Ken's Home!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!! The doctor came to see us while we were walking around the wing (Ken on his crutches, me pushing the IV machine) and ran into us in the hall. He took a quick look at Ken's knee and said "Looks like you're ready to go home!" I think it really helped that we were up and about.... I'm glad Ken wasn't laying in bed all sick-like when the doctor came by. Seven loooooooong days in the hospital is about all Ken could stand, I think.

Here's the picture for yesterday (Monday), since I didn't make it home to update the blog:


And here's the picture from today:


He still has redness but hasn't needed any pain meds today. The doc gave him an oral antibiotic (doxycycl hyc) and pain killer (vicodin), told him to stay off of his feet (use crutches) but not to be on bed rest since he'll no longer be getting the blood-thinning shot in the belly that he's gotten for the last seven days. He's cleared to return to work as normal on Monday.

Ken's boss said that if Ken doesn't want to use up his vacation days (exhausted his 5 sick days last week) he can come into the shop and just sit around on the clock, maybe answer the phone or something. Can you believe he'd make such an offer??? I really like the guys Ken works for.

Your prayers worked. :) We got home about 10 minutes ago. Ken just played with Ella and is now crashed out on the couch. It's so good to have him back.

Sunday Update

Well, we may be moving backwards. :(



Doesn't it look more red than yesterday? Maybe even more red than Friday?

The surgeon and doctor came by today - neither one made any mention of being released tomorrow so looks like Ken's not coming home yet. :( The surgeon still says he doesn't think it's anything operable but wants to come back tomorrow for a third look. The doctor didn't have anything new to add, and said he'd see us tomorrow.

A physical therapist came by and taught Ken how to walk with crutches. He can actually do pretty well with just one crutch. And they gave us a wheelchair so that I could take Ken outside - his first time outside of the hospital since Wednesday. I gave him the grand tour.

Ken felt lots of love today! His parents came by early this morning and brought a gift - a big toolbox full of all kinds of fun stuff. :) Then around 1pm his sister, Lisa (one of my bridesmaids), and her husband and daughter surprised us and came by. Shortly after that, our friends Sylvia and Jarred came with magazines about guns and cars. Ken was definitely in good spirits. :)

Unfortunately, Ken's IV infiltrated (his arm swelled up and turned red because the fluid was no longer flowing into the vein but just under the skin) so they had to take it out and start another one. Again, it took 2 nurses 5 tries before successfully inserting the IV, and they ended up getting it in on the inside crease of his right elbow, which means he can't bend his right arm. But at least they got it in. Before their first attempt, they knew to pump him up with Xanax to help relieve his anxiety, but I'm not sure how effective it was. Poor Ken...

Pray for rapid turn-around improvement so that the doctors will feel comfortable releasing Ken on oral antibiotics. Then he could at least be home.

Saturday Update

What a difference a day makes!



You can tell the red area has really decreased, so the antibiotic is definitely working. :)

The ortho surgeon came by this morning. He thinks the mass is just from the swelling and that it's not an abscess or anything that needs to be removed. He will check back tomorrow to see if his opinion changes but he said "It's always a good thing when a surgeon says there's no need for surgery, huh?" He also said that Ken can probably switch to an oral antibiotic and be released tomorrow (Sunday)!!!

However, Ken's doctor came in this afternoon and said he's not sure about that. He'd rather Ken stay until Monday just to make sure this thing really clears up and so that they can keep them on this IV antibiotic that's working so well. So looks like we're looking at a Monday release (hopefully no later!).

The past couple of nurses that Ken has had have been really good. They've been attentive, friendly, and have communicated with him so he's feeling better about being there. The nurses are concerned that the IV is starting to irritate Ken's arm (it's turning a little pink and swelling a bit) but Ken really, really doesn't want it to be redone. Today's nurse (happens to be the charge nurse) suggested a pic line so I told the doctor, but he said Ken's not going to be in long enough to need one of those.

Ken's been complaining of headaches today, and the pain killers don't seem to impact the headaches one way or the other, nor does tylenol. His blood pressure has also been high today, which is weird because he's usually pretty low. Additionally, his appetite isn't as strong today (just wanted pudding for lunch). They're keeping an eye on him.

In the meantime, we've become quite a team with the IV! We're even able to give Ken a shower with the IV, and the showers definitely seem to make him feel better. He asked me to pick up a razor while I'm at home today. He's so cute. :)

Thank you for your continued prayers. We're so lucky to have so many people who love us!

Friday Update

The doctor came and talked to us at about 2:30pm today. He shared that the MRI detected a mass just under Ken's knee, where the redness originally started on Monday. He thinks it may be an abscess and an orthopedic surgeon should be coming by today to evaluate and see if he can cut it out. If so, this will be Ken's first surgery - ever. If it is an abscess, it would be a result of the original infection (or the doctor's needle-poking on Monday), but not the cause. Doesn't seem we're going to discover the cause of all of this, which is a little annoying, but as long as they can cure it I guess we can't complain.

The doctor also said that the soonest we can expect Ken to be released would be Monday, but seemed skeptical about even then. I'm afraid Ken's just worrying about the money (we are responsible for about $400 per day, plus procedures, plus a $500 deductable), and not relaxing enough to allow himself to fully heal. HOWEVER, he has been better about requesting pain meds (they alternate btwn an IV of a synthetic morphine and an oral dose of vicodin), and that's definitely helped him relax. He slept 11 hours last night! :) And then took an hour nap this afternoon.

The antibiotics seem to be working - his leg looks better today than yesterday.
Here's a picture from yesterday, Thursday. You can see that the red area has extended to just about his ankle, covering his entire shin.


Here's a picture from today. You can tell that the redness covers the same area as yesterday but is a little lighter in color. So I think the antibiotic is working.

The non-red part within the line just below his knee is the mass the doctors are concerned about.

Shari and Andy came to visit us today - I think Ken enjoyed the company. I have a wedding tomorrow and am hoping one of his family members will come stay with him while I'm gone, as he needs help getting in and out of bed, and someone to just stay on top of the nurses and make sure he gets his meds and eats, etc.

I'm going to take my computer to the hospital so that I can catch up on some of the work I've missed, but am going to limit my time on the computer so that I'm more present for Ken. They don't have internet, anyway.

Thank you so much for the prayers and concerns. *I* am absolutely fine, and so is our baby girl. I got a coldsore yesterday morning but have some topical medicine for it. I'm sure it's just due to the higher-than-usual stress of this week. I'm resting plenty and staying hydrated. I'm a little more emotional (dumb pregnancy hormones) but feel great physically, so no worries. :)

Oh yeah

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad. :) 33 years and counting...

Quick Update

We checked in to room 319 at 7:30pm. It's a private room with two beds so i was able to stay with him.

Our new doc, an internal medicine hospitalist, finally saw us at about 10:30 last night. He said he doesn't think it's bursitis and is more likely cellulitis due to staph. He ordered a bunch of blood work (Ken HATES needles, so this was not good news), and an IV of an antibiotic and saline. He said Ken would have an MRI and ultrasound in the morning, and then he'd check back in with us.

The nurse who was assigned to us tried FIVE times to insert the IV needle before admitting she should have worn her glasses and got someone else to do it. This did NOT help Ken's fear of needles! Poor thing. :( If she were a man, I'm pretty sure he would have hit her. Then, every time he was finally able to get to sleep, someone would come in to draw blood! Or ask him the same questions someone else asked hours earlier (such as "is there any metal in your body?"). It was a rough night.

This morning, the night nurse woke us at 7 to tell us we had better order breakfast, so I did. But at 9:00, she came in again and told us nevermind - he's NPO, which means he can't eat or drink anything because of the upcomimg MRI. Then, at 11:00, our NEW nurse (shift change) said we had better hurry up and order food because MRIs were backed up due to emergencies and he had two hours to eat. Ken was definitely frustrated to learn he had been starving all morning for no reason. So, I called in his order yet again. Finally at noon Ken was able to eat something (for the first time since lunch yesterday). They eventually took him down for the MRI at 3pm. Ultrasound still hasn't happened.

Doc checked in with us around 2pm. He said the reason for all of the blood work all night long is that his kidneys don't look great and his white blood count was too high. He said these could be due to the Advil and infection. He informed us Ken would need to stay at least one or two more days. He said he'll see us tomorrow, when he has the results of the MRI and ultrasound.

The red area is bigger today, but lighter in color. The doctor seems to think this means the IV antibiotic is working. But the darkness of red has varied every day - it's the consistant growing that has me doubting.

We're hoping we don't have the same night-shift nurse that we had last night. Ken hates hospitals and she really wasn't helping, bless her heart. She's sweet as can be! Just not the best with details or being gentle.

I'm home now to pick up a few things, feed the girls, shower, and respond to urgent business emails - heading back to the hospital in a minute.

Thanks for your prayers and well wishes - keep them coming, please.

Admitting at 7:30pm

We're reporting for admitting at 7:30pm. He'll be at St. David's South Austin: http://www.southaustinhospital.com/.

I'll report back when I can. Thanks for the prayers, keep 'em comin'.

We're going to the hospital

It's 2:30 and the doctor just called. He's made some consults and the powers that be have decided that Ken needs to go to the hospital for maybe a couple of days and try an IV.

Keep a'prayin'.

Ken's knee - update

Here's a picture of the growth as of 11:30am today, Wednesday.


Again, it's not going the direction we were hoping, but at least he's not in pain right now and he's even getting better at walking. I called the doctor's office and spoke with a nurse at 9:30am. She said she'd speak with the doctor and get back with me. It's 1:30pm and I still haven't heard back from her so I called again. She said he's been in meetings but that she'll get back with me by the end of the day. She also said that she checked for the culture results and they're not in yet but may be this afternoon.

Should we go to the ER? Or just wait it out, giving the antibiotics more time to work? Should I call an ortho?

I hate not being able to solve this problem!

Ken's Knee

OK, this is really weird.

On Sunday morning (the day before yesterday), Ken woke up complaining of pain in his right knee. This isn't something that alarmed us because the marines ruined his knees and they frequently hurt, especially with weird weather like we've been having. But as Sunday progressed, it became increasingly difficult for Ken to walk! THAT is not normal. I ran to HEB to get some bengay, a few cold compresses, and an ace bandage. The area just below his knee on the front of his right leg was swollen. I had him wrap the area and keep his knee elevated even while sleeping that night.

Yesterday morning, however, the pain had spread to his right hip and he had a fever. This screamed "infection" to me, even though he doesn't have any scrapes, bites, or any other external wounds that could get infected. At this point, he couldn't walk without my help so I took him to the doctor as soon as he would see us. By the time we were in the examining room at 11am, we noticed the swollen area was now red and warm to the touch. The doctor traced it with a pen so that we could see how it changes. He said the hip pain was a lymph node, further indicating an infection. He then numbed a small area just below Ken's kneecap (can't remember what he called the area - some kind of sack) with an ice cube. This was torturous for poor Ken. :( Once that spot was numb, the doctor inserted a needle that injected some sort of numbing medicine. After the area was thoroughly numb, he inserted another needle to extract some of the infection.... but nothing came out! He'd pull on the syringe and it would go right back in, like a vacuum. He moved it around and tried several times with the same result. As he pulled the needle back out, there was a little drop of something clear on the tip of the needle. He swabbed that for a culture, but said it may have just been a drop of the numbing medicine. He said he was afraid it might be some sort of staph infection but that we'd have to wait for the culture results in a couple of days. In the meantime, he gave Ken a shot of some antibiotic (a hefty full gram dose in the bum), a prescription for another antibiotic (dicloxacill), a prescription for a pain killer (lortab), and said he wanted to see him again the next day. Ken spent the rest of the day in pain on the couch, but the pain killers gave him some relief in time to get some sleep last night.

This morning, we reported to the doctor's office at 11am again. The red, warm area had spread beyond the doctor's previously drawn line and Ken's still having difficulty walking. His fever is also still present. The doctor was visibly discouraged - he had hoped to see improvement. He drew a new, dashed line around the red area and prescribed a third antibiotic (bactrim ds) to take along with the dicloxacill. This time, the doctor mentioned Bursitis but I googled it and it doesn't really seem to fit because it's more about the bones, whereas Ken's pain is in the muscle/tissue below the knee. If it's not improving by the end of the week, he wants to refer us to an orthopedic surgeon who CUT it out. :(

Here's a comparison of Ken's legs. It's hard to see the red in these pictures but you can see the solid line that the doctor drew yesterday, and the dashed one he drew today.

Close-up of Ken's right leg.

Profile shots of his left leg and then right leg, showing the swelling on the front of his leg.

Thanks to the pain killers, Ken is now in good spirits and bored out of his mind. He's pretty bummed about missing work, too - he had been saving his sick days for our daughter's birth.

Say a prayer for Ken, that this infection will clear up immediately and without further drama.

Aubrey - name meaning

Well, I guess this will be fitting if she has the height of either of her parents! Heh.
Here's what I found on the worldwide web:

-------

Aubrey - Name Meaning and Origin

The boy's and girl's name Aubrey is pronounced AW-bree. It is of Old German origin, and its meaning is "elf or supernatural being, power". Originally a man's name, from Norman French, that arrived in England with the Norman Conquest. This was the name, according to Germanic mythology, of the king of the elves. In the US, Aubrey is mainly used as a girl's name, perhaps under the influence of Audrey.

Aubrey has 12 variant forms: Aubary, Aubery, Aubre, Aubree, Aubreigh, Aubrette, Aubri, Aubriana, Aubrianne, Aubrie, Aubry and Aubury.

Baby names that sound like Aubrey are Abree, Abeer, Abra, Abrah and Abri.

Aubrey is a popular female first name and a very popular surname (source: 1990 U.S. Census).

-------

Gender: Both

Meaning: Elfin king

Origin: Germanic

Categories: Germanic

Pronunciation: (AW bree)

Form of: Alberic

Variants: Aubree, Aubrette, Aubriana, Aubrie, Aubrielle, Aubry

Additional Info: From the Germanic name Alberic, composed from the elements 'alb' (elf) and 'ric' (ruler, king). This male name has gained popularity for females in recent times, probably through association with Audrey.

-------

Aubrey Surname Origin

A corruption of the German Alberic, a name given in hope of power or wealth, ric signifying rich or powerful; always rich.

-------

Name: Aubrey
Gender: Female
Origin: German, Old French
Meaning: Elf rule

-------

The meaning of Aubrey

Origin: English
Meaning: Rules with elf-wisdom.

Origin: English
Meaning: Rules with elf-wisdom. Introduced into Britain from France by Aubrey de Vere, a friend of William the Conquerer. De Vere's grandson became the Earl of Oxford.

Origin: French
Meaning: Rules with elf-wisdom.

Origin: French
Meaning: Blond ruler, elf ruler. From the Old French Auberi, a form of the Old German Alberich meaning elf ruler.

Origin: Teutonic
Meaning: Rules the elves.

-------

Gender: Female
Origin: German
Meaning: The German name Aubrey means - noble; bearlike

Gender: Female
Origin: French
Meaning: The French name Aubrey means - blond ruler; elf ruler

-------

Real Life Kwik-e-Mart (Simpsons)

7-11 transformed 12 US stores to Kwik-E-Marts, one of those 11 is in Dallas. :) Road trip?

My Simpsons obsession predates the Tracy Ulman show....

Name popularity

This is cool! This website will show you the popularity by year of any baby name you enter.

http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

Just start typing a name and you'll see it by the blinking black triangle cursor. Jessica's not nearly as popular as it used to be!

Vote for a quote!

I want to border the top edge of the nursery with inspirational quotes, words of encouragement and growth.

Something like this picture (but imagine a nursery instead of an ugly kitchen :P).

The nursery will be a light yellow with brown and gold accents. My childhood dresser will double as a changing table and provided the inspiration for the coloring. As far as a theme, I think we've decided on teddy bears. I've always loved teddy bears and I saw some really cute teddy bear decorated items at Babies R Us last week, so voila!

Below are some quotes I like, in no particular order. Help us choose! Which one's your favorite? Also let me know if you think of a great one not already listed.

Ok, here are some quote possibilities:

Teddy bear, teddy bear, say your prayers.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn off the light.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, say good night.

Every good and perfect gift comes from above. -James 1:17

The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child. -Joe Houldsworth

A baby is born with a need to be loved and never outgrows it. -Frank A. Clark

From small beginnings come great things. –Proverb

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. -Matthew 19:14

A baby is a little bit of Heaven on Earth.

Angels danced the day you were born.

She fills our Lives with Sunshine… And our Hearts with Love.

You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. -Psalms 139:13

***
To post your vote, see the line below this that says "Posted by Jessica Moore at 4:32 PM ___ comments" and click on the word "comments." From there, you can enter your comment/vote and sign-in with your email address and password to post. That way everyone can see what other people are voting for. :) Thanks!

I think we decided on a name

Aubrey Lynn

thoughts?

I Would Die For That

Very touching. We are so blessed to be pregnant and I need to always be aware of that - even when things are tough. Rashes, bloody noses, nausea... all a small price for such an amazing miracle. I post this as a reminder to myself.

It's a GIRL!!

Today was appointment #5, 19 weeks, and our "big ultrasound." It went really well. I was surprised to see how much bigger the baby is already! We could see a lot of details, like fingers and eye sockets. She looks great - 4 chambers in the heart, 2 hands, 2 feet.... we even saw her little fingers as if she was waving at us. :) She's measuring right on target with our estimated due date of December 2nd. And, just as we had hoped, the baby showed us the goods so now we know we're having a girl. :) We couldn't get a clear view of the umbilical cord and some other things so the sonographer tried to get the baby to turn, but she just wiggled in the same spot. They're going to do another sonogram in 8 weeks just so that they have a "complete survey." I'm actually really glad we get another one!

SO YAY! I'm already so much more excited about the pregnancy - it's like a gender gives the baby the beginnings of an identity, I guess? So now it's time for Ken and I to start discussing names. And cooing over cute baby girl clothes. I know Ken will want to get her a camo dress with ruffled camo bloomers. LOL.

More appointment details

As for my check-up, urine is clear, blood pressure is 110/68, and i'm 2.4 lbs below my starting weight (my overall goal is 15 lbs over starting weight).

Ever since my previous appointment, the nosebleeds have gotten much better! Instead of daily, I get about one nose bleed per week. :) So I never needed to see the ENT. BUT I have a new issue. I woke up Tuesday morning (3 days ago) with a small rash on my belly, just to the right of my belly button. I called my doctor's office and spoke with a nurse who advised me to use calamine lotion and maybe take an aveeno outmeal bath. I tried both but with little relief. I thought that maybe the cause was the cocoa butter stretch mark cream I've been using, so I stopped using that as well. By Wednesday, the rash was much bigger, and MUCH itchier. Almost to the point that it was unbearable! I started taking Benadryl. On Thursday (yesterday), I called the nurse again to ask if I could use "Benadryl Extra Strength Anti-Itch Cream" as recommended by my mom, because the calamine was of NO help. The nurse said she didn't know what was in that so she couldn't recommend it. I then went to my pharmicist, who said it'd be fine. I used it last night and was soooo glad for the relief.

This morning, my doctor took one look at the rash (which is now all over the front of my torso) and quickly diagnosed it as PUPPP - Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnany - which is commonly referred to as "the pregnancy rash" and occurs in approximately 1 in 240 pregnant women, typically in first pregnancies during the third trimester with an average onset of 35 weeks (but I'm only 19 weeks). PUPPP is harmless to mother and baby and resolves spontaneously 1-2 weeks after delivery. My doctor says he usually just expects women to deal with it but that's because they have only a few weeks of it, whereas I'm looking at over 20 more weeks of it! So he's referring me to a dermatologist for official diagnosis, who will probably (hopefully) give me a high strength steroid cream to relieve the itching and prevent the spread of the rash. In the meantime, he's given me a prescription for the antihistamine zyrtec and told me to keep using the benadryl anti-itch cream (thanks mom!).

Here's a picture I found on the internet that most looks like my rash.







And here's a really gross picture of what I guess it could end up looking like. *shudder*