Ethan’s Journey

 My Mom and I started the day with coffee.  We chatted and she worked on things to get ready for her move. The car was packed up and we were off.  We had a few stops to make before getting to the new place and unpacking a few things. I got a tour and saw why she and Gene chose this place as their next home.  It’s funny when you walk in to an empty space and it feels exactly that, empty. It only comes to life after you have made it your own, cozy spot with your own cozy people. I had fun exploring and seeing all the possibilities for Mom and Gene to have fun, stay busy and eat well! Paul’s Dad is feeling better and is likely going home tomorrow. Paul and his sister have been instrumental being present and offering support. I situated a few things when I arrived home. I did a few chores. Ethan had already fed the dogs which was a helpful surprise. I turned a show on and Ethan ended up joining me. Paul arrived home and got sucked into the show as well. I don’t read book...

 Mid day, I piled Penny, Ferguson and Jiminy into the car to go to the vet. Our vet is amazing and happens to be a good friend of mine.  I stopped to buy her lunch because she was taking up part of her lunch hour for the three dogs. They needed their vaccines and bloodwork.  They are getting their teeth cleaned in the next 1-2 months. Ferguson is almost 14. If his bloodwork is good, he may be going to the ophthalmologist for an assessment of his cataract. He is having trouble with depth perception and seeing. So if there is something he can have done to help with that, I was to at least explore what it entails. Jiminy likely has at least a few teeth that need to be removed during his dental cleaning.  I am proud of all three of my little dogs. No one tried to bite, scratch or even make a sound for any of their pokes. If only that would rub off on Moe….Ha! I went to my mom’s for the evening. Ethan came over as well. He was going through some things in my Mom and Gene’...

 More tests came back today. All negative for bad stuff. Yay! Ethan feels almost back to normal.  I have started watching the Netflix show called Lucifer. It’s cute and makes me laugh a bit. I recommend it. You don’t have to pay too close attention to all the details so it is great to have on while I am working. I had a nice chat with Avery this evening. We got into a thoughtful conversation about human behavior. She offers a different perspective that I can appreciate and enjoy. Ethan was pumped because the mid-west is having some weather events. He watches them live. He gets so excited about nasty storms and tornados. He was blowing Paul and my phone up with pictures and updates about the tornados. It is nice to see him get so excited over it. To be clear, he gets excited over the weather portion. Not the destruction it causes. He has always had a fascination with weather. A little bit too much like my dad. It is a bit upsetting to me. I can’t imagine my neighborhood flatten...

 Ethan seems to be feeling better. Much better. The doctor said that all of his screening so far has come back negative and we needed to change the rejection medication doses just a little bit to compensate for potentially processing his medications differently. The doctor also wanted to add in another medication that will help lower Ethan‘s LDL (bad cholesterol). He has been struggling with this number being too high. His Team did try that other medication. That is the one which threw his kidneys into a tailspin as a “rare side effect”. We had to discontinue due to decreased kidney function His Team wants to start a new medication.  I’m worried, so I did some reading. I was researching if his current medication will have any contraindications with his new medication. and I found out that it typically doesn’t. We all know that Ethan‘s not typical.  As I dug a little deeper, I discovered some “rare” side effects. I reached out to the team. I voiced my concern. I learned th...

 I woke up this morning and checked on Ethan. He said he slept through the night and felt well enough to go to work! Yay! He stomach was still a little out of sorts but improving. The bland diet is helping. He continued with it all through today but is quite sick of it already. More tests came back. Negative for the nasty viruses that transplant patients can get. Rejection medication numbers were within the range they want him to be.  The swirling and twirling anxiety subsided for me. Ethan is supposed to get an MRI next month with contrast. We are meeting with the nephrologist to see if that will be ok. Ethan’s GFR is down to 36. Normal is above 90. They stop giving contrast to patients with a GFR below 30. We are getting close. 😬 The MRI is to get specific images of his heart and will be important to have a baseline. So fingers crossed. Ethan laid low after work. He ate his bland diet. He did participate in the conversation. He was even crackingPaul and I up. Paul had to ma...

 Ethan was up in the night with more stomach upset. This time he was nauseous and feeling like he was going to vomit. I sent a communication to the transplant team and tentatively scheduled an urgent care appointment. Ethan chose to call out sick which he has never done. Not even with his pneumonia’s. Yesterday he said “NO URGENT CARE” today he is waving the white flag. I am proud of him for recognizing that he needs a break. I have to be careful and make sure he knows that HE is calling the shots and I am just here for guidance. We talk through all the options and the pros and cons of each. Then HE chooses the next step. I started moving some of my appointments to this evening. It hit 9:00 am and I called the Transplant team. I received a call right back directing to go to the lab to rule out some bacteria overgrowth as well as assess hydration, electrolytes and rejection medications. We had to collect a-hem….a sample….to be tested. We went to the lab. And waited and waited for ab...

 I figured Ethan would be run down a little bit today because of his long drive yesterday.  He kinda threw a curve ball. He was planning on going over to my Mom and Step Dad’s house. It was a little bit before and he told me he felt “weird”.  He had mentioned earlier that his stomach was a little off. He had off and on cramping.  “What does weird mean?” I asked him. “Like I am chilled today and I don’t know if I should go to Mema and Beba’s because I don’t want to get anyone sick. I almost think I have a fever.” I checked his temperature and he was 99.7. Not bad but in true Ethan fashion, not normal. I needed more information and began my “subjective”. We use SOAP notes in veterinary medicine.  S-Subjective - you collect information on the owners/patient’s (in human medicine it would be the patient) perspective of their ailment. O- take actual measurements and factual data. Temperature, pulse, blood pressure, weight. A-Assessment- the doctors reviews the subject...