Goodbye Dear Carpet

The decarpetization of the Pemberton house is nearly complete. Carpet in the living room and master bedroom is gone. The 'boys don't care for the painted concrete. Beauregard and Bailey came inside for the first time in a while last week. Beau got his chew bone - but refused to sit or lay on the carpetless floor. Instead he stood up to chew the bone (not an easy thing for a bassett to do) until Pam relented and got a blanket out of the closet for him to lay on. He immediately plopped down, chewed his bone, and went to sleep.

I've been getting the question, how's Pam doing? a lot the last week or so. The concern is nice - I just don't know how to reply - really, I don't. It's been a month since our time in Denver and in some respects she is better - but since our last day at NJC she has been on double her previous daily dosage of Prednisone (oral steroid). Jack her up on steroids and she feels great for a while. Only today has she begun a slow taper off the Prednisone - and I mean slow. The plan is for this to take 20 months. So we will see over the next several months whether we are really making progress or not.

David comes home for a day or so tomorrow. Then we head for OKC to help him get settled into his first apartment and celebrate Christmas.

And Home

Our adventure came to a safe conclusion this afternoon. We walked in the door and within ten minutes Dr. Lent (from NJC) called to see how Pam was doing. I can't recall a time when the doctor herself (not just a nurse) called directly to check on Pam. In addition, we had lengthy consultation reports waiting in the mail.

As soon as we unloaded the car, T'auna and I headed for the pharmacy - gulp. I think they are now looking to remodel and expand the store thanks to us . As we suspected, they didn't have all the medicines on hand - so Pam will have one more day to wait before starting the full therapy. T'auna and I counted up 16 prescriptions that Pam is now taking - plus a bunch of over-the-counter stuff. Drugs anyone?

I mentioned to my good friend Chip Kooi that the last two weeks are a complete blur - so many tests, instructions, and emotions - both moments of hope and of utter discouragment. Pam and I are weary tonight - but it is good to be home, even if we know this roller coaster is not yet at its end.

Speaking of home - my next job is to decarpet (thanks for the term Katie) a good part of the house. We'll call it "Revenge on the Killer Dust Mites" or "Not-so-Extreme Home Makeover" - but the carpet has to go (and maybe some of the stuffed fabric furniture too). So don't be surprised to find a call for strong-back volunteers in the next little while.

Time to rest.

Tuesday - And Headed Home

A typical day - and difficult to capture in words. Pam had a bad day today. By the time we got to the doctor's appointment this afternoon she was really struggling - blood pressure off the chart and breathing very poor. She alarmed the nurses and had a breathing treatment started almost the moment the doctor walked in the exam room. Not good, but at least I (and Pam) was able to point at Pam and say this is what it is like - one day out of three. And at least this episode came today instead of tomorrow. Now the doctor saw it for herself and yes, I think it made a big difference - not only for Pam's asthma but our discouragment.

The primary diagnosis is "Bad Steroid Dependant Asthma" plus a number of other contributing or resultant factors/diagnoses (I counted 7 on the doctor's notes we have with us). Not all of the tests results are back, nor have all the needed tests been done. When we get back home we will meet with Pam's primary care physician, go over the results from NJC, their recommendations, and schedule additional tests that we could not squeeze into the week here.

Meanwhile, Pam is now on a host of new medications (I counted 8 new prescriptions to fill) and following a lot of new instructions. We have hope for a turn-around, but are fully aware as we leave that this is not even close to over yet. At best, Dr. Lent has advised us that it will be a month before we know if the new approaches are working or beginning to work. Then if all goes well it is going to take time to get Pam off steroids, get her lungs healthy again, and start rehab. Dr. Lent believes Pam is going to get better and will be able to resume life. We have to admit it is hard to believe on days like today.

We will begin the drive home tomorrow and hope to arrive sometime on Thursday.

A final word before signing off - thanks. Thanks for the prayers, for your comments on the blog, for the notes sent here to the hotel.

Sunday - Day ?

Pam leaves for the sleep study in a few minutes, otherwise no health-related news to report today.

We did get to the Lakewood church this morning and saw many good friends from our years in Denver.

At this point we are on hold until Tuesday's exit visit with Pam's attending physician. Most test results should be back by that time (but not all) and hopefully we will be able to say that all this has provided answers and solutions that are helpful to Pam.

Saturday - Sabbath

Pam got the Ph probe taken out this morning. Otherwise, NJC is shut down for the day. It is Saturday - the sabbath - and despite its history NJC, like most institutions of its type, is thoroughly secular with few signs of its heritage remaining. Nonetheless, a rest day. Pam is tired and resting. I did a little Christmas shopping in the city (wouldn't you like to know what I bought for T'auna - ho, ho, ho).

Shalom.

Friday - Day Four

Not much to report today. The pharmakology/blood tests went as scheduled (3 blood draws through the day) and we had a mid-point visit with Pam's attending doctor (Lent). One additional test was added, a Ph probe - to determine the extent of acid-reflux and whether or not this acid might be getting into her lungs and keeping them inflamed. She "gets" to keep the probe in her esophagus until tomorrow morning.

Dr. Lent did resume Pam's medications today, albeit with a number of changes.

Thursday - Day Three

A long day today. Pam started this morning at 9:00 with an appointment with a pulmonologist, Dr. Beuther (aka Doogie Howser, M.D. - for those old enough to remember the show). Her last appointment with the Ear/Nose/Throat specialist concluded at 8:00 this evening (he was running a tad behind). Each consultation was helpful (lasted about an hour with each doctor); each primarily ruled out major issues while observing a variety of moderate to mild abnormalities or contributing factors to her illness.

Between the consultations we attended a medications course on what, why, and how to use the various medications associated with respiratory illness. Pam said it was helpful, learned some things no one had ever told her (some pretty important). We did notice that Pam has been or is currently taking most of the medications discussed. Otherwise, we met with a Pharmakologist to discuss the testing for tomorrow. Quite interesting actually, as long as you are not the person being tested. They'll draw blood, give Pam some drugs and then draw additional blood throughout the day to see how her body processes the chemicals. They'll also take blood and run some tests on it to see what drugs are most effective. Sort of like a cool science lab experiment.

Pam's pretty tired tonight - a long day and still without most of her medicines.