Jill - this is for you.
http://youtu.be/GnsaUcAeD9s
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Spring Break at the Dells
As soon as Kevin's bulb was taken out he started planning a spring break vacation. We weren't sure we could take a family vacation at all this year, so he was really super excited to take the family somewhere soon.
We have done lots of water parks but had never been to the Dells so that's where Kevin decided we should go. I do not like water. I do not like to be cold. I do not like to get wet. I do not like to get splashed. But the girls love water. They love to swim. They love [moderate] slides. Water does not make them cold. And I love my family. So we went to the Dells.
There are so many different resorts there and Kevin wanted to try 2 different ones so the first night we stayed at Mt Olympus. It is on the lower end of the "resort" scale but still nice. Kevin chose it to go to their indoor theme park. The girls enjoyed it.
The next day we started off at Dells' “Downtown”. One place the girls were excited to go was “Wizard Quest”. It’s a fantasy game where a team solves clues to unlock 4 captured Wizards. It was great fun after Bryn decided it wasn’t scary. We were there almost 2 hours and still didn’t solve all the clues and only unlocked 1 wizard.
The weather was wonderful which was awesome.
The highlight for Kevin might have been lunch; we found a Famous Dave’s. I have to admit I loved it, too.
That night we changed resorts to The Wilderness. Kevin decided to upgrade our room after he made the initial reservation. The girls had their own room with bunk beds, closet and tv;
we had a very nice kitchen that we didn’t use;
and a nice comfy king-sized master bed with our own tv, a great seating area with a tv, and 2 bathrooms.
The Wilderness is HUGE; there are 3 separate pool areas, it takes 20 minutes to walk anywhere, and lots of activities besides water so I was pleasantly surprised.
Kevin bought an underwater camera/video for this vacation though he forgot to bring it the first two days. I was excited to try it and the first opportunity was at the wave pool.
Pictures:
And video:
The Dells was lots of fun and I was super duper impressed with The Wilderness. Even though it took a long time to walk anywhere, but it was always worth it. There were great play areas, we played 3D golf
stopped at the candy store twice,
girls drove bumper boats,
and enjoyed the great pools.
We have done lots of water parks but had never been to the Dells so that's where Kevin decided we should go. I do not like water. I do not like to be cold. I do not like to get wet. I do not like to get splashed. But the girls love water. They love to swim. They love [moderate] slides. Water does not make them cold. And I love my family. So we went to the Dells.
There are so many different resorts there and Kevin wanted to try 2 different ones so the first night we stayed at Mt Olympus. It is on the lower end of the "resort" scale but still nice. Kevin chose it to go to their indoor theme park. The girls enjoyed it.
The next day we started off at Dells' “Downtown”. One place the girls were excited to go was “Wizard Quest”. It’s a fantasy game where a team solves clues to unlock 4 captured Wizards. It was great fun after Bryn decided it wasn’t scary. We were there almost 2 hours and still didn’t solve all the clues and only unlocked 1 wizard.
The weather was wonderful which was awesome.
The highlight for Kevin might have been lunch; we found a Famous Dave’s. I have to admit I loved it, too.
That night we changed resorts to The Wilderness. Kevin decided to upgrade our room after he made the initial reservation. The girls had their own room with bunk beds, closet and tv;
we had a very nice kitchen that we didn’t use;
and a nice comfy king-sized master bed with our own tv, a great seating area with a tv, and 2 bathrooms.
The Wilderness is HUGE; there are 3 separate pool areas, it takes 20 minutes to walk anywhere, and lots of activities besides water so I was pleasantly surprised.
Kevin bought an underwater camera/video for this vacation though he forgot to bring it the first two days. I was excited to try it and the first opportunity was at the wave pool.
Pictures:
And video:
stopped at the candy store twice,
girls drove bumper boats,
and enjoyed the great pools.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
No Bulb!
There have actually been a few developments that last couple of days. Kevin noticed the bulb on the end of his tube wasn't staying "charged"; flattened to create suction. He heard a soft squealing noise and saw it was inflating which is no good because then the fluid isn't drawn out. Upon further inspection he discovered a hole in his tube right where it exists the skin. We didn't know what to do about that. Since it was Friday night, he called on Saturday morning and spoke with the on-call surgeon. He said it was fine. We were not convinced. Kevin felt his tube wouldn't drain properly or had the possibility to get clogged with blood or skin.
So he called again on Monday morning and left a message. No return call. The clinic was closed for MLK day. But this morning the nurse called us and spoke with Choi. Choi called Kevin back (love the person-to-person communication!) and told Kevin to cut the tube off past the stitch holding it in place and just to get rid of the bulb. Kevin is to continue to pack the area with gauze and the minimal fluid will continue to come out the short drain (unlikely it is clogged Choi said) and just soak into the gauze.
So no more dangling bulb. No more pinning and re-pinning it to his shirt to get the exact spot to camouflage it underneath his clothes. No more adjusting it with every shift of his body in bed while he tries to sleep. No more gingerly setting it on the bathroom counter after his shower while he dries off and making sure to limit his movements so he doesn't pull too far away and rip the stitch out - which happened once.
Even though nothing has changed internally with Kevin, this is progress to us.
So he called again on Monday morning and left a message. No return call. The clinic was closed for MLK day. But this morning the nurse called us and spoke with Choi. Choi called Kevin back (love the person-to-person communication!) and told Kevin to cut the tube off past the stitch holding it in place and just to get rid of the bulb. Kevin is to continue to pack the area with gauze and the minimal fluid will continue to come out the short drain (unlikely it is clogged Choi said) and just soak into the gauze.
So no more dangling bulb. No more pinning and re-pinning it to his shirt to get the exact spot to camouflage it underneath his clothes. No more adjusting it with every shift of his body in bed while he tries to sleep. No more gingerly setting it on the bathroom counter after his shower while he dries off and making sure to limit his movements so he doesn't pull too far away and rip the stitch out - which happened once.
Even though nothing has changed internally with Kevin, this is progress to us.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Back at Work
Kevin finished his first week of work. He is schedule has him going in to the office MWF mornings, and MWF afternoons + TTh all day working from home. He is tired but has adjusted relatively well.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Drain News
Kevin saw his surgeon yesterday. We were hopeful about the status of his drain because so little is coming out of it; Kevin doesn't even empty it every day. There's about a dribble every-other day. So we were going to push for its removal plus a decrease or stoppage of his antibiotics which still leave him queasy.
Before the appt Kevin had a procedure done with contrast fluid and pictures. The results are not good. He has two leaks in his small intestine. One is where his intestine was resectioned. We don't know whether it healed previously and the drain irritated it to cause it to open, or if it never healed (or was not resectioned) properly. But there we have it. The drain stays in. BUT, because Kevin's body has formed a tract for the fluid to go right out the drain and it's not throughout his abdominal cavity, he can stop antibiotics. We are hopeful this will have a positive effect on him.
So the drain issue will be revisited in FOUR MONTHS. Worse case, if Kevin's body doesn't heal on its own and we still see drainage, Dr Choi will think about surgery EIGHT MONTHS from the date the drain was placed. Dr Choi could obviously tell this was not the news we wanted to hear and said since the drain is staying around we might as well give it a name. Any ideas??
Before the appt Kevin had a procedure done with contrast fluid and pictures. The results are not good. He has two leaks in his small intestine. One is where his intestine was resectioned. We don't know whether it healed previously and the drain irritated it to cause it to open, or if it never healed (or was not resectioned) properly. But there we have it. The drain stays in. BUT, because Kevin's body has formed a tract for the fluid to go right out the drain and it's not throughout his abdominal cavity, he can stop antibiotics. We are hopeful this will have a positive effect on him.
So the drain issue will be revisited in FOUR MONTHS. Worse case, if Kevin's body doesn't heal on its own and we still see drainage, Dr Choi will think about surgery EIGHT MONTHS from the date the drain was placed. Dr Choi could obviously tell this was not the news we wanted to hear and said since the drain is staying around we might as well give it a name. Any ideas??
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Kidneys
Kevin had an appointment with his Nephrologist yesterday. His kidney numbers are now baseline normal for the first time. His creatnin is 1.0. Excellent.
I spoke to the kidney Dr about Kevin's chances of his acute kidney failure turning into chronic kidney failure down the road. He said because Kevin is young and healthy he feels he has completely recovered and citied the kidneys' remarkable ability to heal. However, if Kevin gets very sick sometime in the future, his kidneys could relapse for a time.
I spoke to the kidney Dr about Kevin's chances of his acute kidney failure turning into chronic kidney failure down the road. He said because Kevin is young and healthy he feels he has completely recovered and citied the kidneys' remarkable ability to heal. However, if Kevin gets very sick sometime in the future, his kidneys could relapse for a time.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Improvements
By all accounts, Kevin is doing much much better. He is able to venture out on little trips though he still won't go shopping for clothes. We both hate clothes shopping on good days, I know he doesn't want to do it, but eventually he will need clothes that fit.
Kevin is planning on being back at work on Nov 28. He will need to go in to work the first day to do some stuff to his computer and present his Dr's release. But after that we anticipate a lot of time, at least the first week, will be from home. He is still weak and mornings aren't great for him.
His next appointment with Dr Choi is Monday Nov 21. I will push hard to get Kevin off his antibitotics - at least a reducation in dosage. It's terribly frustrating that his body is making improvements but the meds are holding him back.
Kevin is planning on being back at work on Nov 28. He will need to go in to work the first day to do some stuff to his computer and present his Dr's release. But after that we anticipate a lot of time, at least the first week, will be from home. He is still weak and mornings aren't great for him.
His next appointment with Dr Choi is Monday Nov 21. I will push hard to get Kevin off his antibitotics - at least a reducation in dosage. It's terribly frustrating that his body is making improvements but the meds are holding him back.
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