Transplant -3 (Monday)

Today turned out to be a beautiful day here in Rochester. It was the first true spring-like day. The temperature was about 72-75 degrees with bright sunshine. It was the first day I've felt that Spring was in the air.

Jackie did bloodwork this morning. She was a little low on magnesium so they prescribed a pill - surprise! The also found that her level of CSP (cyclosporine, the anti-rejection meds) was too high. They are going to have her reduce her CSP intake. That's good. The CSP makes her sick. In fact today was the first day that the anti-nausea pills didn't work. I suspect there will be more days like today when no amount of anti-nausea drugs will be enough.

I've been giving her anti-nausea pills ever 4-5 hours. The nurses suggested doing this in order to keep ahead of the nausea. It has helped. This afternoon I took her down to the local Culver's fast food for a hamburger and milkshake. She was able to eat some of the food. After eating she headed back to bed. The anti-nausea meds make her very sleepy. She is asleep as I write this.

Talk about deja vu...This morning I asked Jackie if anything sounded good for breakfast. She said she would like some grits. We bought some at the grocery store last week. At the time I told her they would probably never be eaten. She assured me she would eat some at some point. As she was telling me she wanted grits I received a call from the front desk. They said I had a package for pickup. I told Jackie I would fix grits upon my return.

I picked up a package. It was from my mother. Inside it had a bunch of commercial/homemade items. It had some great looking ham, a package of bacon, some type of apple cobbler mix, sweet potato butter (?), and what else????? Grits! A big bag of high quality grits! So I made Jackie grits for breakfast. It was my first time to ever whip up this Southern specialty. Jackie ate about 1/2 the bowl and proclaimed them good. She didn't throw it up, so maybe she was telling the truth?

I've come to the conclusion that the medical community could use some simple improvements. It never ceases to amaze me how one part of the medical world is exactly like the computer world. In a word: Interfaces! Every syringe has a different kind of tip that needs a different type of tip/interface on the IV infusion bag that needs a special connector to hook up the the other IV, etc. etc, etc. There isn't enough standardization with IV bags, syringes, etc. For example, I have to change the central line Hickman Device tips once a week because A:) it needs to be clean an sterile and B:) the Mayo Clinic doesn't like the tip that is supplied with the device. It's no big deal but every time you turn around some nurse is hunting for some type of plastic tip to interface to something else. It is like the computer world with USB cables, parallel cables, serial cables, firewire cables, etc. In both cases there should only be one cable (and one tip). Solve this problem and you will save hospitals a ton of money and time. Combine that with a way to eliminate rubber gloves and you, too, can be the next Bill Gates.

Until later...

Bruce and Jackie
Rochester, MN