If it was "radio silence" around here yesterday, here's what was going on:

When we went to the cardiologist last Saturday he was perturbed that (1) James had gained back most of the weight he lost in the hospital and (2) that when they released him from the hospital they had not put him on a diuretic. In the hospital they took him off the one he was on previously and were giving him something called Lasix instead, because the latter was kinder to his kidneys. The cardiologist took an EKG and listened to his lungs and admitted that both were fine, but warned us to keep monitoring for edema.

We have been keeping eagle eyes on James' legs and ankles to make sure he is getting no edema down there, and there is no way the weight gain can be from food: we are being hypervigilant with portion control of meats and starches, and beef only once a week. It may be six ounces of meat versus four, but he's also not having the sides like they gave him in the hospital like a roll or small cornbread, and if he's eating anything more, it's vegetables (and not sweet corn, which is a starch, not a veggie). The extra weight had to be mainly fluid buildup.

The one thing James hasn't been doing well is sleeping, and tending to be up at one, two, three in the morning reading. So when we got done with going to Sam's Club and the Austell Farmer's Market on Saturday, he was going to take a short nap. But when he lay down he started feeling like he couldn't breathe when he lay down like he had when he first got to Northside. This has happened each time he lies down.

So we've kind of been in a swivet since then, and when we went to see the doctor this afternoon I had a little bag packed in case he had to go back into the hospital: a couple of books, his e-reader, socks and underwear, his colored pencils and his aircraft coloring book. The only thing missing was the C-PAP.

Thankfully, the doctor thinks we are not at that point yet. He listened to his heart and his lungs, examined his ankles and his legs, and then ordered a battery of blood and urine tests, gave him a prescription for a sleep aid and another for a diuretic. He took the latter the moment he got home.

I am not sorry I packed the bag, but am so glad we didn't have to use it. I just hope his creatitine hasn't risen. We were doing such a good job getting it back down.

After our trip to the West Cobb Diner Friday (which the doctor thinks might have triggered more fluid buildup), we have just decided we are going to have to go places where we can get food "made to order" and ask them to cook it "no salt."

Labels: health, sickness

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 6:37:00 PM

Comments: Post a Comment