Monday 1/12/2009 8:38 PM

Sally had a great day!  She graduated from Dr. Newton's care today.  He says she's doing fabulously and won't need to return IF she'll follow up with her cardiologist, Dr. Drenning and IF she'll begin Cardiac Rehab to get stronger and stronger.  She said OK to both.   Cardiac Rehab starts next Monday and she has an appointment with Dr. Drenning on the 28th at 1:45.

Sally's giving her own insulin shots on a regular basis.  Tomorrow we'll start her with doing the blood sugar tests herself.  I'm proud of her.

Tomorrow we'll see Dr. Jiminez and see what the next step is with the kidneys.

Blood sugars are good today.  Still coming down.

Sunday 1/11 2:42 PM

Yea!  Sally gave her first insulin shot to herself today!  She's still afraid to do it, but she persevered!  Said it wasn't as bad as she expected it to be.

It's a cold day today here in Arab.  Karen came over and made turkey meat loaf for lunch.  Sally's blood sugar continues to drop even a few counts per day, but in the right direction.

Three doctor appointments this week, so it'll be busy.

Rita is coming on Wednesday and I'll be returning to San Antonio for 3 weeks on Thursday.  Sally will likely welcome the change.  Her spirits are good and her health and strength are both improving.

Friday 1/9/09 6:25 PM

Sally had a good visit to Dr. McCrory (pulmonologist) today.  He was amazed at how much better she looks.  He wants to see her again in 3 months to give her a breathing test.

We went to the Blue Plate Cafe in Huntsville for lunch.  Sally enjoyed fried catfish (she's allowed one fried entree per week) and vegetables.  So, afterward, when we got home, she was ready for a nap.

The weather was nicer, today here in North Alabama.. Cool, but clear.

Thursday 1/8/09 5:37 PM

Sally's doing well.  She had her second bath today and enjoyed it even more.  The physical therapist came today and said that he can tell that she's working on her exercises in between his visits.  She is adjusting fairly well to her diabetic diet and beginning to be interested in carb-counting.

We had an outing to Wal-Mart this afternoon where she saw a few people that she knew.  We picked up a pair of Crocs for her to walk in.  They can accommodate her swollen feet.

Blood sugars are pretty good.  Making progress.

Tuesday 1/6/2009 3:03 PM

Sally just had her first bath in the tub since early November!  She reports that it was an "out-of-body" experience.  She's feeling better than yesterday.

The Physical Therapist and the Nurse from Home Health Care just came.  They are both pleased with her progress.  Although Sally doesn't feel like she's making much progress, we can all see the improvement.

We will see Dr. Newton on Monday, the 12th and Dr. Jiminez on Tuesday, the 13th.  Dr. Jiminez says that, based on Sally's progress, he will probably get a little more aggressive on the stones remaining in the kidney.  We're all hoping the next step could be as early as later this month.  As previously mentioned. he will consider "blasting" these stones using sound waves.  It might take more than one procedure to get them all.

Sally's just thrilled to have the drain bag removed so there's no more emptying of that or wearing it strapped to her leg.

Right now, she's resting with her feet raised.  She's having more swelling in her legs, ankles and feet than we would like.

Monday 1/5/2009 10:47 AM

Stone removal success!  Dr. Jiminez came out a few minutes ago to let us know that everything went well!  Her ureter had actually dilated a lot so he was able to get his endoscopic camera way up and check.  He removed stone debris from the ureter (the stones may have passed already on their own). and placed a stent in the ureter that runs from the kidney all the way down to the bladder.

He's thrilled with her progress.  He feels that he might be able to move up the timetable for "blasting" those stones that remain in the kidney possibly to do that yet this month.  This should be a brief procedure again done on an outpatient basis.

He also says Sally needs to drink more water.

We're waiting now for Sally to recover in the post-op area, then we'll be making plans to head back to Arab.  Yea!

Report from Arab, AL 1 4 2009

I'm back in Alabama with Sally.  We're getting ready for the big event in the morning to remove those three kidney stones in her right ureter!  Then, we're hoping the flow will resume and the nephrostomy tube may be removed in a couple of weeks.

Her heart and her bed sore are mending well.  She's getting stronger.  We had a little outing this morning to the landfill, post office, cemetery, and Wal-mart.  She did well.

Her blood glucose is averaging 177 so that's good.  Still hasn't learned to self-administer the insulin shots, but we're discussing this.

Pray for our big day tomorrow.  We're hoping that the procedure will be almost outpatient in nature.  Even though she will undergo general anesthesia, we're hoping for her to go home tomorrow.

More later.