Den’s in the Hospital (Day 2)

Today is April 19, 2018

Den was admitted last night for testing, IV diuretic therapy and observation. He has already had x-rays and 2 blood draws. The good news is that his blood sugar is a little on the low side, better that too high right now. Bad news is that they found he has C. Diff. and is on full isolation/contact precautions. For those of you who have never had to do this it means you have to wash your hands, put on a gown, mask and gloves before entering his room and wash and sanitize you hands when you leave. Talk about a pain in the arse! Good news is that it is treatable. Today Den is supposed to have a TEE (trans esophageal echo cardiogram). This a special echo cardiogram where they put the sensor head down your throat to get better pictures of the heart and valves. I am sure that will not be the end of the tests that Den has done while he is here, but it’s a start. I will keep you all informed, as well as I can, of Den progress. He will be in the hospital for at least a week. Hopefully, they will get the C.Diff. resolved and I can stop looking like a yellow and blue marshmallow! Bad news is that because Den’s C.Diff. is not an active infection he will not get treated for it and will be in isolation for the length of his stay. Unless the infection gets bad, then they would have to treat the infection. I can hear you say….WHAT?!?!….and I am just as confused as you are about the whole infection and no treatment as you are. The only good news is that the doctor and I just talked about the fact that if he has this infection, I have already been exposed. Hence, why am I needing to be protected from Den’s non-infection. So he told me that I really don’t have to wear the gown, gloves or mask. He did ask that I make sure to wash and sanitize my hands when entering and leaving Den’s room….I can live with that!

Den ate a good lunch and we have plans to have an quiet dinner for 2 in his room tonight…including room service…the kitchen here allows guests of patients to order a tray for a very reasonable price and have it delivered with the patient’s meal. They will be started the IV diuretic this evening, so I am glad I can be here to help Den. As I said before, I will try to keep you up to date on things here as the tests are done and we get results. Until tomorrow….Adieu!