In Again.....

The home health nurse called me Friday afternoon and said Marty had a lot of bacteria in her urine so we started her on our tried and true antibiotic.  They called Monday afternoon and said, nope, that particular antibiotic won’t kill the bug, I said the nicest thing I could say, “Well crap.”  I have better words, more powerful words at my disposal but I showed restraint. 

On Tuesday we checked into Providence Hospital where we have a room with a view.  Hey, don’t hate, a room with a view in the hospital is primo stuff.

The plan is to attack this Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium with Nebcin, a powerful antibiotic,  because Nebcin is the best IV antibiotic to smoke this bug.  We did this same thing in June of this year but used a different antibiotic.

Marty, as one would imagine, is not completely on board with this event.  She says, “I don’t feel bad, why am I here?”  I say, “Because we love you and hate pseudomonas aeruginosa.”

The truth is I was surprised at both of these diagnoses.  Marty seemed to feel fine and was not showing her usual symptoms of an infection.  She was showing some signs of a fatigue but all other signs pointed to….well nothing, that’s why we like having the home health nurse come by regularly to retrieve some urine.

By all accounts there were a lot of the evil bacteria in the pee and the lack of sensitivity of it to oral antibiotics Marty can take is a hugely complicating factor.  Thank God for a variety of bacteria killers.

Marty is hanging in there occasionally pouting, sleeping, watching TV and dealing with the comings and goings of various medical providers at all hours of the day and night.  She has been on a “I’m not getting out of bed” mode until I finally said yes you are and guess what, she kind of liked getting up and letting her back and bed get a little air.

We wheeled around the floor two or three times, looked out the window and found one spot where she could sit in the sun for just a few minutes.  We went back in the room and Marty stayed in her chair, talked with daughter Erin on the phone and watched Ellen, she loves Ellen.

With luck the urine sample they took today will be clean and clear and Great and Wise will spring us from hospital captivity on Saturday.  Can you imagine how good a real shower will feel after five days in the hospital?

We still plan on Thanksgiving at the lake with our whole family.  Pure pee should have arrived by then and we won’t have to worry about that particular ailment for awhile, I like not worrying about someone else’s pee.

Marty continues to do what she does which is live, accept, make new friends and have an impact on an ever expanding universe of people.  I know I’m not particularly objective but I believe the people she contacts, the lives she touches are always enriched.  We just get to do that with different people when she’s in the hospital.

Here’s to getting the hell out of here soon.