Bob had an appointment with the cardiologist today. The results of the thallium stress test indicate that his carotid artery may be having a/some problems. Two of the three arteries have been totally blocked for a long time (neither of us was aware of there being 3 with 2 blocked - Galli was not Bob's original cardiologist). Those are the two lesser arteries. At some time after the replacement of the ICD, they will have him in for an angioplasty to determine what is really going on with that artery.
Bob asked him about the urinary problem he is having. Dr. Galli said he would suspect a possible bladder infection. So he gave Bob a form to take to the lab for a urinalysis and some blood work. Dr. Galli called here just before 6:30pm to say that the lab tests confirm that Bob has a bladder infection. He wanted to know if Bob could take Cipro. Bob has taken it in the past, so Galli wanted to know which pharmacy to send the order to. Our regular pharmacy is not open this time of day so I had him direct it to Walgreens at Fremont Ave. and Mary Ave. where we have had some prescriptions filled. Since Bob will start taking the Cipro today, Galli figures the infection should be sufficiently under control by Monday that they can go ahead with the ICD replacement.
Shortly after Galli's call I headed out for Walgreens. Of course they had not had time to fill the prescription when I got there but they said it would only be about 10 minutes since the order was in their computer. Well, it was closer to 20 min. but that was not a problem. I was interested in getting Bob started on the Cipro as soon as possible.
Bob is not back to where he was when his #4 daughter arrived but he is highly interested in getting back to the point where he has the stamina to do a little walking down the sidewalk (with his oxygen) and build his muscles back to where they were.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Health update
Monday morning last week, Bob had an appointment with the nephrologist. His kidney function is sufficiently stable that Dr. Zargahmee said to make the next appointment for 6 months out instead of the usual 3 or 4 months between visits.
That afternoon Bob had an appointment with Dr. Saw the pulmonologist who has taken over Dr. Beck's practice since Dr. Beck retired at the end of December. Dr. Saw highly recommended that Bob start exercising again. Bob seems to like Dr. Saw and will probably start doing some exercise when the weather improves. Dr. Saw recommended starting out slowly since Bob has not been doing any exercising for several months.
Wednesday last week Bob had an appointment with the hearing aid guy to take new ear impressions for his hearing aids because he was having so much trouble with the aids. Robert was unable to do the impressions because of the amount of wax in both of the ears. He said Bob would have to have the wax removed before he could help Bob in any way. He also recommended that Bob have the wax removed every 6 months on a regular basis.
Thursday Bob had an appointment at the cardiologist's office to have his INR checked. It was in the proper range so no change in his dosage of warfarin.
Monday morning Bob had the wax removed from his ears. The doc had some difficulty getting the wax out of the right ear because it was so badly impacted. The hearing aid place at Costco does not open until 10 am. So I called at 10 to see when Robert could do the impressions. Fortunately, someone had cancelled an appointment so we went to Costco at 11:30. So the impressions have been sent off to get new ear inserts made for Bob's hearing aids.
Today Bob had an appointment with the dermatologist. Dr. Cho froze a few spots on Bob's arm and then had a long discussion with him about all the spots on his head, face, and neck. He could freeze all the spots every few months or he could give Bob a prescription for some chemotherapy creme to apply for 2 weeks and then come back for an evaluation. If the creme bothers him too much he can call the doc and stop the creme but would then need to have the spots frozen plus there are 2 spots on his head that would need to be biopsied. Bob decided that he would try the 2 weeks of creme. So Dr. Cho sent an email (fax?) to our local pharmacy for the chemotherapy creme.
We ran an errand on our way home from Dr. Cho's office. After we were home I called the pharmacy to see if they had received the order. They had, but they do not have it in stock. However, they can have it available in the morning. That will work out just fine because we have some of this particular creme left over from when Bob had the first chemotherapy creme last year and it won't expire until Dec. of this year.
So, starting tonight I will be applying the creme using the method suggested by the doc. Theoretically this creme will have fewer side effects than the 2nd, stronger creme had that Bob used last year.
That afternoon Bob had an appointment with Dr. Saw the pulmonologist who has taken over Dr. Beck's practice since Dr. Beck retired at the end of December. Dr. Saw highly recommended that Bob start exercising again. Bob seems to like Dr. Saw and will probably start doing some exercise when the weather improves. Dr. Saw recommended starting out slowly since Bob has not been doing any exercising for several months.
Wednesday last week Bob had an appointment with the hearing aid guy to take new ear impressions for his hearing aids because he was having so much trouble with the aids. Robert was unable to do the impressions because of the amount of wax in both of the ears. He said Bob would have to have the wax removed before he could help Bob in any way. He also recommended that Bob have the wax removed every 6 months on a regular basis.
Thursday Bob had an appointment at the cardiologist's office to have his INR checked. It was in the proper range so no change in his dosage of warfarin.
Monday morning Bob had the wax removed from his ears. The doc had some difficulty getting the wax out of the right ear because it was so badly impacted. The hearing aid place at Costco does not open until 10 am. So I called at 10 to see when Robert could do the impressions. Fortunately, someone had cancelled an appointment so we went to Costco at 11:30. So the impressions have been sent off to get new ear inserts made for Bob's hearing aids.
Today Bob had an appointment with the dermatologist. Dr. Cho froze a few spots on Bob's arm and then had a long discussion with him about all the spots on his head, face, and neck. He could freeze all the spots every few months or he could give Bob a prescription for some chemotherapy creme to apply for 2 weeks and then come back for an evaluation. If the creme bothers him too much he can call the doc and stop the creme but would then need to have the spots frozen plus there are 2 spots on his head that would need to be biopsied. Bob decided that he would try the 2 weeks of creme. So Dr. Cho sent an email (fax?) to our local pharmacy for the chemotherapy creme.
We ran an errand on our way home from Dr. Cho's office. After we were home I called the pharmacy to see if they had received the order. They had, but they do not have it in stock. However, they can have it available in the morning. That will work out just fine because we have some of this particular creme left over from when Bob had the first chemotherapy creme last year and it won't expire until Dec. of this year.
So, starting tonight I will be applying the creme using the method suggested by the doc. Theoretically this creme will have fewer side effects than the 2nd, stronger creme had that Bob used last year.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Breathless
We went to 8:30 mass yesterday morning and after mass one of the parishiners called 911 because Bob was white as a sheet and could hardly stand up leaning against the outside wall of the church near the side entrance. So someone brought out a chair for him to sit on. He looked like he was going to pass out. He said he was short of breath.
The fire truck arrived very shortly before the ambulance did. In Sunnyvale the firemen and policemen are all trained in EMT so any of them are good to have show up in an "emergency."
Bob is due for another check on his ICD on Feb. 17 because the battery is getting low. He gave that info to the EMT people. The EMT lady thought Bob's problem might be caused by the low level of the battery in his ICD since her grandmother had had a similar situation last year.
Of course Bob had not wanted anyone to call 911 but he looked like he needed professional help. So they took him to El Camino Hospital. I took a detour by the house on the way to the hospital to put on some warmer clothes because I had gotten rather chilled standing in the wind by the church. Bob had been situated where he was not in the wind.
By the time I got to the hospital a doctor had already seen Bob and they had started an IV (saline solution), taken some blood and had him on oxygen. Of course the EMT folks had put him on oxygen as soon as they arrived at the church - standard operating procedure. Bob's color was already back to normal when I arrived and had probably returned to normal while he was being transported to the hospital. Very shortly after I arrived a lady came in to take some more blood for a "heart enzyme" test. They took blood for that same test and hour later for comparison and then another hour later they did it again.
It all boiled down to a diagnosis of "Breathless". His heart had not done anything out of the oridinary and all of the tests were "normal."
So, by 2:30 in the afternoon they released him from the hospital and we came home. When we got home I had to take care of a couple of things and then planned to ask Bob if I could fix him some lunch. When I got back to the kitchen he was in the process of fixing his own lunch and was doing quite well. I had had a Danish and some coffee at the hospital about 12:30 while we were waiting for the test results.
After Bob started eating his lunch I went to Saratoga to a "Celebration of Life" for a good friend of mine who had died on New Year's Day. I was a couple of hours later arriving than I had originally planned but was able to talk with my friend's husband and with her mother and various mutual friends. When I returned home, Bob was still doing fine.
So today Bob wants to go get a haircut and go grocery shopping -- back to normal activities.
Magie
The fire truck arrived very shortly before the ambulance did. In Sunnyvale the firemen and policemen are all trained in EMT so any of them are good to have show up in an "emergency."
Bob is due for another check on his ICD on Feb. 17 because the battery is getting low. He gave that info to the EMT people. The EMT lady thought Bob's problem might be caused by the low level of the battery in his ICD since her grandmother had had a similar situation last year.
Of course Bob had not wanted anyone to call 911 but he looked like he needed professional help. So they took him to El Camino Hospital. I took a detour by the house on the way to the hospital to put on some warmer clothes because I had gotten rather chilled standing in the wind by the church. Bob had been situated where he was not in the wind.
By the time I got to the hospital a doctor had already seen Bob and they had started an IV (saline solution), taken some blood and had him on oxygen. Of course the EMT folks had put him on oxygen as soon as they arrived at the church - standard operating procedure. Bob's color was already back to normal when I arrived and had probably returned to normal while he was being transported to the hospital. Very shortly after I arrived a lady came in to take some more blood for a "heart enzyme" test. They took blood for that same test and hour later for comparison and then another hour later they did it again.
It all boiled down to a diagnosis of "Breathless". His heart had not done anything out of the oridinary and all of the tests were "normal."
So, by 2:30 in the afternoon they released him from the hospital and we came home. When we got home I had to take care of a couple of things and then planned to ask Bob if I could fix him some lunch. When I got back to the kitchen he was in the process of fixing his own lunch and was doing quite well. I had had a Danish and some coffee at the hospital about 12:30 while we were waiting for the test results.
After Bob started eating his lunch I went to Saratoga to a "Celebration of Life" for a good friend of mine who had died on New Year's Day. I was a couple of hours later arriving than I had originally planned but was able to talk with my friend's husband and with her mother and various mutual friends. When I returned home, Bob was still doing fine.
So today Bob wants to go get a haircut and go grocery shopping -- back to normal activities.
Magie
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