the doctors office and let them take a look?$#&$*#%#??????
So we know no more today than yesterday but hopefully will know more tomorrow.
Love, Barbee

Monday

I spoke with our Primary Doctor today about Charlie's blood work from last week. He wants to see Charlie on Thursday. That is also the day we are to see the specialist about the elevated liver readings. He is not having as many nose bleeds. He has not coughed up any blood for a couple days now, so for those things we are so thankful. He has had a couple dizzie episodes, but I think he is just pushing himself too much, doing the things he says he has to get done.

Blood work results

While we were having lunch out today the doctor called and left a message, with blood work results. Everything looked good except the white blood cell count, was very high. This means there is still infection, some where. By the time we got home, the doctors office had closed, as it closes at noon on Friday. So Monday, we will call and find out, what next. It is hard for me to believe with all the IV antibiotics he had and the oral antibiotics, that he can still have infection........

Thursday

We made it through the storms last night. There were tornado warnings all around us and including where we live. We are due for more storms tonight but today was a beautiful day.
This morning Charlie and I got up, showered and headed to get his blood work done. Afterwards he wanted to go eat, as he had to fast for the blood work and was hungry.
When we left there he wanted met to take him to Sears and buy some new tools. Yep, that's right, he wanted new tools. Guess what, he got new tools, too. You guys will love this, he bought a Tool Set with a reciprocating saw, drill, circular saw, light, with two batteries.. He was so excited. Then he wanted to go shopping for the things we need to complete our bathroom remodel. Oh My Gosh... He was so excited.. We had so much fun. We stopped several times and rested throughout the day. Our vehicle is still loaded with everything we purchased but who cares. It will be there tomorrow. Dan is going to unload it tomorrow, and start working on the bath, with his "supervisor" Charlie looking on.
So even though he tires easily, is weak, he is doing things he wants to do and I am going along for the ride.
That is it for our update today.

Monday

Charlie was supposed to go for blood work today. Need to compare with the ones from last week, while he was in the hospital. I started wondering last night if he was supposed to fast or not. So this morning, I called the doctors office and we waited two hours for them to return our call. By that time, Charlie had to eat, as he was getting so weak. YES, he did need to fast. So we are going on Wednesday for the blood work.
I was able to finish the painting in the upstairs bath today. Charlie then hung the light over the sink. It wore him out but he was so happy to be doing the work.
That is it from here, for today.
Have a great evening.
Hugs, Barbee

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful moms. I hope you day was perfect!

Charlie and I have had a real laid back day today. We had roasted chicken for dinner. We watched the Cardinals Ballgame and just rested the rest of the day.

He has only had a few coughing episodes today and with the help of his cough meds, he was able to get them under control.

I am happy to say there is not anything bad to report today.

Hugs, Barbee

Saturday

Charlie wanted to get out of the house today. So he wanted to go to Lowes. While there he started having a coughing attack. He has been coughing up some blood but not enough for him to go to the ER. When we came home he took some cough meds and is resting.

Charlie has spent the day talking about things he wants to do. He has such a positive attitude, right now. He told me yesterday, he knows he does not have much time, and he has things he wants to do.. With his EF being 10%, we have to do what ever we can, when he wants to.
He has been busy working on his "honey-do list. Or at least he has Dan working on it. lol Poor Dan, little did he know, he was going to be doing Charlie's "honey do list". lol He is a trooper though. No matter what Charlie or I ask him to do, he drops what he is doing and gets right on it.
I think he has one more day of antibiotics, so hopefully when they are gone, he will not slip back. Forward, forward, forward, we must go.
Hugs, Barbee

Hi Everyone,
First of all, thank you for checking out our blog for updates on Charlie. It sure was easier to post the updates there, than to try to send updates to everyone. As I always forget to update someone.

Charlie had a good night last night and got a good amount of sleep. He looks so much more rested today. I think he has one more days worth of antibiotics to take and six more days of steroids.
He says he feels better. The only thing he is complaining about are the places where his IV's were this time. He said they are actually sore to touch or bump. He has never had them be sore before. One of them gave us some difficulty when leaving yesterday. When we were waiting on the elevator, someone walked by and said, he was bleeding all over the floor. Sure enough, there was a puddle of blood and a trail back to his room. Plus he had slung some on a wall, I guess when waiving goodbye to the nurses at the nurses station. So the nurse applied a lot of pressure and got it to stop, then Charlie walked around for a while last night, with his hand over his heart. Looked like he was Pledging allegiance. Lol
That area is pretty sore. The had that IV in his hand and the other in his arm.
On the way home yesterday, he wanted to take the long way home. He started talking about things he wants to do and said he knows he may not have a lot of time left. So he really wants to start feeling better, so he can do some things.
I think that was one of the reasons he is looking so forward to the 4th of July Family BBQ at our house this year. When I first mentioned the possibility of it, he was ready to send the invitations. So I am glad I got right on it, as he has mentioned it several times.
So I am hoping we are able to get him up on his feet, so he can make plans and look forward and not backward. He has several things he wants to do, and we are going to do them, period.
So that is it for now. I need to get back to work. I am hanging wall paper in the bathroom.
I will be updating more to our blog, as I do find it faster and easier. So please keep check in there.
Love, Barbee

GREAT NEWS,
Charlie is home. The high doses of IV antibiotics finally kicked in enough to let him come home. The high doses of diuretics finally got all the fluid off and there was very little noise in the lungs, this morning. The CAT Scan, that they did late last night, showed a lot of improvement. So he was sent home with steroids and antibiotics for the next week. They were amazed at the improvement over night. I am sure getting four hours of sleep, made a huge difference. We were both so worn out and so I am sure with him being sick on top of it, was horrible.
He has an appointment on the 22nd with a specialist about the elevated liver readings.
He now has three inhalers. I could tell tonight when it was time for one of them, as I could hear the wheezing. Shortly after he used the inhaler, the wheezing was gone.
We are so happy he is home and that we got to the hospital soon enough, to where he did not have to stay a week again.
So once again, Thank you everyone for lifting Charlie up in prayers. We are so blessed to have family and friends who are always praying for him.
Loving hugs, Charlie and Barb

Talking with Charlie this morning to see if he needs anything, from home. He said they did a Cat Scan last night and put another IV in the other arm so he now has one in both arms. He was feeling better because he got 4 hours of sleep last night. So the medication did work. Nothing new, yet today.

Charlie Update

Charlie ,
I just arrived home and have an update. The doctor told us this evening it may be three or four more days, that Charlie will be in the hospital.The main reasons are, there is still infection and they are not sure from what. His CHF (Congestive Heart Failure)plus the cough, is still too bad. They tried again to talk him into getting an IED and he has refused. His *EF (ejection fraction) is only 10%. * EF = In cardiovascular physiology, ejection fraction (Ef) is the fraction of blood pumped out of a ventricle with each heart beat.

His blood work on his liver shows there is certainly something going on there and so a specialist has been called in, hopefully for tomorrow. That just may be why the yellow eyes and skin, he has had periodically, that I told them about yesterday.

He had some really difficult times today doing a breathing test. He was so worn out when he was done. He could not perform the test well enough for good results. Each time he tried, it would cause him the severe coughs. One he even coughed up a lot of blood.

He was real dark under his eyes tonight and I think that is from lack of sleep. It has been four nights with almost no sleep. Today I got him to sleep a good 35 minutes straight, while I was there. I asked the doctor for some meds to help him sleep and they are going to give him something mild. I offered to stay with him but he wanted me to come home. He said he is worried about me too from having no rest.

On a real good note, he felt like eating today. He ate a good amount of his lunch and dinner. I was so happy to see that .

We took a walk this evening before I left. He walked down the hall and we sat and rested in the waiting room and he drank a half cup of coffee. Then we went back to his room. He said he was ready to call it a night by then.

So that is it for today. Will update more tomorrow.
Love, Barbee

Hi Everyone,
I wanted to let everyone know Charlie is back in the hospital. We got there around 1:30p.m. And did not get a room till around 8:45p.m. They have him on a heart monitor. Giving him oxygen too. They gave him some breathing treatments. They were giving him nebeulizers every 15 minutes. So he got three of them, within an hour of being there. That helped so much.
As many of you know, he has not been well since September. Since the last hospital stay, when I brought him on April 2, he has not done well at all. He has not slept for three nights, so we knew something was getting serious again..
I told him yesterday I could hear him gurgling again, which I have grown to know as a sign of pneumonia or congestive heart failure, or both. Around 10 a.m., I gave him his shower and he was so weak he could hardly stand up, when he got out. The shower completely wore him out. An hour later, he could not catch his breath. When he finally did, I told him we are going to the ER, either by car or ambulance. He chose car.
X-rays showed no change in his lungs from when he was in last month. His x-rays are always murky. So they looked the same. There were lots of lung sounds and the cough was full blown again, with out the blood.
Blood work shows his BNP reading was 989. Not as bad as last month, when they were 1,974, but they want it to be 200 or less.
So, they started him on high doses of antibiotics for Congestive Heart Failure and Pneumonia. Along with that, he is being given IV diuretics. He already is taking four diuretics a day, now. So it is hard to believe the fluids can be building up. Plus they gave him a steroid in his IV that has really relieved the cough. It got better within minutes. It is still there but bearable now.
I also questioned the yellowing of his skin and his eyes. It is not an all the time thing but his happening more frequently. One of his liver tests that they did first thing did show much higher than normal readings. So they are leaving notes for his doctors on that. I want to be at the hospital early, so I can be there when they make their rounds.

Not sure how long he will be in this time, hopefully just a couple days, since we got him there early.
So please check our blog for updates. I hope you do not mind but I feel it is easier, to give the updates if I only have to worry about one place.
Loving Hugs, Charlie & Barbee