A Long Week

It's been a very long week. After Tuesday morning labs, Mayo called us at dinner time saying Dan's red cell count was very low again and we needed to come in right away for another transfusion. We headed for ER around 7pm Tuesday evening and did not return to the house until Thursday evening 6pm. Because Dan has those antibodies in his blood, it would take 8+ hours to get the blood for transfusion, so he was admitted to a room back on the 3rd floor around 12:30am. The blood arrived and transfusion began around 6am Wednesday morning. He was given 2 more units throughout the day and they did an GI scope to check for bleeding, they found no bleeding but saw the many swollen vessels and veins in the abdomen area. The liver doctors and hemotologists conferred and determined that his sick liver is causing his blood to eat up his red cells, that's why the count dropped again. He was still weak so they kept us Wednesday night and gave him a 4th unit of blood Thursday morning. Labs showed the red cell count was better so they discharged Dan Thursday evening. Before we left, we were told that Mayo has requested 8-10 units of blood for Dan and has it saved in the blood bank "refrigerator" with his name on it, this is saved for the transplant surgery should he need transfusions at that time, which is very likely. And Dan is still #1 on the hospital waiting list.

Dan had IVs in both arms while in the hospital, and Friday morning we woke up to his right arm swollen and red at the IV site. Friday mornings are his regular labs, so it was back to Mayo. That afternoon his arm did not look any better, so we headed back to Mayo and went right back to the 3rd floor to look for one of his nurses or a doctor. Thankfully, we saw Kelly, one of the PAs. After looking at Dan's arm, she ordered antibiotics to ward off any infection that might be starting. She also said we needed to come in for more labs on Sunday morning to check the red cell count, in case it was low again and another transfusion might be needed, she said to have her paged when we got there and she'd check Dan's arm again. So we picked up the prescription and headed home.

We woke up Saturday morning to find a huge fluid filled blister on Dan's right calf. He's had other blisters we've treated but nothing like this, so you guessed it...we headed back to Mayo ER around 7am. The ER doctor drained it, took a sample of the fluid to test for infection, bandaged it up, and off we went. The ER doctor had contacted Kelly also.

The worship leader from the church we attend with Dan's folks, First Southern Baptist Church of Scottsdale, called us asking to meet with us so while Dan was resting Saturday afternoon, I met with Keith and his wife Kathy. Keith is planning a choir concert for next Sunday morning, Aug. 17, and after reading our blog he felt led to plan the theme of the concert around how God sustains us in the storms of life, and he asked us to share our testimony. Dan and I are blown away by this incredible honor. If all goes as planned, Keith and his techies from church will come to the house this Wednesday morning to videotape our testimony, broken down into five 3-minute videos that will be played in between the choir songs. Our hope is to be able to be at church Sunday morning and be able to give the last testimony live, if not, all will be shown by video. We are grateful that Keith offered to videotape the entire service and give us a copy, in case we can't be there. What a confirmation that our circumstances really aren't about us, but are for others, to lead all to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anyway, we did do labs this morning (Sunday) and met briefly with Kelly who examined Dan's arm and leg and determined they look much better. We will be back at Mayo on Tuesday morning for his regular labs, then see Kelly again at 11am to follow on the red cell count.

After such a crazy week, and hoping we don't have to go back to Mayo on Monday, we hope to finally go out to see a movie, not sure which one, possibly Kung Fu Panda if it's still in the theatre.

To God be the Glory,
Debbie and Dan