Saturday, January 22, 2011

Hoover, Dyson...nope KCI

Have no idea what I am talking about? Well, KCI is who makes what is called a wound vac. What that is is a kind of vaccum that is hooked up to a dressing that will be on Jim's belly. It is to help his wound (incision) close. For the last 6 weeks he has had some trouble spots along his incision line that haven't wanted to close. This is in part due to the fact that he has been diabetic for so long and some of his medicines. I am excited about the vac because it means that his wound will close much quicker, and with a smaller chance of infection. Jim on the other hand is not so excited due to the fact that he will be hooked up to the vac 24/7. It is about the size of a roll of paper towels but in square form. It will have a strap and it can be carried around but I think it is bringing back memories of his insulin pump, that was also attached to him 24/7. Truly he needs to just get over it. (hehe)

His labs stayed close to the same with his creatinine again at 1.7, therefore no other tests or labs were drawn and we will wait till Monday for more labs. If you remember on this last Monday I gave several different possible causes for a decline in his kidney function with one of them being medicine. Well, one of these autoimmune medicines was too high so his dosage was decreased for the second day in a row. On Monday his level was fine but on Wed and Friday this level was too high. This level can actually be detrimental to his kidneys which is one of the reasons for all of the labs. It is ironic because you must have this medicine to keep the kidney but too much of it can actually hurt the kidney. We are working very hard to find the therapuetic amount needed. I'm hoping that when we get it right the kidney function will improve again.

Prayer Requests: Wound vac speeds up healing process, kidney levels continue to improve, comfort for donor family, and thanksgiving for stable Friday labs

Bible Verse: "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Psalms 62:1&2

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