4/27/16 update

4/27/16

A  YO-YO kind of day.

There was a biopsy scheduled for 830am which meant fasting from midnight, no food or water.  It got rescheduled for 1 or 2pm so John was allowed "sips & chips" of ice and water.  Then the biopsy time was changed again, and John went down at 9:15.  All pressures were good and four pieces of tissue were removed for the lab.  We should hear tomorrow if there are any signs of rejection.

The chest draining was only 160ccs in the last 24 hours, none overnight, the plan was to remove the tube today. The surgeon even came to do it while John was getting his biopsy.  Then, the plan changed again, to watching the drainage one more day.  Hopefully the drain will come out tomorrow.  There is a scheduled shower 24 hours after the tube removal and then we will go home.  We believe we are scheduled to have the removal done in the early morning.

John has been on varying doses of the diuretic, Torsemide.  It has been lowered to 40mgs per day, half of the latest dose.  Good news.  No more up going to the bathroom quite as often during the night.  That'll be nice.  Plus it is easier on the kidneys.

We mentioned that John will be taking a blood thinner, 'Lovenox', for several months.  He has done these shots into the belly often in the past.  For colonoscopies, etc.  But it will be only once per day, not twice as in the past.  John is not adept at needlework, so there as always been bruising,  He asked for and received some training that will hopefully help.  The needles are prepackaged and there is no choice of needle size. Bruising may just be a fact of life.

Needles for the Lovenox, finger pricks for the glucose testing four times a day.  And possible insulin shots if the glucose number is high.

John