Sept 11, 2012 Doctors and Settling in to Rosewood

Tom and I spent the afternoon with Dad today.  We got to Rosewood about 9:45 and left about 3:30 today.  When we got there Dad was sleeping in his bed, though he was dressed in shorts and polo shirt.  He said he had gotten up and ate breakfast and came back to take a short nap before the doctors appointment.  We got Dad up and had him brush his teeth.  He was unable to put toothpaste on his toothbrush, so I helped him out.  The rest he seemed to do well, including getting out of bed with the use of the walker.

He did walk to the car with the aide of the walker (this is an older style walker with wheels on the back).  We got him to Dr Trang's office and unfortunately had to wait about an hour to see.  We did weigh Dad in before seeing him and he weighed 166 lbs.  Dr Trang asked Dad how he was doing and Dad said he was doing better.  Dr Trang looked in Dad's ear and said that it was the best that he has seen with Dad.  He asked about what Dr Nguyen was doing and we told him about the pet scan and possible chemo treatment.  He told Dad that he would call Dr Nguyen and Dr Heidari to make sure all three were on the same page.  He said he wants to see a minimum of another two weeks of antibiotics and would probably bet his house that Dad would need at least another month past the 25th.  He wants Dad to have a gallium scan around the 25th of Sept.  He said the gallium scan would highlight any infection that Dad has in the bone area of his skull.  He mentioned that he would prefer holding off of chemo until he is sure they have eradicated the infection, he is concerned that infection may come back. 

After Dr Trang's visit, we took Dad to the Garden Spot for lunch where Dad had soup for lunch.  He also enjoyed chocolate pudding, but not much more.  We then took Dad back to Rosewood, getting back about 1:30.  He wanted to take a nap. 

At about 2:30 we met with the staff at Rosewood, with representatives from therapy, food services, social services, nursing and activities.  We first discussed how happy Dad was with Rosewood and we were too, but did have a few ideas that would make it better for Dad.  Most of the items were from Jim's list, great job Jim.  We went through Dad's ailments, which included the SBO, Cancer, facial paralysis and stomach issues due to the antibiotics.  We talked about the food that Dad was being served and they are going to move Dad to mechanically processed soft foods.  They are going to start checking with Dad more to see if he is having diarhea and if so suggest the Imodium AD.  They are going to have evaluated by a Speech Therapist, to see if they can help with his speech due to the facial paralysis.  Also the OT will already had reviewed how he gets out of bed and told Dad that he was doing good.  They are going to observe him brushing his teeth and give him a routine that he can follow for brushing his teeth.  We also reminded all of them that Dad cannot hear out of his left ear and cannot see out of his right eye.  That Dad may not always fully understand them even when he says ok or nods in confirmation.  I talked about the importance of having Dad repeat back any important instructions or information.

OT will review Dad to see how he does dressing himself and the nursing staff will provide assistance to Dad in putting on clean clothes every morning.  We also let them know that Dad prefers to get up at 7:00 am so that he can participate in breakfast and all meals in the main dining room.  We reviewed all of Dad's medication and we questioned the stool softener and talked about the lacri lube and eye drops.  They said that Dad was getting eye drops every two hours, but when we asked when he got his last eyedrops, they said it was 1:06 pm.  We told them that he was at the doctors at that time and she said, oh sorry it was 11:06 am.  We said he was still not here and she said she will have to get back to us on when he had the last eye drops.

The meeting was very helpful in clearing up misunderstandings and the staff was very responsive and eager to help, often suggesting what they could do when an issue was brought up.  We did forget to mention the issue around response time when Dad needs to use the bathroom.  We will talk with the head of the nursing staff tomorrow.

August 7th

We had two appt. yesterday.  The first was with Dr. Trang the ear specialist.  Because of the nerve damage (or Bells Palsey) he was able to confirm the diagnosis of skull based osteomyelitis (SBO).  Essentially this is a really bad infection in the boney areas around Dad’s ear.  He made an appt. to see another infectious disease specialist, a one Dr. Hydari (sp?), who he thought could do a better job of picking out the antibiotics.  Because of this infection we have to forego anymore chemo treatments for at least 4 weeks.  The antibiotic treatment will likely be about 8 weeks.

Dad was very depressed with this news and it was tough to see his reaction.  He didn’t even want to go to the afternoon appt. with Dr. Nguyen.  Bill, Tom and I kept that appt and had a good chat with Dr. Nguyen.  He led us to believe that the chemo is a corrective treatment not a palliative one.  In other words, we are not pursuing the chemo just to make Dad more comfortable.  There is a good chance for long-term recovery from this type of lymphoma.

Tom and Bill take Dad to see Dr. Nichols today.  They will look into draining fluid from not only Dad’s thoracic cavity but abdominal cavity as well.  We want to know if the fluid in Dad’s abdomen is having an effect on his appetite and digestion.

Dr. Trang gave us a prescription for a stronger pain killer and Dr. Nguyen gave us a liquid to stimulate Dad’s appetite.

Here are some of my thoughts (hope you don’t mind):

If you had your choices of diseases, the lymphoma might be near the top.  As cancers go, it doesn’t sound too bad.  On the other hand, bacterial infection that cause skull based osteomyelitis?  Well, that would be at the very bottom of my list.  It’s hard to get and hard to get rid of.  I’m sure like many of you, when told Dad had cancer and an ear infection, our first thought would have been that the cancer was more troubling.  This ear infection is nasty and now it has halted the chemo.  The chemo inhibits his immune system for three weeks.  After that, according Dr. Nguyen, it bounces back.  The bacterial infection has just retreated farther and deeper into his body making it much more difficult to attack.  We can’t stop the treatment for the ear.  It will cause unbearable amounts of pain as we have already seen in just a short time.  To me that path is clear.  Dr. Nguyen will tell us when he’s cleared for chemo again and asked that we give the antibiotic treatment two weeks before we do another assessment.

Best-cased scenario:  Dad responds to the new antibiotic treatments well enough for us to get three or four rounds of chemo, the lymphoma retreats, and then we are just fighting the war on one front – the ear.

Aug 6 Dad Update

Here is a quick update on Dad today.

He was awake today three different times. In the morning and afternoon for 2 & 1/2 hours each. The third time in the evening for about 1 & 1/2 hours, as he just fell asleep in the chair. Dad’s two top priorities today are the too frequent bowel movements. I saw him eat 1/2 of a banana and then run to the bathroom literally 2 minutes later. Since we were collecting a stoool sample to check for c-diff, I had a chance to see the discharge, and basically it was just ground up banana. I am very concerned that he has not gotten any nutrition since this started Thursday.

Dad’s second concern is his ear pain. It is unclear to me whether this is mastoiditis or this is from the bells palsy. His pain level was up to a 7 tonight. We gave him another Tylenol and offered him one with codeine when he is ready for bed. Right now he is sleeping in his chair with the heating pad on his side of the face.

Dad has said he does not want to go to the drs appointments tomorrow. He is very frustrated and doesn’t feel anything is working. John came over and said his face looks better than last Friday and I told him that he was able to blink about 75% with his left eye. I will try again in the morning to get him to go, but either way I expect Tom, John and I will be there to talk to the doctors. If you have any specific questions you would like asked, please let me know.

Dad has not wanted to play 5 straight, but has been willing to watch the olympics. The only good news is that we gave dad imodium ad today about 2pm. He had two home made cookies around 3:30 and didn’t go to the bathroom until almost 4:30. He ate a little for dinner and did not go to the bathroom afterwards. Keep your fingers crossed that this really helps.

That is it for now, please let me know if you have any questions or feel free to call. Dad’s appointment tomorrow at 10:30 with Dr Trang and 4:00 with Dr Nguyen.

Love to all,

Bill

July 25th

Just returned from the visit with Dr. Aziz.  Dad’s BP was 154/56 with an O2 level of 97.  Dr. Aziz was pleased with that and listened to Dad’s lungs and said he sounded good.  Dad complained of shortness of breath and Dr. Aziz ordered a chest xray.  He said if the lungs have too much fluid he will have to drain it again.  If not he will wait until after the second chemo treatment.  We went over to Kern Radiology and got the chest x-ray.  Dr. Aziz will only call if Dad NEEDS TO HAVE his fluid drained again.  Otherwise we set an appt. for three weeks. 

Dr. Aziz said the physical therapy would help Dad’s condition and said he would prescribe it, but would prefer to have Dr. Nichols prescribe it.  So, Tom, I don’t know how this works, but if you could ask Dr. Nichols office tomorrow that would be great.  I don’t know if it makes a difference but I would like to use Glinn & Giordano at 24 & and M.

Other observations:  Dad’s ear is bothering him.  He sees Dr. Rabinov tomorrow – just in time.  I would hate to have to take Dad out of county to see a specialist, but we might need a fresh pair of eyes on this problem.  Dad’s ankles seemed to be slightly swollen.  I think that happens in the afternoon though.  He had breakfast with Nedra and lunch before the doctor visit.  He seemed okay for most of the time I was with him.  It’s doctors – sit around and wait.

July 17th

I called all the doctors, here the schedule:
 

Tomorrow (Wed)

9am - Dr. Nygene (Cancer Doctor)
3pm - Dr. Nichols

July 26th (Thursday)
1pm - Dr. Siaki

July 27th (Friday)

4:30pm - Dr. Rabinov

Dad lost his right hearing aid. We'll need to deal with this at some point. With any luck, he'll be able to wear it after the 27th.

Medications - Here are his current meds:

- Prednisone, 50mg, twice a day through tomorrow only.

- Allopurinol, 300mg, 1 per day, 30 days

- Metronidazole, 250mg, 3 per day, 9 days

- Furosemide, 40mg, 1 per day, 30 days

- Atenolol, 50mg, 1 per day, 90 days

- Inhaler, Proair, HFA 90 MCG IWAK, Albuterol Sulfa, 2 puffs as needed.

- Ciprofloxacin - Ear Drops

- Vitamin D - One a day

Let me know if you have any questions.

Love,

...Jim

July 11th

Just left Dad.  He had a chest xray early in the morning.  No doctor showed up between 7:30 and 9:30.  His vitals, particularly his O2 levels, were better than yesterday morning (91% yesterday vs 95% today).  We walked around the floor and he had a nice pace going.  When we got back, breakfast was waiting – scrambled eggs and sausage.  He ate most of it.

Tom’s plan for today is to walk over to Dr. Nichols office and see if he can get a consult with Trevor the PA (one sharp man).  Tom feels we need someone to help coordinate all the various hospital doctors.  If nothing else we hope he can give us a holistic assessment of Dad’s condition.  After that Tom will walk over to Dr. Rose and see what the progress is on Dad’s ear.  Dad said it didn’t hurt this morning.

In assessing his demeanor, I believe he knows the fluid came back to his lungs too quickly and that has him a bit depressed.  He also knows his ear needs to be fixed and he wants to have more energy.  He is hoping the doctors are doing something about those things, but I got the feeling he’s losing a bit of confidence in their ability to improve his situation.  Dad’s emotions do fluctuate through the day (as I’m sure all of ours would).  We had a nice visit and he was conversational.  He has an amazing ability to be of good cheer….

July 7th

Had lunch with Dad today and played a little 5 straight.  He’s doing okay although his ear is starting up again and that really pisses him off.  He expressed concern over how simple the “simple” procedure he has upcoming (As in “I wonder what they call simple?”).  He ate okay and has plenty of food.  Tom took him over some Fresh & Easy and he says one of those meals will last all day, but he is drinking Insure and I think that has a lot of calories in it too.  He was still a little short of breath moving around the kitchen preparing lunch and he even mentioned that to me.  He enjoyed the tennis match and is looking forward to the Men’s final tomorrow.

July 6th

Tom texted me Dad’s new prescription - Rifampin. It appears to be a strong one, sometimes used to treat MRSA, which is a bad bacteria. There are the typical side effects – itching, flushing, headache, drowsiness. At least it is an oral one….

John

July 6th

Dad had a full day of doctors today and as you can imagine he was a little down about it.  Dr. Rose had him see Dr. Nichols for a pre-op exam and then he was off to Kern Rad for a chest x-ray.  After that it was over to Memorial Hosp for and ekg and blood work.  Tom reported he was spent and hungry but after he got some food in him he perked up.  They wanted him to be checked for something called CDEF, a bacterium that can proliferate when someone, particularly the elderly, is on antibiotics for long periods.  CDEF can cause loose bowels and other intestinal problems.  We think they do this through a stool sample, but Tom says no one ever asked for one.  There is a blood test, so maybe they did that.  We will follow-up on Monday.  Dad is home resting now.  I’ll go over tomorrow and visit with him a bit.  He seems to like the Fresh & Easy meals Tom brought by as well as the Insure.  It’s going to be uber-hot here this weekend.

July 5th

Dad got his hearing aids cleaned today.  Guess there is a filter that needs to be changed regularly.  Tom got a box of those.  Tom and Dad walked 31 minutes last night around Tom’s neighborhood.  That was a stretch for Dad and nearly too much.  Tom and Dad were just by here.  They have a doctor appt with Rose this afternoon to check on his ear.  The subject of driving came up and Tom and I aired our concerns.  Even with the cleaned hearing aids I would say our opinions fell on deaf ears, except for the fact that Dad will ruminate over some of the things we said and maybe take them to heart.  Tom was going to have him drive home from here to get him back in the swing of things (it’s been what 6-8 weeks since he’s driven?)

Dr. Rose:

Just got off the phone with Tom who had been to see Dr. Rose.  There are signs the infection is returning.  She doesn’t know if it’s related to the lymphoma and does not recall ever having a case like this.  They put Dad on another oral antibiotic and the plan is to have Dr. Trang come in and excise the ear to see what is going on in there.  If Dr. Trang does not do it then Dr. Rose will (Does anyone else get the feeling this is what Dr. Rose wanted to have happen when she admitted Dad to the hospital 6 weeks ago?)

Anyway, there are only a few details.  Tom was heading from Costco (for the antibiotic) to Dr. Rose’s to fill out some paperwork.  The procedure will last about an hour and require a general anesthetic.  It will be done next Tuesday and we think it will happen in the morning.  The location has not been finalized.

Dad was running out of gas so Tom took him home and is doing the running around.  Thanks for that, Tom.

June 25th

We just got back from seeing Dr. Rose.  She is good with him stopping the antibiotics.  As she said, we are going to have to see what happens sooner or later, the ear looks good, let’s give it a try.  Dad can go to the House clinic tomorrow and finally get his hearing aids properly adjusted.

As for the breathing problem and seeing Dr. Nichols, Dad has decided to take a wait-and-see approach.  He knows Dr. Nichols will want to perform a lot of tests and Dad does not want that.  Dad did agree that if he has another breathing episode, he will schedule an appointment with Dr. Nichols.  Dad also agreed to leave the picc line in for another week while he sees what his body does without antibiotics.

Dad seemed in good spirits and a little relieved to have the doctor’s approval.  He did appreciate everyone’s concern the last couple of days and is looking forward to getting back to normal.  Let’s hope that happens.

I wanted to wait until Dad went to bed before I wrote an update. I hope my delay hasn't caused any needless worry.

Dad has had a tough day, but he's trying to stay up beat. He's very tired of being tired. 

Today he has been fighting diarrhea all day. He is also having intermittent  Shortness of breath. He has no energy.  The good news is, he says he has not been dizzy. Feels more like asthma, my words, not his.

He's also just having a bad day and is feeling depressed. He's thankful we're here, but wishes we didn't need to be. Does that make sense?

 

I'm going to call Dr. Nichols and Dr. Rose tomorrow and see if I can get him in. He's convinced he's been on these meds to long and wants off. In his mind, he was going to be able to stop in a few days anyway, so there is little risk to go off the meds and see if he feels better. As much as he wanted to go on a walk today, between his diarrhea and shortness of breath, he decided against it.

The shortness of breath is new, and he wonders what is causing it. I noticed it last night on the walk as well. I would worry if he was by himself.

Let me know if you have any questions. You can call my cell if you want more info or have specific suggestions.

..Jim

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 24, 2012, at 12:42 PM, "Bill Harrer"  wrote:

So this is very weird, he has been on those meds for 5 or 6 weeks now, and to suspect that the meds are the cause of his queasiness is probably not the case.  Please keep us updated on how he is feeling. 

So this makes me think that we need to have a schedule for dad for a few more weeks, what are your thoughts and availability if you agree.  Deb and I are going away for a few days at the end of this week to celebrate our anniversary, but I can be available after that if needed.  I am suppose to start a job, but I can bale on that too if needed, please let me know.

Bill

From: cate praggastis

Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 9:51 AM

Subject: Dad update

Hey there... So, yesterday Dad said he didn't feel great and slept a lot of the day... today, he woke up queasy and simply said he didn't want to take the IV meds anymore, they made him feel weird...   so Jim flushed the IV with Heperin.. and we will call Dr. Rose in the morning.. call if you have any questions... Love you all.. Sis

Catie

June 20th

Greetings all!! So, we just returned from Dr. Rabinov's office.. she said dad had a stubborn abscess  ( a pus pocket was her medical term) ... she lanced it and pus came out (yuk!).  It bled, but Dad said it didn't hurt. Because of the abscess, she wants to keep him on the anti-biotics for at least another round... She took a tissue sample and sent it out for a culture and will have the results when he goes for his visit next WED June 27th at 4:15 pm.  

She suspects this abscess may be the original culprit of the infection.

As for blood results:  and in a quick comparison to the results from last week:

WBC 5.6 - down a little, but still in the normal range

RBC 3.11  - up a bit.. but still low

Hemoglobin 9.9  down a smidgen and still low

Hematocrit 30.1  down an even smaller smidgen (30.2 last time)  but still low

 

I have scanned the full results pages and am including them here.  

Dad was bummed, but okay.. knowing he had to have the picc line in anyway.. And I told him, Dr. Rose indicated that if the infection is completely clear when she sees him next week, she will likely only recommend the picc line stay in for another week, so I relayed that to Dad, and he felt mubh better... I told him I would pass the info on to Jim, so he could remind Dr. Rose next week at their next visit.... ;-)

June 13th

Hi Everyone,

Well, I have some good news, Dad’s ear is doing much, much better.  Dr Rose looked at it today and said most of the swelling is gone, there is just one area that was swollen, and she suspects was the cause of the whole problem.  She did break the swollen mass so it would drain.  It is painful for Dad right now, but hopefully by morning most of the pain will be gone.  Since Dad still has some infection she wanted to keep Dad on the antibiotics one more week, but we feel we might be able to discontinue the injections in about 10 days or so.  I did ask when Dad would be able to resume wearing a hearing aid in the left ear and she felt he would be able to when he completed the antibiotics.

I asked about taking another culture to ensure we are fighting the right fight and she did not feel it was necessary, nor to include any oral antibiotics.  She wanted to stay on the course of action that appears now to be working.

So as it stands right now, he will probably be on antibiotics for another 7 days, which would take him through Friday, June 22nd.  The nurse that put in the PICC line said they typically like to leave it in a couple of weeks after they have completed all antibiotics just in case it is needed.  If that is what Dr Rose wants, that would mean he would have the PICC line in until early July, but I did not ask her that today, so it might be good if Catie can ask at his next visit next Wednesday @ 3:00, assuming all goes as planned.

Dad’s pain level this morning was a zero, the first time in a long time he was pain free.  By lunch though, he said his ear felt a little swollen and that his pain level was a 0.5.

On a side note, Dad is feeling better and better.  We went for a walk this morning and then took a shower/nap while I went for a bike ride.  When I got back he said he was going to put his feet up while I took my shower and when I came looking for him I found him in the living room with his feet up on a chair and lying on the carpet doing exercises.  He has a strong will to get back a little of what he lost in energy and stamina.  I asked him if he wants to go to Grant’s game this weekend with Tom and Mary and he said yes without hesitation.  He also wanted to go to Sirs on Monday and I am working with John to see if we can make it happen.  He changed his mind when we started talking about how he was going to get there and doesn’t want to inconvenience anyone.

He is a joy to be around, is joking around a lot and eager to do things, all great signs, but he will need help until we get him off the PICC line and antibiotics, in my opinion.

That is about it for now, he is looking forward to seeing Catie and Lee next week and having dinner with John and Ranae tomorrow night.

I am including the last two weeks lab results that I got from the Home Health Care Nurse for your records.

Love to all,

Bill

May 31st - Evernote

May 31, 2012

8:30 am

Dad woke up at 8:30 am and was sleeping on his left side.

His pain level is a 1 or 2 and says it feels like it is getting better, like less pressure in his bad ear.

He says he can hear me a little out of his left ear, can't quite understand me, but can hear me talking.

10:00 am

Dr Mary was the doctor on call today and gave dad his antibiotics IV. She did a great job.

John to be trained tonight at 6:00pm with the Heparin

Dad now has three appointments scheduled

Tuesday, June 5th 11:45, Dr Saiki

Tuesday, June 5th, 1:45 pm, Dr Rabinov

Monday, June 11th, 3:45 pm, Dr Mocha (I am trying to get this date moved up, but so far no luck, his assistant is "supposed" to talk to Dr M and see if he wants to see him earlier, but there are no appointments currently available before June 11th)

(Jim) I know we don't know for sure, but a June 11th appt may mean there is no urgency. Still, I would love a call with the biopsy results, I'm sure you probably agree. (Bill) Jim, I would tend to agree, if I had a faith in the people I talked with. But I believe Dr M has seen the results and probably will tell Dad that they are inconclusive and he wants to run further tests. I believe this is the third biopsy that Dad has had, right?

(Jim) I believe we have the right to ask for the results of his test now, over the phone or a copy of the report via email. Making dad or us wait is pure BS. Having said that, you're probably right.

2:30 pm

Dad got his Ciprodex ear drops and took a nap.

Noticed still a little bleeding in his ear, see picture below. There was just a very slight amount of blood on Dad's pillow over night.

Great news, Bill.

May 18th

I don’t know if they call this “managed” healthcare or not, but I sure don’t. So here is where we are at at 10:40 am Friday. Since my last update, Dr Kitt, an infectious disease specialist came in sometime during the middle of the night. They did start Dad on Vancomycin about 3:00 am and he was done with this IV by about 8:45 when I came in. Dr Rose arrived at the same time and we did talk for awhile. She said they were getting ready Dad for a MRI and that she wanted him to also have a special scan. I asked why the MRI and she said one of the other doctors ordered it along with blood and urine samples. Since they took both in the middle of the night I let those go. That is all they have done so far. Dad’s pain level is currently an 8 out of 10, with 10 being unbearable. This is higher than at anytime yesterday, but not as bad as Wednesday. I just talked with his nurse and they are getting him pain medication. He is getting tylenol with codeine. Dad was just started on two different anti-biotics shortly, they are Cefepime, an injection given through his IV very slowly and Zyvox 600 mg, a pill. These were suggested by the contagious disease specialist. I did ask Dr Rose if they were concerned about Mersa and she said no. Her main concern is whether he has an ear infection that is affecting he mastoid or whether he has a mastoid infection that is affecting his ears. She said treatment would be different depending on what they find. Dr Trang is expected in around 4:00 today. He is an ENT that specializes more in ear problems and is also an ear surgeon. Dr Rose has been consulting with him on Dad’s case. John, I did tell them about Dr Saike and the Aransp injections that he is getting. They said they will inform his doctor and that it is up to the doctor to contact Dr Saike. His red blood count was at 2.85, if that means anything to you and that his calcium is low too. His blood pressure is high, around 160/80. Things move slowly in the hospital, but I do believe we are moving forward. Dad is resting right now. I will let you know if anything else changes. Bill

According to John, Dad received an EPO (Procrit) shot today.

This was not Procrit, but something similar call Aransz and I think the dose was 60 mcg. - John

According to Dr Rose's patient notes:

Dad will have a CT scan today, verbal reporton CT - right and left mastoid opacification, left ME largely opacified, left can filled with tissue, not bony erosion.

May 17th

Dad was admitted about 8:00pm, but so far (10:00 pm) we are still waiting for them to do anything. I talked with the nurse who has put in I'V, but nothing is hooked to it. She is waiting for the dr who should be in about 10:30pm. I asked the RN what anti-biotic dad will be on and she did not know. She also did not have any idea how long he will be here. The only thing she was able to confirm is that dad will have a scan in the morning. Dad is at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, room 586, which is a single bed room. To contact him, call 661-327-4647 then extension 1586. If you want to just call and get information on how he is doing you will need the code word "rabbit". Dad pain level started out as a 1 this morning and went up to a 4 around noon and a 6 around 5:00, before he ate soup for dinner. So eating doesn't seem to be making it worse. He is resting right now as we wait for the dr. He is also leary of taking more pain medicine because he has had the runs this afternoon and evening. Well that is about all we know right now, he is in good spirits and we were doing quizzes I have on my phone. He did very well on the Chicago quiz! Love to all, Bill

This is all the info I have right now.  Dad had his CT scan at noon today.  His ear doctor was going to take tomorrow off and so she rushed to get the results.  From what I can discern, Dad’s ear infection is deeper than we thought and they want to immediately admit him into the hospital for IV antibiotics.  I understand a new doctor will be brought in to assist Dr. Rose and oversee the treatment.  Dad and Bill were here in the store when we got the news.  While Dad was disappointed and sad to get the news, he recovered quickly and said let’s get this done.  Bill took Dad home to get some personal items and perhaps take a nap before going to the hospital.  I believe he will be at Memorial and we’ll keep you up-to-date on any more information we get.

According to Dr Rose's patient notes canal is very edematous, cannot see eardrum, there is scant yellow discharge.  Wants Dad on IV antibiotics. 

May 16th

To bring everyone up-to-date, Dad has been struggling with an ear infection in his left ear.  The drops they were giving him had no effect on the bacteria and so the Dr. changed to oral administration.  According to Mary, the Dr. is considering iv administration as the next step but first she wants to do a CT scan of the ear.  Dad says the earache can be quite painful at times, especially in the evening after dinner.  The ear canal is completely closed up and he cannot get new hearing aids until this is cleared up.  Thankfully the folks at the hearing aid company he goes to had a “demo” amplifier they could put into his right ear and that has improved things.

I played tennis with him this am and he’s tired of these inconveniences but he still keeps plugging along.  He walked up the slope to the tennis courts slowly but without stopping as far as I could tell.  He can’t see the ball for $%$#, but he still managed some good shots.  He had courtside conversations with the other players telling them about Nedra who has sprained her ankle.  He had a fall, I think out of bed, and bumped his head.  There is a half dollar size bruise and it looks like it’s healing okay.

Mary is taking him to the ear Dr. on Thursday, I’m not sure when the CT scan is (it was just scheduled), he gets blood tested today, and another EPO shot on Tuesday.  Bill is considering coming down for a visit next week.

According to Dr Rose's patient notes Dad was seen today, his canal is slightly less edematous (filled with blood) but she still cannot see the ear drum.  Dr Rose added a prescription for tylenol with Codeine.

May 14, 2012 Update

According to Dr Rose's notes, dad saw Dr Rose today.  There is still yellow discharge in dad's left ear which was suctioned, the canal is less edematous, but still cannot see the ear drum.  Dad reports that the ear is less painful.  Dr Rose will schedule a CT temporal bones to eval for malignant OE.  Continue augmentin and rifampin.

May 11, 2012 Update

According to Dr Rose's office notes, Dad was seen today.  The wick in his left ear was removed, there was discharge present, medial half of canal still very edematous.  Dr Rose added rifampin 300 mg Cap to augmentin.  Staph is resistent to cipro and gent, no ear drops at this time.

May 8, 2012 Update

According to Dr Rose's notes dad was seen today and his wick had fallen out, purulent material suctioned and the wick was replaced.  Dad continues on Augmentin.