Ok, so he originally had sepsis and endocarditis. They do not know which came first. He also had pockets of inflammation and maybe bacteria in his lower left back and hip. He started throwing blood clots. We are still not sure from where or why. Then he started having organ failure of kidneys and intestines, also bad reaction to one of the anti-biotics (I think it was vancomyacin). Somehow they managed to clear up most of these problems. They changed the anti-biotic and he has been clear of vegetation for about two weeks now. They returned his organs to full function in the past week. He was starting to get up and move around a bit. So they were starting to do all the tests with plans to release him this coming Friday. It was then that they found he has regurg from some heart valves so they transferred him to St. Thomas. Once he got to the new hospital he saw both a cardiologist and a cardiothorasic surgeon and they redid all the tests. They are doing a TEE this morning to see how bad the damage is and how exactly they need to go about the surgery. The new hospital really seems to be much more on the ball. My dd spoke to many doctors and got a lot more info about what is going on right now and what the plans are going forward. At this point it looks like he will need open heart surgery to fix the regurg which will of course increase his time in the hospital and recovery time but I have a lot more confidence in his care. Of course this hospital is half an hour farther away and we are all already exhausted. My dd had a flat tire once she got to the hospital so we had to bring her our car and call AAA to come tow her car back to our mechanic. My hubby and I didn't make it to bed until 5:00 this morning. We are going to try and nap now in case they go ahead with the surgery today but we are really hoping that they will be able to wait until tomorrow. I will post more as soon as I hear anything. All the prayers and warm wishes are deeply appreciated.

I will post it all in a new post below. His bowels did not perf and I am not sure what kind of surgery they are planning to do yet.

His original diagnosis was sepsis and endocarditis.

I just posted a new thread, should be at the top of the list.

I don't have a lot of details right now. My dd is going there now and we will probably join her in a bit. At least he will be getting more specialized care and they will be doing some more test before starting to operate.

We usually buy one box from Costco and one from Sam's because they have different flavors and we find the quality to be about the same. You can get smaller boxes at Aldi's for much cheaper and they are just as good. If you want to know why they cost so much, try making them yourself at home. We only get them for the holidays and they are so sweet that we often cut them in quarters.

It is pretty old and has not been tuned in awhile.

So I talked to J and asked him if he wanted me to come in early to talk to his doctor and he said he would prefer for me to come up with a list of questions for him to ask first and then we will proceed from there. So I typed up the list yesterday and my dd took it to him today. My guess is that he will ask his doctor first thing in morning and I will get the answers later in the day. Then we will decided if we think things are proceeding well or if we need to look at trying to get him transferred. I have been at this hospital many time and have always received excellent care so I am hoping that what has happened is that because of his medicated state he really didn't understand what is going on and that written questions will help. I haven't got my update from my dd yet today as she is still at the hospital right now. I will keep you guys posted.

Sorry, slightly political but the electoral college.

I will look this up and we will ask about this.

My hubby has been waiting on me hand and foot for more than two years now. He makes sure that I always have a fresh cold drink at my bedside and checks with me several times a day to see if I want anything to eat. He cooks or procures my dinners and tries to tempt me with snacks he thinks I might like. Before my illness he still always made sure that I had something to drink when I wanted it. My love language is acts of service and he is great about providing that.

Yeah, I think my hubby and I are going to go in and be a little more insistent than my dd may have been and then hopefully get some answers.

I think the problem there is that our hospital is county and Vanderbilt is for profit so they don't have to take him.

He has a mom but she has not been terribly involved (for the majority of his life actually). My dd is there every moment she is not at work though.

They really don't seem to know what his issues are and they are the best hospital in our county but they can transfer to Vanderbilt if need be.

So basically not good. Once they broke up the blood clots he seemed to be getting better for a bit but now his intestines have quit functioning, his kidney function is down to 30%, he needs a transfusion and they don't seem to know why any of this is happening. It seems like they are missing something important. I do know that organs shutting down is not a good thing. I have a sense of dread about how things are going for him and this dd cannot handle it if she loses him. They have been together for 6 years now and he has lived with us the majority of that time. He has been in there for four weeks now and he just seems to be getting worse and worse. My heart is heavy today.

I never interpreted the original as a girl song or the writer as a lesbian so I am not fighting with that cognitive dissonance. I interpreted it as a young couple trying to escape generational poverty. When I first listened to Combs version I thought Tracy's was better but after the first few bars I think he found his footing and in the end brought a lot more depth to the song. I think his version will reach a lot more people. The country genre I think will really reach out to a lot more teens and young adults trying to escape generational poverty. This very much reminds me of "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton. I listened to it as a child growing up and knew that she had written it as a sort of goodbye to a very dear friend that she was moving on from. Then in the 80's Whitney came along and redid it and her version has become one of the greatest love anthems of all time. The words are exactly the same but she brought so much depth to the song. There is no doubt that she is singing to a past lover. That is one of the wonderful things about music, it often meets you where you are.

My grand dd has a couple of the OG dolls and she loves them. They seem to be holding up fairly well. She also has a few of the playsets and really likes those. It looks like she will b getting the greenhouse for Christmas.

So, he has been in the hospital for three weeks today. They decided to keep him at the hospital where he is at because it is the county hospital and it will be better for them financially. They put in a PICC line to better deliver his meds. He is still on pain meds but not still not enough to manage his pain because his blood pressure is still low. They started his PT and he is starting to get around a bit. They think he will still be there for a few weeks. My dd is under the impression that he will be able to go back to work a few weeks after he gets back home and I haven't broken the news to her yet that he may be unemployed for quite a bit longer than that. They live with us and have very few bills so we will help them out as much as possible. The problem we are running into right now is that he is not capable of managing his affairs on his own yet but no one else is legally able to so we need to talk to him about maybe getting a POA so that we can help with things. They have been asking for the social worker but she has not come by yet. He needs unemployment or disability and medicaid plus maybe food stamps if he qualifies. My poor dd is exhausted between work, the hospital and coming home whe she can to shower and change. And she is frustrated that every time they seem like they are getting ahead something like this happens. After the last three years I can so understand and empathize. I know that they don't want to stay here forever but they could if they needed to. There is plenty of space and no conflict and we can help so that is good. As long as he comes home healthy everything will work out fine. ETA: Just found out he has been throwing blood clots. Not sure from where but luckily they caught them in time and now have him on a blood thinner as well. I guess I need to check and see if they have him on the leg messagers as well.

Because of my disability Crocs are one of the few shoes I can wear now and luckily I am old enough to not care if I am being judged for it although I seriously doubt many people see me trudging along with my walker and focus on my shoes.

One of my dd had shingles at 16. her doctor said that they are starting to see that more frequently. So never discount it just because of age. I have had CP twice so I am hoping that will give me extra protection against shingles.

I know that they talked to the social worker about cutting the payment in half and then working out a plan they could afford. Not sure what else. He definitely should look into Medicaid. Not sure where the 6 weeks came from either. That was just out of the blue. The day before that were saying a few days. He is improving but it might have something to do with this new infection they found that I agree he should not have at this point. Also they have him on some pretty strong IV pain meds right now and I am sure they don't want to send that home. Hopefully my dd will get some more info today.

Yes, they ruled out covid first thing.

Arrrgh!!! So yesterday he got a new lead doctor. We had just reached a comfortable place with the last one where they were managing his pain, getting him up moving around, starting food and planning to send him home in a few days. Then this new doctor came in and changed up all his meds and told him that she wants him to stay inpatient for 6 more weeks instead of coming home with an IV. He told her that was not really feasible because he doesn't have insurance and she said that they would just transfer him to a facility that doesn't require insurance. He explained that they would still have to pay for it. My dd hasn't actually talked to this doctor so all this info came through SO and we aren't sure his level of understanding so there may be a medical reason that we aren't getting. Since the beginning he has been has been having pain in his left lower back and hip that they thought was due to pressure from laying in the same position for so long but they recently found areas of inflammation there that may be like an abcess or infection. They said it is encapsulated so they aren't worried about it spreading but it explains why he is still having so much pain there (but why did it take them so long to find it). It would be so much more helpful if my dd could talk to the lead doctor but they make their rounds at like 6:00 in the morning and she is still sleeping here because she is still working. She is going to be there today because she is off so I am going to tell her to ask to speak to the doctor so she can find out what is going on.

Today they told my dd that if they were not able to clear the vegetation they would have to transfer him to the cardio wing at Vanderbilt to open his heart and clear it. They emphasized that they were not at that stage yet but they are preparing her which leads me to believe that it is not clearing as quickly as they had hoped. Also further information leads me to believe that the flu symptoms he had may not have been the flu at all but instead early symptoms of the vegetation and sepsis. We still have no clue how it got this in the first place. He has hashimoto's and pretty severe asthma but no problems with his heart or circulatory system nor has he had a systemic infection. She is pretty smart and is definitely a Googler so she probably knows enough to be worried but I am trying to keep things upbeat and it sounds like the doctors are trying to keep her from unnecessarily worrying. He has been there a week tonight and they are still saying at least a few more days but don't seem to be overly stressed so I am still hoping for the best.