Thursday +22 (11:00 AM)

Spring in Minnesota? I don't think so! It is supposed to freeze tonight. Other than that, it is a beautiful sunny cool day. Highs for the next week will be in the 50s.

We completed the CT scan this morning as well as the morning IV antibiotic treatment.

Jackie has a little more energy today. She was able to complete the walk from the IV treatment back to the apartment without the use of the wheelchair. She continues to have back pain. At times it is somewhat severe. She has been ranking it as an 8 on the 1-10 pain scale (with 1 minor pain and 10 the worst you ever experienced). She needed some Oxycodone this morning to help deal with it. This may be the reason for the extra energy. Unlike most people, the opiate-type drugs tend to make her hyperactive rather than lethargic.

Today her tremulous (shaking) is much better. They are going to do a cyclosporine level today. They check the levels each Tuesday and Thursday. It is possible that it has risen above normal levels and will need to be reduced. I've done a lot of reading on the side effects of both cyclosporine and mycophenolate the two anti-rejection drugs she is taking. Both drugs can cause many of the symptoms she is experiencing. The good news is that most of the problems will resolve when the drug dosage is reduced as she progresses.

Her eyes are more-or-less back to normal. I'm not certain if it was due to the expensive eye drops or the problem simply resolved by itself. In either case, we will continue the expensive eye drops. We bought 'em, so we'll use 'em!

Her rash also seems to have mostly resolved with no major signs of relapse.

Her fevers have also subsided with only a very low-grade and occasional problem. Most of the time she is running temperature below 100 degrees.

This afternoon we will get the results of this morning's CT scan as well as blood results. I'll post them as they become available. Again, this illustrates how organized they are here at the Mayo. The CT scan was completed about 9:00 this morning. I would almost bet the results are already available to the doctors online at 11:00. I'm absolutely positive the blood work that was drawn at 9:30 would already be available. At most other places the results wouldn't be available for days on the CT scan and next-day on blood work. The results are available to every doctor and every nurse within the system as soon as they are completed. One doctor can look at another doctor's work and notes and can examine any test result. They can even look at the pharmacy reports to see what meds have been ordered, picked up, changed, etc.

Now if I could just get them to do something about their food.... All I can figure is the Mayo Brothers must have been skinny doctors!

Until later,

Bruce and Jackie
From Rochester, MN