Pump...him up

I am happy to announce that Karl is home and doing well. He got home Sunday afternoon.

He is on a very aggressive course of prednisone. Doctors are theorizing that it will kick-start the rest of his endocrine system. They've adjusted his thyroid medication and are thinking the prednisone will get his pituitary gland to interact better with his adrenal glands to produce more cortisol which will, in turn, cause his blood pressure to stabilize. Doctor believe the drop in blood pressure is what's causing his kidneys to function irregularly. In other words, they don't believe it's a chronic problem, which is very good news. Of course we don't know how much damage has been done to his kidneys but we certainly hope and pray that it's minimal.

Of course Karl asked the doctors if the particular steroid he's on is the same one Arnold Schwarzenegger used to take. I think he figured he'd bulk up like Arnold. Really, who wants to be a "girlie man?" Anyway, the doctors said it was not the same steroid. Karl then said, "Well, can you hook me up?"

One of the things Karl has to be concerned about right now is that his immune system will not be at its best. Apparently steroids do amazingly good things for the body, but a downside is that it weakens the immune system. For the next month Karl will have to be very careful about being exposed to viruses and bacteria.

For right now things are status quo for Karl. But I'm sure he can use your continued support and prayers. If his condition changes, good or bad, I'll let you know via a blog post.

Again, thanks for your concern and prayers.

Blessings,

Kerry

Pitooooey!

There was a slight change in plans concerning Karl's tests on Friday. He was supposed to have a kidney biopsy. However, Karl's morning lab results indicated he was anemic so they postponed it. Then the tests came back from the endocrine study he underwent on Thursday. It appears that Karl's pituitary gland is sending the wrong signals to his adrenal glands and he's not producing enough cortisol. It's amazing that a gland the size of a pea can cause so much trouble! Anyway, doctors are theorizing that the lack of cortisol is causing Karl's blood pressure to drop which, in turn, is affecting the function of his kidneys.

He underwent an MRI this morning so doctors could get a better look at what was happening with his pituitary gland. They found a tiny 4 mm growth. They aren't sure what it is, but they aren't worried about it. They've decided to give him prednisone with the thought that it will kickstart his whole endocrine system and prevent his kidneys from scarring. Doctors have also decided that Karl won't need a kidney biopsy for now. His creatinine levels have already come down and his blood pressure is much better.

They've also taken him off IV fluids. They want to see how his blood pressure does without them. They also want to keep him a couple more days...just so they can monitor his reaction to the steroids, etc. I guess the bottom line is that they don't want to discharge him and then have him turn around and come back in a day or two. When he leaves this time, they want him to be better!

We're grateful the medical personnel here are delving deeper into the probable causes. They have told Karl they suspect it's an acute problem rather than chronic, and that's good news, indeed!

Thank you for all the prayers!

Blessings,

Kerry

A puzzle wrapped in an enigma

Karl certainly has NOT lost his sense of humor! I walked into the emergency room at University Hospital on Tuesday and found this:

The stickers were certainly alarming and I wondered what on earth they could be scanning in his head that had to do with his kidneys. Of course he said they had given him a brain scan and didn't find anything. Turns out they had given him and EKG and a wastebasket wasn't nearby so he stuck these on his head just for fun. Everyone that walked past his room and looked in did a double-take. Then they smiled and went about their business.

I am so thankful for Karl's sense of humor. He was admitted to the ICU on Wednesday about midnight. (It was a long day/night in the ER while he waited for doctors to make up their minds about whether he should go in the ICU or a regular room). Upon arrival after seeing the stickers on his head, one of the nurses declared, "So we have a comedian on our hands." On Wednesday afternoon they transferred him to a regular room (5B-5425 for those who are thinking of a visit). Several teams of doctors came by with theories about what's happening to him. The conclusion is that Karl is definitely having an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. He also has an external yeast infection caused by the antibiotics which is being treated topically (blood cultures were negative for an internal infection). The problem is that an allergic reaction to antibiotics does not explain a drop in blood pressure. As he told the doctors with a wry smile, "I'm a puzzle wrapped in an enigma."

A team of endocrinologists came in on Wednesday and said they wanted to run more tests on his adrenal and pituitary glands. They've already determined his thyroid needs more attention so they upped that medication. On Thursday his internal medicine team came in and declared that Karl would probably be released soon. About an hour later his renal team came to ask if they could do a kidney biopsy, which means he'll be there another day, at least.

Of course the risks for Karl are a little different than for you and me. Karl is not your typical patient. Then again, he's not your typical human! He inspires me. After explaining everything that could possibly go wrong -- from bleeding, to infection, to the loss of a kidney -- Karl said, "put me on the schedule. I want to get to the bottom of this." The nephrologists hope they can pinpoint the cause of the problems and minimize damage to the kidneys.

We are thankful they are looking at all angles and we hope they can figure out Karl (the team of psychiatrists have yet to be seen)! In the meantime, I'm praying the biopsy goes well today, that there are no complications and that they find it's an acute, rather than chronic, issue that can be treated easily and again, with no complications.

Blessings,

Kerry

D-Day

Today was D-Day for Karl...Doctor Day. He had two appointments -- one at 11:30 a.m. and one at 2:30 p.m. Unfortunately, Karl's creatinine level was very high (7) and his blood pressure was very low. So, as I write this, Karl and Mom are in the emergency room at U-M waiting for lab results so he can be admitted. Yes...again. We should have known; Karl has been sleeping a lot lately.

His new primary care physician, Dr. Mott, conferred with infectious disease control and they think Karl's having another adverse reaction to the antibiotic he's currently taking. Dr. Mott wants Karl to be in the hospital so they can figure this out once and for all. Seems like we've heard that before. (Pardon the frustration).

Anyway, I thought I'd let those of you who check on the blog know so that you can say an extra prayer for Karl. He sure needs 'em and we know they work!

Blessings,

Kerry

Gefülltes Schweinefilet

Thought I'd give you a brief update as to Karl's progress: he's hanging in there. The strong antibiotics he's infusing are causing the typical problems, which is causing some of his counts to be out of whack (a technical medical phrase, I believe). In order for his potassium and creatinine to be at normal levels, Karl has to drink an enormous amount of water. But, by golly, he's doing it. Three liters is the minimum, he's been told.

Karl is feeling much better, although he's still not a hundred percent. I imagine it will take time to get back to normal. It took him a few days to get rid of the extra fluid he was carrying due to the IVs he received at the hospital. The swelling finally went down enough for him to get out of bed for a bit the past few days.

Karl's gotten his appetite back and has been craving, of all things, carne asada. He talked about it for two days and looked up multiple recipes on the Internet. Mom finally got around to making it Thursday night and that seemed to satisfy his craving. I'm just hoping he doesn't crave something we can't make! The menu's a little more plain tomorrow...I'm taking him meatloaf for lunch and stuffed porkchops for dinner while Mom heads to Cleveland with a friend. I'm going to tell him the meatloaf is a wonderful French dish: Boeuf avec soupe à l'oignon et le ketchup and the pork is German: Gefülltes Schweinefilet. That'll throw him off (hopefully).

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Blessings,

Kerry

Home

Karl is home! He will give himself infusions of antibiotics every eight hours for the next two weeks, but that sure beats being in the hospital. He is still very puffy from all of the fluid they gave him. In fact, he's not sure he can transfer himself into his wheelchair because his joints are so stiff. However, he is confident that will remedy itself soon -- within a day or two -- and he'll be able to get back to some sense of normalcy.

I haven't talked to any doctors so I'm not sure what the consensus on Karl's diagnosis is, but based on piecing together what he's told me, it sounds as if there were a few issues that when put together, were a nasty mix. We know he definitely had pneumonia that went septic. Whether it started here in Michigan or Maui is unknown and moot. His kidneys were affected by the sepsis and began to shut down. In Maui they gave Karl antibiotics and steroids. U-M docs think the folks in Maui didn't keep him on the antibiotics long enough and had him on the steroids too long which means the pnemonia didn't go away completely and his kidneys could never get back in the fully-functioning mode. Of course there was the whole allergic reaction in Maui for which U-M doctors could offer no explanation. Regardless, Karl is now home and doing much much better. All of his levels are near or at normal.

His mood is getting better each day, but you can imagine how depressing this must be for Karl. At this point he says he'll never go on another vacation and instead of a tropical paradise, he thinks Maui is, well, quite the opposite. I'm sure as time goes by the bad memories will fade and he'll change his mind. Plus, we'll be working on him.

We know without a doubt that your prayers were instrumental in helping Karl get better. We are so thankful for your love and concern.

Blessings,

Kerry

Virtual wedding guest

It's been a busy last few days, but thankfully, things have settled down a bit for Karl. Today he was moved from ICU into a regular room at University Hospital. If anyone's interested in visiting, he's in unit 6B, room 435. Doctors still have not specifically pinpointed the cause of his infection. First they said it was a screw. Then they said it was another infection in the kidneys. Then they said it was his lungs. Now they're saying it may be an issue with steroids given to him in Maui. Regardless, they say they'll get to the bottom of it.

In the meantime, Karl was able to see his niece's wedding and part of the reception via a live-feed on his computer on Saturday. We told him we weren't going to have the volume on during the wedding in case they had to provide some sort of care for him at the hospital. Of course he protested (jokingly) because he said he planned to starting yelling when the pastor asked if there was anyone who had any reason that the couple shouldn't get married.

We also took the computer to the reception where people were able to send him instant messages. Unfortunately Karl was undergoing some pretty nasty procedures at that point. They believed his arms were giving inaccurate blood pressure readings and so they began sticking needles deep into the arteries in his arms. They poked him at least 20 times. Fortunately, they were right...his blood pressure was much better than what the cuff was telling. In the meantime, in order to raise what they thought was low blood pressure, they gave him a large amount of fluid intravenously. He puffed up like marshmallow and was pretty uncomfortable.

Tonight he was still a little puffy, but feeling better. His creatinine count is still high and staying steady at 4.9, but they feel it will drop. They believe once the steroids leave his system, his own adrenal glands will start making the proper amount and then his kidneys will get back to normal. All of his cultures came back negative which is leading the doctors in this direction.

While he feels he got very good care in Maui, he is very confident in his care at U-M. Dr. Schuetze stops in almost daily and seeing his familiar face gives Karl a huge boost of confidence. They have told him they hope to be sending him home sometime this week, but Karl doesn't want to come home unless he's "fixed." I'm sure he'd like to avoid unnecessary pokes and repeated questions.

I can't begin to tell you all how much we appreciate your prayers, thoughts and kind words. They mean so very much to all of us. And while last week was pretty stressful for all of us, I'm pretty sure this one will be much calmer...mostly because Karl's feeling better and there's not a wedding in the works!!

For those of you wondering, here's a photo of the bride and groom.

Nikki & Darrell Eaton