Jeff is home at last. He got released before lunch, and felt good enough to go to Jason's Deli before coming home and taking a big nap. Now he's up and about, doing great. He's supposed to work up to walking two miles a day, which is tough in this heat. We'll probably be intimately acquainted with all the big box stores nearby after a few weeks ( Read more... )

Roofers are hammering away, but no Jeff. His fever came back, and the infections doc says he can't leave yet. Sad face.

Jeff's fever just broke, praise God, but it's too late for him to go home today. Most likely tomorrow (Monday). He's ready to be home where he can watch golf on a really good TV.

Some people are clamoring for updates on Jeff, so here you go. He's doing great. We thought he might come home today (Saturday), but he's still got a low-grade fever. They've brought in an infectious disease doctor who's run tests but can't find an infection. The prevailing theory is now either a) he's not breathing deeply enough, or b) he's just ( Read more... )

Jeff's still doing fantastic. I got to see the incision today, and it looks marvelous -- no swelling -- although it's not as pretty and straight as the colon resection scar. I'll have to let Dr. Rea know we expected symmetry ( Read more... )

Jeff amazed all the nurses by taking the doctor's (presumed) joke literally and walking under his own power all the way from the ICU to his new room on the 5th floor. They put the oxygen tank in the wheelchair, which he then used as a walker. He did fine until he had to sit upon the bed; walking's not so bad, but sitting is apparently very ( Read more... )

Firedog was sitting in a chair eating breakfast when I got here this morning. It was the Yellow Meal: chicken broth, yellow gelatin, gatorade, apple juice, lemon ice dessert. He didn't have much. I imagine it hurts to swallow, and after a day without food, his stomach is rebelling a bit. It's interesting to me that they want to have a nutritionist ( Read more... )

The visiting hours are very strict in the ICU at the Heart & Vascular Institute. The waiting room features a 30-foot high wall facing due west made entirely of glass. Y'all can go figure how pleasant it is, lounging on petrified, putrid-colored furniture in the blazing sunshine, heat magnified by the glass, glare making the television opaque (and ( Read more... )

They wheeled Jeff to the OR this morning at about 7:00 am to get his mitral valve repaired. The doctor said it would take at least five hours. Poor baby, he was already drugged to the gills when I kissed his cheek and sent him off; I doubt he'll remember a thing. When they're done, he'll be in the ICU for a day in considerable pain, and then ( Read more... )

Obama brings Nixonian twist to oil spill

On April 29, Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindahl declared a state of emergency as the oil spill covered 600 square miles and was only 16 miles from the coast. Jindahl begged federal officials for permission to build a massive network of sand berms to contain damage to beaches. Washington responded a ( Read more... )