Hawaiian Punch

Hello family and friends,

On Saturday, March 27, Mom, Karl, and family friend Carol Partridge took off from Detroit for a well-deserved, long-anticipated, two-week stay in tropical Maui. For five days they toured the island visiting Wailea, Lahaina, Kaanapali and watched whales breach -- truly spectacular views.

View from the condo looking at the island of Molokai

On Thursday after filling up with food from their favorite Chinese restaurant, Karl said he felt chilled. He napped on the couch for a bit and later he went to bed. Often after Karl has a big day, he'll rest up the next. So Friday, he spent most of the day sleeping. However, as Mom checked him, she realized he was becoming more confused and less responsive which was a huge concern.

Upon seeing Karl, Rodney Partridge, who had arrived in Maui Friday night with wife Terri and son Khol, decided he needed to be seen by medical personnel. Karl was confused and weak. The staff at the nearby clinic at the Mariott in Kaanapali sent Karl to the emergency room at Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku. Upon arrival, Karl's blood pressure was 65/30, his pulse oxygen was 86, and his heart rate was 130. To try to increase his blood pressure, they gave him two liters of fluid as well as medicine. His blood pressure came up but his kidneys didn't produce urine. He had an infection -- pneumonia -- and it had gone septic.

This is where I have to back up a bit. At Karl's last check-up at U-M in February he got good news and guarded news. The good news was that his CT-scan showed he continued to be cancer-free. Actually, that's FANTASTIC news. The guarded news is that the creatinine levels, a kidney marker, continue to rise with each checkup although they were not above normal levels. Dr. Scheutze told Karl that sometimes chemotherapy can damage kidneys and that they wanted to stay on top of the situation. They ordered an ultrasound, a 24-hour study and referred Karl to a nephrologist. The ultrasound and study turned out normal but they warned that Karl may have the start of kidney disease. Also, Karl's x-rays showed he may have been fighting off a virus in his lungs, which would explain why he felt a little punk for a few weeks in January/February.

Oh, and in the meantime, Mom was diagnosed with pneumonia in February which required two courses of antibiotics. She is feeling fine, but it took her a while to kick it.

Back to this past Saturday, April 3. Doctors were working fervently on Karl. They put in a main line, gave him strong antibiotics and continued testing. His creatinine count was 6.8. It's supposed to be 2 or below. He was admitted to the ICU where they could carefully monitor the blood pressure meds. After just a few hours of the antibiotics, Karl was becoming less confused although his kidneys and blood pressure were still a huge concern. They performed an ultrasound on his kidneys; they were normal. They did a CT scan on his brain and didn't find anything (joke intended). I spoke briefly with Karl on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. He was confused on Saturday, but not in any pain; on Sunday he seemed tired and on Monday he was worried about getting his taxes done. I guess that's a good indicator of how he's doing and how quickly the drugs worked.

Maui Memorial Medical Center

On Monday and Tuesday they began weaning him off the blood pressure medicine. They require patients to be off the medicine for 24 hours before they can be transferred out of ICU to a regular floor. (Incidentally, no phones are allowed in ICU which is why communication was sketchy...that and a six-hour time difference). On Tuesday a team of doctors tell Karl their plan of action is to speak with Karl's doctors and U-M and avoid dialysis, which means he may have to stay past Saturday, which is when they're supposed to catch their flight back to Detroit. A social worker meets with Mom to tell her they will work with the airline and hotels to get affordable prices. They are both incredibly impressed by the entire staff and the facility.

Today, Karl was transferred to a regular room. Mom is not as impressed by this room as it's in an old section of the hospital and there's not much room for visitors. Doctors told Karl he wouldn't be discharged until Wednesday, April 14. They are hoping they can get Rodney to appeal to doctors to let him go home on Saturday. Karl says he feels fine although has a little pain in his chest from the pneumonia. Of course nobody wants Karl to take the 11-hour flight if it jeopardizes his health, but he's getting tired of seeing Maui from inside a hospital room.

Anyway, we're sure thankful for the Partridge family, and I'm not talking David Cassidy. Carol, Rodney and Terri have been fantastic lifesavers -- both figuratively and literally. Of course your prayers had a great deal to do with Karl's quick recovery. Thank you all for your prayers once again. I'll continue to keep you posted.

Love and blessings,

Kerry