ed's condition is essentially unchanged

Just a year-end update. Ed is still non-responsive.

He continues to have significant infections. In August he had a suprapubic catheter inserted into the bladder, which seems to be a better arrangement.

Ed is still at Orchard Park rehab facility. We continue to think well of them and appreciate their care.

Thank you for all of your good thoughts and prayers.

ed was in the hospital but is back at nursing home

I feel like I jinxed Ed - I posted my optimistic news on July 7, and on July 9 he went into the ICU!

The PICC line in his arm became infected and the infection quickly spread, so he was a very sick puppy for a number of days. He did eventually get the upper hand on the infections and was transferred to a regular ward, then back to the nursing home on July 16. He finished the IV antibiotics last Wednesday, July 28, so we're hoping that he continues to do okay.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

ed is staying infection-free

Ed finished up his antibiotics on May 22. Since then, he has been doing a great job of staying infection-free and keeping his temperature normal. I think it could be a record. We are very grateful!

He's still at Orchard Park nursing home.

ed's back at orchard park nursing home

Well, the hospital never did figure out what was causing Ed's fever, but they did figure out an IV antibiotic that seems to fix whatever the problem is. So, Ed will continue to get the IV antibiotic at the nursing home for the next 10 days, and we pray that his temperature will continue to be normal.

back to the hospital :(

Ed's temperature went up to 102.7 this morning, and continued to go up after Tylenol. We called the ambulance when Ed was at 103.4, and when they arrived less than an hour later, he was up to 104.2.

We don't know what's causing the temperature. His chest xray looks OK. We'll just have to wait for the labs to come back. It may take several days for the cultures. When I left tonight, his temperature was back down to 101, for which I'm thankful.

ed's back at orchard park nursing home

Ed was doing better yesterday, so he was transferred out of ICU and into a regular ward over at Porter Hospital. He continued to keep his temperature down, so this afternoon they released him back to Orchard Park nursing home. We are very thankful!

ed's back in porter icu

Well, at least Ed was at the nursing home a little longer this time before going back to the hospital.

Ed was on IV antibiotics for quite a while, went off of them for a week and got a urinary tract infection. The doctor who cares for him at the nursing home put him on a penicillin derivative for a week, then yesterday morning he spiked a temperature of 103, vomited, and aspirated, so the nursing home rushed him to the hospital.

Ed went into sepsis and was admitted to intensive care. At least this time he's still breathing on his own and is not on a ventilator. Today they got the blood work back and Ed has a blood-borne infection, so they now have him on three IV antibiotics. Hopefully that will fix the problem and get him stabilized.

Thanks for your prayers and good wishes. Marian

ed is back at orchard park nursing home

Ed was worse on Monday but by Tuesday he started responding to the antibiotics and on Wednesday he was able to breathe without the ventilator, so yesterday he was released back to Orchard Park nursing home. He will be on IV antibiotics for another two weeks, so hopefully that will take care of the infection. We are very thankful!

ed's in icu at porter hospital

Ed was running a low-grade fever for a couple days, and early this morning his fever started climbing. Tylenol and ice packs didn't help, so when he hit 104 degrees, they sent him to the emergency room. He was in sepsis - his blood pressure dropped to 90/49 and heart rate went over 130 bpm. They admitted him to the ICU and have gotten his blood pressure stabilized, but his breathing was very labored, so they have him temporarily sedated and on a vent. They say that this started with a urinary tract infection. Prayers are much appreciated!

ed is now at a different nursing home: orchard park

Ed was released from the hospital yesterday. They did a CT scan last Friday and it did not show any kidney stones, so let's pray that he doesn't develop any more! He is still spiking occasional temperatures of 102 degrees, so he will still be on an IV antibiotic this week.

We got a recommendation to try a different nursing home, and we went over to visit and were quite pleased. When Ed was released from the hospital yesterday, we took him to Orchard Park Health Care Center on the southwest corner of Holly and Orchard (just south of the driveway into Koelbel Library). It very recently split off and became an independent facility instead of part of a chain, and we are very pleased so far. Here's their contact information:

Orchard Park Health Care Center
6005 South Holly Street
Littleton, CO 80121-3460
(303) 773-1000

As always, visitors are very welcome!

ed went back to the hospital last sunday

Last Sunday Ed ran a fever of 103.4 degrees, so he went into the hospital. While in the emergency room, I thought he looked like he was in a great deal of pain and his blood pressure went up to 235, so the doctor gave him morphine and muscle relaxant. They eventually did a CT scan of his abdomen and it turns out that he has passed three kidney stones!

Ed has never had kidney stones, so this was certainly not anything we would have suspected. Unfortunately, he appears to have several "very small" kidney stones still in the kidney.

The urologist didn't have any specific suggestions about what could be done to decrease the odds of his getting more kidney stones. He thought that perhaps the frequent urinary tract infections might be a factor, and has suggested an antibiotic flush of the catheter once a week to help reduce the occurrence of infections.

Anyway, Ed's temperature has been normal for the last two days, so today they released him to Select Hospital, a longer-term acute care facility which is co-located with Porter Hospital. Ed has been at the Select Hospital facility at Presbyterian / St. Luke's Hospital, but they were full, that's why they sent us to their Porter Hospital facility. So we get to check out a whole new hospital!

Before Ed went into the hospital, we were able to have him in his wheelchair for up to two hours a day for almost a week. It is good to see him more upright, and it's really good for his lungs, so we're pleased with the wheelchair.