Catching Up

Yesterday was a busy day! Louie had a echo cardiogram in the morning to check his heart, because they were still looking for the cause of the fever. Later on he had a cat scan that Dr. Duke observed. Dr. Duke also looked for further infection before surgery. Louie ended the day with 4 hours of dialysis.
*****Since then we have found the cause of the fever to be a urinary tract infection. Antibiotics had already been started and Louie no longer has fever!*********

I was able to speak with Dr. Duke after surgery. He says the belly is looking "clean as a whistle". He is still working hard on the exit wound and inserted new maggots. He said the belly is not nearly so yellow anymore, indicating a little bit of liver function. He seems cautiously optimistic that these functions (liver, kidneys etc.) will return with time. Everything, including the cleaning of the wounds, takes so much time. He likes to compare things to farming and country life so when Carol Pratho said it was a "long row to hoe", he totally agreed.

I was again impressed by his commitment to his job and our case. He had told me previously that he would be gone at the end of this month for a hunting trip to West Texas. Since time is drawing close, I asked what arrangements he had made for Louie's surgery during his absence. He told me he was not going. He felt the only person he would be comfortable leaving him with would be Dr. Ware. (and Dr. Ware is going on the trip also) His words were " I signed on for this job and I intend to carry it through." He is truly exceptional! I have never cried when speaking to him because he always speaks with confidence, but this was truly a gift and I had tears in my eyes.

Love to all, Ruthie