Happy Anniversary....NOT!!!!! Update in Original Post About This Page:

[ripkensnana]

Okay....this is a bit long, so bear with me....about 2 weeks ago, DH trimmed our hedge. One of the bushes has some teeny little thorns, and we think that one became lodged in the palm of his left hand. He could feel something in there, and tried to get it to come out with drawing salve, but no luck. The site became abcessed, so he tried to lance it with a needle (I know, not a really bright thing to do). Not much came out of the thing, except a tiny bit of clear pinkish liquid. Soooo.....

Yesterday morning when he got up, his hand was swollen....he couldn't bend his fingers enough to make a fist - not nearly ! We had to run a rummage sale for a friend, so DH toughed it out....I didn't know he was having trouble until the evening after we got home. DH wanted to relax a bit, so we watched a DVD, then he decided he wanted to go to the ER to have his hand looked at (when I became aware that there was a problem )....We got there at about 8:45....a resident finally saw him at about 11:30. They put DH on IV antiobiotics, and decided to admit him so that a hand surgeon (specialist) could see him in the morning. This announcement came at 12:30....I came home to get some sleep so that I could continue with the sale this morning (a committment I had to keep....a whole different story). I returned to the hospital at 8 AM....DH was still in the ER waiting for a room, and hadn't seen the surgeon yet. So I left to run the rummage sale by myself for the day. I finally was able to borrow a cell phone from a friend at about 2 this afternoon, because I wanted to see how DH was doing and what his room number was and what the surgeon had said....DH was still in Emergency! And hadn't seen the surgeon yet. I was told that he did have a room, and would be taken there in about 10 minutes, so was able to get the room number and phone # so I could call later when he got settled in. At about 4 I borrowed another cell phone and called DH. He was in his room, but guess what? Right! No sign of the surgeon!. At 5:30, I came home, grabbed some stuff that DH wanted me to bring him, and went up to the hospital....got there a bit after 6....surgeon still hasn't put in an appearance! The nurse told us that they'd been in contact with him on his cell phone, but had a bad connection, and he'd call back when he was in a better area. So after about an hour I left, went to Boston Market for some food (all I'd had all day up to that point was a cup of chili), came home, ate, watched a bit of telly, and got on the computer.....

Oh, and today is our Twelfth Wedding Anniversary......!!!! I guess we'll celebrate when DH gets out of hospital......

Here's hoping that if he needs surgery to find and remove the source of the infection, that it all comes out well (no pun intended....Okay, I just lied ) . At least, it's his left hand, and he's right handed....

<font color="blue"> Here's the latest - DH just called me (it's Sunday morning). The hand surgeon got there a short time ago, and is now trying to drain the infection from Bob's hand with a syringe/needle....Now, I'm not a doctor, but that was what I thought they'd do in the ER the other night...??? Let's hope that all the nasty stuff is drained outta there without need for further surgery! I'm going up there in a little while to be with him - I guess I'll be there most of the day...

Oh, just to complicate things....DH is borderline diabetic - and his blood sugar was up, over 300, so they've been giving him insulin injections to try to bring it down. He's not a happy camper right now, he hates needles.... It was still around 250 this morning....I'm sure that this means another ordeal of glucose tolerance testing....

***heavy sigh***</font>

<font color="red">Well, the attempt at draining the infection was unsuccessful. The surgeon was going to try again this morning (Monday), but decided not to....actually, the resident who saw Bob this morning decided not to - apparently, the feeling is that the antibiotic is doing it's work and the bad stuff is all going away on it's own. However, they want to keep him in hospital at least until late tomorrow - Bob's doctors are going to have a confab this afternoon to decide on the course of treatment.

Oh, and they've decided that his almost-hypoglycemia is now full-blown diabetes. And for a total sugarholic like Bob, this is <u>not</u> good news! So, they're going to educate him (and me) on a new dietary regimen...which means I need to call our TA to alert DCL (have to do that anyway about Mom's low fat regimen)....

So, I may be bringing him home tomorrow....?????</font>