New Up-date

On Sunday, I went up to see Kurt and he wanted to shower, he stood in the shower for the first time in about two weeks. Then he walked around a couple of times around the halls, which he could not do last week, so we are happy that the blood has given him new energy. He has a heart monitor on all the time, and they really can't find anything wrong, which is good. On Monday morning they did stress test, and they still can't find anything wrong. They are thinking that his passing out was because his red blood counts were low and something still with the fluids in his body and that they are not keeping level. I got up there around 3:00 on Monday, and they were getting him ready to go home. We had to go up to the 7th floor to get a home heart monitor put on. They want him to wear one for a couple of weeks just to check his heart and make sure there is nothing wrong. We got home and he could actually walk up the stairs and into the house without passing out. It was good to see him walk again, and he said it felt really good to be able to do it.
We have to go back to check his counts on Thursday, his platelets still keep going down, hopefully we will be able to find out some answers on that soon. But from last week to this week, he is doing so much better.
Thanks again for family, friends, neighbors and all of the people that we both work with. It is so good to know that there is a lot of people that care about us.
We will keep you posted.
Cindee

This is one tough trial!

Well this past week has been another fun ride.(not) We had such a great weekend, and went to the clinic on Tuesday, he still was very weak and needed to rest a lot walking around. They checked his counts, and the liver counts are still high or about the same, so they are not improving as fast as we want them to. His platelets were 16,000 and normal is 140,000 to 400,000, so they wanted him to come back on Friday to get re-checked. On Wednesday, I thought it would be good to get him out and go to a movie during the day, we got a wheelchair and got him in there okay, and then he wanted to sit a little higher, so we climbed a few steps, and went he got in the seat, his head slumpped down and I had a hard time getting to come to. He finally started to respond, and he said he was okay to watch the movie, but I could tell that he wasn't having too much fun. Then on Thursday, I didn't have anyone to sit with him, so I stayed home, and he passed out walking, and fell before he could get to the couch. That night, when he would get up to use the bathroom, he could hardly get up without passing out. One time he really scared me, and I almost called an ambulance. But he came out of it and said that he just wanted to sleep.
Friday morning was really tough on him, he was extremely tired and we had a hard time getting him out to the car. We got up to the hospital and I went to get a mask for him, because I forgot his, and the nurse Jared said he would come help me with him. I got a wheelchair and when he got up and sat in the chair, he went out again. Jared came out just as he came out, and Kurt was not responding in anyway, and Jared could not find a pulse. He was yelling at Kurt and then told me to go get another nurse, by the time we got back out to them, Jared was wheeling him in really fast, and Kurt had come to a little. They got him in a room and started taking his blood pressure. By this time Kurt was talking and doing better. They started giving him fluids and did his counts. After they got the results, they told us his platelets were 9,000, and they were going to give him platelets and also give him some blood to raise that up as well. They also told us something we didn't want to hear, that they were going to admit him into the hospital and check his heart.
We got in our room and I went home to get some things for him, when I got back, there was a cardiologist in his room asking him questions. They asked me several questions as well. They did an EKG and said that there were a couple of things that they saw. The next day the cardiologist came in and asked more questions, and thought maybe that he could have a clogged artery. They want to do a stess test on Monday, and hopefully if that goes well, they might let him come home that day.
They have given him platelets and 4 bags of blood. He is doing much better, and has been walking around without passing out. They're not sure if he has a volume problem, and that put stress on his heart, or if there is a problem with the heart. We should find out tomorrow.
It's strange how he has some problems, but then he seems to get through them pretty quick. Hopefully all will go well, and he will be able to come home tomorrow.
We will keep you updated.
Cindee

What a Beautiful Weekend!

Wow this week we have still been on the roller coaster! (an emotional one that is).
Kurt had still been very lightheaded and was going out most of the way or all of the way quite often. We went to the clinic on Tuesday, and they told us that his liver counts were slightly down again. They told us his platelets were also down, but the liver counts we want down, and the platelets we want to go up, I know it's so confusing! They wanted us to come back to the clinic on Friday to check his platelets again. Wednesday and Thursday were very discouraging for us. Kurt could hardly stand up without having to sit back down, and if he did start walking he can only go a few steps before having to sit again. We were worried about this as well, so I called the cardiologist that we had seen a couple of times and asked if there was something he could do for this. He wanted to see Kurt, so we arranged for him to come down to the clinic to see Kurt on Friday. He did a ultrasound on his heart again, and told us that his heart is working well, the heart muscle is still a little thick, but probably because of not getting much exercise due to his weakness from the steroids. He said that passing out was not life threatning to Kurt, but just annoying. He told Kurt to exercise as much as he could, and also to eat as much sodium as he wanted. So now everything I can't eat, because I have high blood pressure, Kurt can have all he wants. I think seeing the heart doctor and hearing what he said helped Kurt feel a little better, in fact that night we went to Texas Roadhouse and got our dinner in about 20 minutes and just ate in the car. It was great for us to be on a date and it was much quieter than being in the restuarant. Then on Saturday, we drove up to DayBreak lake and sat on our chairs fairly close to the car and ate a picnic. Ryan and Cher came over and helped with some things in the yard, so Kurt was able to see the boys from far away. On Sunday we went for a ride up the canyon to see the leaves and take some pictures for Kelli of her family, so he was also able to see her kids, and that was great for him. I think getting out of the house and being somewhat normal has really lifted his spirits. So it has been a great weekend and we are trying to do what we can to make things a little more normal. Hopefully they will start decreasing the steroids this next week, and that would make us both a lot happier.
Thanks again for the calls and love from everyone. This is going to go up and down for a long time, but I do see that he is improving. We really appreciate all that has been done for us. Thanks again!
Cindee

Another Week Done

This past week has had some ups and downs again. We went to the clinic last Tuesday, and Kurt's liver counts were high. They told him it could be the GVHD and that they were concerned. They increased his steroids again, which we were not too excited about, and told us to come back on Friday to see if they were still going up. It was discouraging that day, because we were hoping that they would start decreasing his steroids. He also has been getting weaker in his legs, which is due to the steroids, and getting more lightheaded. So he has a hard time walking into the hospital. We went back on Friday, and he was very lightheaded that day. The nurse that was taking care of him didn't realize that he has been this way for awile and that they are trying to solve the problem, so she got all excited and told the PA. The PA did come in quickly that day, and was very concerned about Kurt, but I told him that this has been going on for a few weeks now. I don't understand why if we are going to see different PA's all of the time, that they don't know what's been going on. So he had the nurse take all of these blood cultures, so of course we had to sit around and wait until the tests came back. We were up there for 4 hours. At first the PA told us that his liver levels had gone up. Then one of the 5 big doctors came in and was asking Kurt how he was doing, and told us that the liver levels and slightly gone down. We were not very happy about this whole day. He did say that his platelets were down, and that could be due to the GVHD, so he wanted us to come back on Sunday to get those checked again. It's very tiring to keep going back up there, especially when they always want us to come in the morning, and Kurt has a hard time in the morning, that's when he usually likes to sleep.
So this morning we went back to the hospital, and had to go up to the 8th floor, because the clinic is closed on the weekends. They are usually quick and nice to see. He did get weak again, but I had him in a wheelchair, so it was better. The nurse had gotten the results back in about 30 minutes and told us that we could go home, and just come back for our regular visit on Tuesday. At least we don't have to be there as early, so hopefully it will be better.
Even though this is up and down, I can see an improvement in him from a few weeks ago. He is awake more, wants to eat more and is really trying to regain his strength. He has started to walk on our treadmill a few minutes each day. It's good to see some things improve, and I'm sure in time he will keep improving and finally feel good again.
Thanks again for your concern, we know that we are being blessed not only from the doctors care, but from our Heavenly Father, and all of your prayers. We appreciate our families so much with all of their help right now, and by getting Kurt better will be how we can pay them back.
Cindee

A Pretty Good Week Until....

Well, last Saturday, Kurt came home from the hospital. He was feeling pretty good the next couple of days. He went to the clinic on Tuesday, and they told him that he was a A student. They told him that nobody in his condition gets out of the hospital in one day. He was actually doing really well, they told him that he was still fragile and to keep watching him. They told us that we could wait a week before we came in again, unless something changed at home, and then we were to call them.
It was his best week since the transplant, although he doesn't feel that way, because when he feels okay, then he gets down because of all the normal things he can't do. But it was great to see him up more and working on our bills, which has been a great help to me, I'm not to much into doing those. Then on Friday, I ran to the store to get something for the swamp cooler, and I went to a couple of other stores. As I was about to come home, he called and said that he had an accident. I could hear his voice shaking, and I became really worried. He told me that he had slipped down our stairs. He said he was feeling pretty good and wanted to warm up his muscles, so we could go for a walk outside later.I asked him what happened and he told me that he had some rug burns on his leg. I was freaking out, and upset that I wasn't home when he had done this. I got home quickly, and on his thigh was a really big area that was burned and very red. He also had a little one by his knee and ankle. He wouldn't let me call the hospital, so I tried to clean it off, and he moaned that it was killing him, so I put some neosporin and a gauze bandage. We keep checking every day to make sure it's not getting infected. Needless to say, the next day he was sore and did not feel like walking around much.
Today, Sunday, I think he is feeling a little better, he tackled the stairs again, but I was in front of him, to make sure he was taking it slow. We go back to the doctor on Tuesday, so we will see what they say and do about it.
It is great to see him improving slowly, even if he doesn't think so. He is talking better, awake more often, and his spirit seems to be getting better too.
We are so happy and grateful for everyone still calling, helping out around our house. There is no way we could do this alone, even though it's hard to accept help. We hope that one day we can be of service or cheer someone up, that needs it.
Thanks again to everyone!
Cindee