Early yesterday blood cultures came back which were 24 hours old and show negative to growing staph. Later in the afternoon the cultures that have been growing long came back positive for staph. So that means they don't start showing anything growing until later on like the 2nd or 3rd day which means the staph is hanging around.
Doctor still thinks he will get cultures that show negative, might just take time. He had an ultrasound on his fistula (dialysis access in his arm) just because they kind find a source of where the staph might be growing and this looked fine. He may have a ct scan of chest and abdomen just because they have not found a source where the staph is growing. If they don't find anything they will still treat with six weeks of antibiotics.
He has to stay in the hospital through the weekend because some of the cultures came back positive. He is not happy about that. All these test that he is having done is showing he is the picture of health except for the staph so when he gets a transplant they shouldn't need any test he has had everything done that a person can have.
Christy
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
I typed a whole page yesterday and was about to save it and the Internet went down so the heck with it, will do it tomorrow. Its tomorrow, so here goes.
Steve has 2 types of staph, at least one kind is unfamiliar. They have him on his 3rd antibiotic. He had an allergic reaction to the second one. They are looking for one that show sensitivity which means it is working.
He had an MRI on his wrist and shoulder due to joint pain. Wrist show arthritis and the shoulder had some fluid which they drew a small sample of and are growing a culture to see if the staph is in the shoulder. That test is not back yet.
He has had an echo-cardiogram and an esophageal scope to look at his heart. If staph is growing on the heart or in the valves you can see it growing like vegetation. Both of those came back good.
More blood cultures should be back today to see if the staph is still growing. He does feel a lot better but doesn't know why he has to stay in the hospital. He now has Dr. Brown who we have always had she is the nephrologist, Dr. Hawkinson infectious disease doctor, Dr. McGraw (Tim's brother) Cardiologist, and Dr. Smith bone doctor.
Will post more when test come back.
Christy
Steve has 2 types of staph, at least one kind is unfamiliar. They have him on his 3rd antibiotic. He had an allergic reaction to the second one. They are looking for one that show sensitivity which means it is working.
He had an MRI on his wrist and shoulder due to joint pain. Wrist show arthritis and the shoulder had some fluid which they drew a small sample of and are growing a culture to see if the staph is in the shoulder. That test is not back yet.
He has had an echo-cardiogram and an esophageal scope to look at his heart. If staph is growing on the heart or in the valves you can see it growing like vegetation. Both of those came back good.
More blood cultures should be back today to see if the staph is still growing. He does feel a lot better but doesn't know why he has to stay in the hospital. He now has Dr. Brown who we have always had she is the nephrologist, Dr. Hawkinson infectious disease doctor, Dr. McGraw (Tim's brother) Cardiologist, and Dr. Smith bone doctor.
Will post more when test come back.
Christy
Monday, March 21, 2011
Test results from the MRI on Steve's should are back. It shows that he possibly has injured it but it is also showing fluid. The doctor is a little concerned and is going to have a bone doctor stick a needle in it and test some of the fluid. If the fluid shows staph infection he is going to be here in the hospital for a while. If it comes back negative he may be out of here by the end of the week. They are talking about changing the antibiotic after talking to the infectious disease doc but will wait for another set of blood cultures to come back. His hemoglobin has not come back up yet, first blood draw was 7.2, then 7.3 and now is 7.1. He is feeling better but wears out very easily. Tricking infection, can hid and seem to be getting better but doesn't according to blood work so they have to stay on top of it.
Hopefully will find out more tomorrow.
Christy
Hopefully will find out more tomorrow.
Christy
Sunday, March 20, 2011
I no you are shocked that I am posting again so soon, but more test and discussion on Steve's condition. He was admitted into the hospital yesterday morning. The test results from the blood cultures that they took Friday came back yesterday morning, Saturday and showed that Steve has a staff infection in the blood and it is not familiar to the doctor. Dr. Brown is going to talk with the infectious disease doctor tomorrow to make sure he is getting the right antibiotic.
So he is going to be in the hospital for a few days. He was very sick yesterday. Low grade fever, severe headache and entire body ache.
His shoulder has been hurting him bad enough that he doesn't want anyone touching it. We asked the doctor about it and she said that staff infection can settle in your joints. They did an MRI today to see if anything shows up. Probably get the results tomorrow. He has to do dialysis tomorrow again.
The doctor has said he has to be careful with everything thing he does a little scratch or cut could be bad for him. Most people get an infection in their access site for dialysis and Steve's is fine. The doc thinks his possibly came from some scratches on his ankle from an incident he had 3 weeks ago, they are not sure. He has got to be more careful. He was so sick he couldn't walk across the floor or go up and down the stairs.
I will try and post again when I no more about the test results.
So he is going to be in the hospital for a few days. He was very sick yesterday. Low grade fever, severe headache and entire body ache.
His shoulder has been hurting him bad enough that he doesn't want anyone touching it. We asked the doctor about it and she said that staff infection can settle in your joints. They did an MRI today to see if anything shows up. Probably get the results tomorrow. He has to do dialysis tomorrow again.
The doctor has said he has to be careful with everything thing he does a little scratch or cut could be bad for him. Most people get an infection in their access site for dialysis and Steve's is fine. The doc thinks his possibly came from some scratches on his ankle from an incident he had 3 weeks ago, they are not sure. He has got to be more careful. He was so sick he couldn't walk across the floor or go up and down the stairs.
I will try and post again when I no more about the test results.
Friday, March 18, 2011
March 18
Steve has been sick for 8 days. First thought it to be the flu. He hemoglobin dropped to 7.2 which is dangerously low. They like his to be high 10 or 11. His primary physician wanted to give him blood but the nephrologist said we should hold off and try to get it back up with the epogen injections. Transfusing him will mess things up if he were to get a transplant in the near future, antibodies, etc...
His instructions are to do absolutely nothing. He has felt so bad that he can't walk across the floor without getting tired. The doctors want him to eat and sleep, eat and sleep, nothing else at all. They have done other test to see if he is loosing blood somewhere but everything has checked out ok. Sometimes when you are without the kidneys this will happen, the hemoglobin drops and makes you feel ill.
I have taken his cell phone away because he lives by this piece of technology and won't put it down. So I have asked if you are checking on him to call me not his phone so he will sleep. He didn't put up a fight about this so I know how bad he is feeling. He goes back to have labs drawn on Wednesday to see if his hemoglobin is coming up hopefully it is or they will take drastic measures. The doctor scarred me when she said I don't want him walking stairs, bending over or exerting himself at all, he is so low on blood he could have a heart attack from not enough blood to pump. So he is complying with their demands.
We need some major praying to get over this hill and onto a transplant. He is really getting down about it. It will be 2 years in April he has been on the list and 18 months doing dialysis.
Christy
Steve has been sick for 8 days. First thought it to be the flu. He hemoglobin dropped to 7.2 which is dangerously low. They like his to be high 10 or 11. His primary physician wanted to give him blood but the nephrologist said we should hold off and try to get it back up with the epogen injections. Transfusing him will mess things up if he were to get a transplant in the near future, antibodies, etc...
His instructions are to do absolutely nothing. He has felt so bad that he can't walk across the floor without getting tired. The doctors want him to eat and sleep, eat and sleep, nothing else at all. They have done other test to see if he is loosing blood somewhere but everything has checked out ok. Sometimes when you are without the kidneys this will happen, the hemoglobin drops and makes you feel ill.
I have taken his cell phone away because he lives by this piece of technology and won't put it down. So I have asked if you are checking on him to call me not his phone so he will sleep. He didn't put up a fight about this so I know how bad he is feeling. He goes back to have labs drawn on Wednesday to see if his hemoglobin is coming up hopefully it is or they will take drastic measures. The doctor scarred me when she said I don't want him walking stairs, bending over or exerting himself at all, he is so low on blood he could have a heart attack from not enough blood to pump. So he is complying with their demands.
We need some major praying to get over this hill and onto a transplant. He is really getting down about it. It will be 2 years in April he has been on the list and 18 months doing dialysis.
Christy
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)