July 29

Starting to believe that Steve is home for good this time. He feels normal and is eating well. Ran only a slight fever for a few hours today.

July 28

Great news!! Steve was expelled from the hospital! His fevers are down, his energy is up, his abscess is gone and his surgical wounds are healing quite well. Steve was euphoric to walk through his neighborhood. He probably ambulated 3 miles at least today.

July 27

Steve's CT scan indicated that his abscess has drained, but he still has fluid surrounding his left lung. His teams are discussing whether or not to drain the fluid. In the meantime, Steve's fevers still are trending down (hooray!) They also have cultured out another strain of bacteria (this time anaerobic) from his abscess, so they've started him on the antibiotic Flagyl. Except for the fevers, Steve is feeling better and has more energy.

July 26

A good sign: Steve is getting tired of being in the hospital. He's still running a fever, but it tends to peak around 101, rather than 103. His white blood cell count is declining and his breathing capacity is increasing. He's scheduled for another CT tomorrow to confirm that the decreased output in his drainage tube is due to reduction / elimination of his abscess.

July 25

Steve remains in the hospital. He's still running a fever, although it seems to be a bit lower. His breathing is better so he doesn't require oxygen any more.

July 22

Steve's abscess continues to drain. He still spikes fevers and is on oxygen to maintain his oxygen saturation. His pulse has slowed somewhat - it had been elevated the past two weeks. They started him on a new antibiotic (ertapenem) today.

July 21

The good news is that the fluid accumulation is an abscess - probably the source of Steve's ongoing fevers. They inserted a drain today and identified the bacteria causing Steve's infections (gram negative rods - an example is E Coli). Although Steve's fever was elevated tonight, that was expected based on the fact that they "stirred up the bacteria". We are expecting that the team will identify the appropriate antibiotic to treat the infection - this might be complicated because he has been treated with so many antibiotics over the past two months.
This was a rough day for Steve, however. The procedure resulted in extremely painful spasms and feelings of shortness of breath.

July 20

Steve continues to run a fever. He has been moved to a private room. Tomorrow he will visit Interventional Radiology to drain a pocket of fluid in his abdomen.

July 19

Steve was readmitted to Stanford Hospital today (same room as his last visit, but a different bed). He got another CT scan that detected an abnormality at the base of his left lung, which could be pneumonia. Steve had developed a slight cough when he spoke over the last 10 days or so. Since his voice has been improving following his prolonged intubation, we attributed the cough to a healing process for his vocal cords. If pneumonia is the cause of his fever, that should be treated with the IV antibiotic (Zosyn) currently being administered. We'll look forward to seeing his fever trend down.

July 18

Steve's surgeon removed his drainage tube and bag Friday and although it was painful, it has been a huge relief for both of us. Steve can walk and sleep more easily now without having to deal with the pressure from the bag, and I'm happy not to have to empty it. They inserted a different tube along the tract and I just have to back it out of the tract about a centimeter a day, so the tract can drain and then heal.
Unfortunately, Steve's fevers have continued throughout the weekend despite the new round of antibiotics. His fevers started trending up this evening, so his surgeon will make arrangements to readmit him to the hospital tomorrow.

July 15

Steve has continued to have fevers this week. His surgeon has been very responsive to our questions and ordered different antibiotics Tuesday evening. A wound specialist visited on Wednesday and left us with some new wound treatments. Steve appreciates all the cards, emails and visits. He is getting stronger. Tomorrow we're following-up with Steve's surgeon at Stanford. The plan is to withdraw the drainage tube and eliminate the drainage bag. The hope is that his infection will resolve.

July 12

We met with Steve's surgeon at 8am at Stanford. Although Steve continues to have a low-grade fever, the infection appears under control with the oral antibiotics. The lack of output in Steve's drainage bag indicates that the bile duct is healing. Steve's surgeon pulled about an inch of tubing out of the drainage tract. Wow - this was an incredibly painful experience for Steve. Although this signifies positive progress forward, the whole experience (2 hours+ of driving, another hour of waiting, topped off by stabbing pain) was a bit draining. We have an appointment on Friday to fully remove the tubing and replace it with a very small tube. so overall, we're progressing forward.

July 11

This weekend has been touch and go, as Steve's drainage bag stopped draining and his fever has been up slightly(around 99.5 - 100). Our instructions have been to contact his physicians if his fever reaches 101. We're seeing his surgeon tomorrow at 8 am. In the meantime, Steve's appetite has increased and he has become more mobile (he did a total of 6 blocks this afternoon).

July 9

Steve returned home yesterday afternoon. The IV antibiotics were very effective and Steve feels much better now.

July 6

Steve was readmitted to the hospital tonight. Steve developed cellulitis (a skin infection) near one of his staple wounds and started running a fever yesterday. He started on oral antibiotics yesterday, but his fever increased overnight. This morning the area in question looked more swollen. Also, I noticed a change in the drainage bag contents from his damaged bile duct. Stanford asked us to show up for a Clinic visit and the surgical resident decided that they should start IV antibiotics while they culture out Steve's fluids and also do a CT scan of his abdomen because of the concerns about the drainage bag. (which meant he had to re-enter the hospital) They're also talking about having a wound specialist debride Steve's wound. So, we have a bit of a setback, but both Steve and I feel better to have him back in the hospital.

July 5

Steve is very grateful for the good wishes he has received. He enjoys having visitors. He wants his patients to know that he plans to return to his practice when he is able.

July 3

Belated and ongoing thanks to family, friends, patients, colleagues, neighbors and medical staff who have helped us in so many ways. We're blessed to have the support we have. Steve and I had a short, but nice, stroll in the sun along Green Street today. He is less anemic, so is able to sit up longer and feels stronger. In the household, things are returning to normal a bit as both girls are inviting friends over - the youthful energy benefits both Steve and me.

July 2

We've had a lot of support staff visit the house and a few visitors. Steve's energy is improving and he was able to deal with a few short visits from friends. He was able to get out and walk about 0.2 miles today.