H. pylori .....and PILLS

Thomas tested positive for H. pylori. This is the cause for the stomach ulcers. Now to get rid of these ulcers, there's a lot of PILLS. He's taking 2 kinds of antibiotics, each 4 times a day (8 pills total). Plus there's 2 pills to heal the ulcers. One kind has to be taken an hour before he eats, another when he eats. We actually have a schedule set up because this is a 14 day process. All this is over and beyond his usual pills; however, he's off all his vitamins for this time period because the vitamins inhibit one of the antibiotics.....and there's not enough hours in the day to keep "everyone" separated by the appropriate amount of time!

What is also interesting is that I am being tested for H. pylori tomorrow!! I went to the doctor today for a cortisone shot in my left wrist (scheduled several weeks ago). When the dr. walked in he told me that 80% of the spouses of people who have H. pylori also have H. pylori. It can lie dormant. Wouldn't that be a hoot???!!! I'll keep you posted.

Thomas decided he wanted to go to breakfast with his Tuesday a.m. breakfast group this morning so I took him. He's been in bed most of the remainder of the day. Does that give you an idea how weak he is?

Father's Day 2007

Father's Day was celebrated here with visits from the Illinois grandkids. Visits were short and sweet so as to not tire out Papa too much. Everyone was just happy to have Papa home from the hospital.

Jenn, Riley, Shelby, and Avery brought lunch and visited for awhile.



William and his Daddy visited later in the afternoon. William did sit still long enough for a picture. He was very busy checking things out around here. Now that he's walking, he's a busy little guy.





Later in the day we talked to Tony and Julie too, so all the kids checked in to wish their Dad Happy Father's Day.

Sepsis

A new word has entered our vocabulary this week….Sepsis. It’s nasty! Thomas developed what we thought was an urinary tract infection. After two days of medication he got worse so we headed to the ER. The med he was on was not touching what he had plus he was dehydrated so the ER doc said the iv med would make him feel better soon and he would need to stay overnight to get hydrated. Made sense then. But as the fevers and shakes continued, so did the hospital time. Come to discover he had urosepsis….sepsis developing from a urinary tract infection. Nasty stuff. Further testing to try to understand why his liver numbers were wacky discovered he has ulcers in the lower end of his stomach. Lab work still out to determine the cause of these. Is anything connected or just coincidence? Still to be determined. He at least is home, eating, drinking, and sleeping and s-l-o-w-l-y getting some strength back.

Warning......DRINK water even if you don't want to.....and watch any infection that does not respond very quickly to medication. Don't "wait" for it to get better.....check further!!!