Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Took Tommy to see the surgeon, Ramakrishna Tatineni, yesterday morning. He has put Tommy on a careful diet for now and has directed him to get more blood work (this morning), then to see the gastroenterologist (Friday afternoon, up in Lewes), then back to see him next Tuesday morning. By then, we should have a game plan. Meanwhile, on Monday, we had our first cookout of the season, with Patti bringing the baked beans and butternut cake, Frank bringing snacks and wine, Irv bringing the muffins and grilling the ribs, and me providing the first local asparagus and tomatoes of the summer. It was wonderful to have friends over and now we're catching up with our naps--between medical expeditions and physical-therapy sessions, that is.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

We had a scare yesterday--Tommy awoke vomiting & with severe constipation, etc.; so, to make a long story short, we spent the whole day at the emergency department at Beebe Hospital up in Lewes. The upshot, after a bunch of tests (and a favorable outcome regarding the constipation) is that I have to call the surgeon on Tuesday morning so that gall-bladder surgery can be scheduled. The official diagnosis is acute cholelithiasis, but the condition is better known to us lay people as gall stones. Tommy's CT scan a month ago indicated gall stones, but Dr. Raj had hoped the condition would clear up; unfortunately, though, it has worsened. At least Tommy was able to come home with me last night. The good news is that Tommy's liver, heart, lungs and intestines all looked basically healthy in the CT scan. Anyone who knows Tommy's history with Budweiser will be as surprised as I was at the fact that "there is no evidence of hepatomegaly or fatty infiltration of the liver." What a day!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

I didn't know what I was going to slug this entry. But when the moment came, I typed in "We love spring". Then I turned around and said to Tommy, "Do we love spring?" "Yes," he said. "Why?" I asked.
"We got so much ahead of that."
"Like what?"
"Like warmth and sunshine."
Ah yes, warmth and sunshine. We have enjoyed sunshine all day--and in the spring, the sunshine is just right. Right now, for example, we are finishing dinner at the dining-room table, which faces west; so sunshine is pouring in through the front windows. This morning, we did our physical-therapy session on the back porch, which was also bathed in sunshine because it faces east. In this morning's session, Tommy set a new record with 12 minutes of pedaling. I know why he's doing so well with his pedaling: last week, I told him that I would do my free-weight arm lifts in tandem with his pedaling, so that every time one of his feet goes down, I have to lower the five-pound weight on that side and lift the opposite weight above my head. In effect, this arrangement has given Tommy control over my arm exercises--it has turned the tables and made him my trainer instead of me serving as his trainer. And seeing me sweat bullets lifting weights has motivated him to work harder at his pedaling. This morning, for example, as he kept pedaling instead of stopping at the ten-minute mark (for the first time), and as he watched me struggling to keep up with him for those two additional minutes, he was laughing. Ah, the things we do for love. But hey, it is spring, after all.