Uncle Jim Update

Jim is back in ICU. The doctors intubated him at about 3 AM because his oxygen saturation level was low. He seems to be doing OK, though, considering everything. Nedra said last night he was probably the only patient in ICU who was checking his e-mail.

Nedra is with him as I write and will probably spend the whole night in the hospital. Mom and I will go up tomorrow morning and stay until Suzanne returns around noon. She went home tonight for Sarah's last concert of the season.

Mom and I spent about seven hours with him and Suzanne last Tuesday,in the hospital (Tuesday was his regular clinic day). He had gone home and had been home for about a week, but while in the hospital Tuesday, he had an x-ray of his lungs, which revealed a weird spot on his right lung. The pulmanologist ordered a CT scan and discovered a "cavity" in the lung. He showed us the CT scan results on the computer in Jim's room, and the "cavity" was obvious in the picture. There was some debate whether to let him go home, but because he felt and looked good, the decision was made to allow him to return home, with the caveat to bring him back immediately if he had a fevor, had trouble breathing, was coughing up large amounts of mucus, or was coughing up blood.

Friday, he was admitted into the hospital for a scope of his stomach (it appears he has some graft v host (GVH) disease, which causes symptoms such as diarrea and other gastro-intestinal problems), and while he was there, he began coughing up a little blood. Uncle Bob and I visited him early Saturday morning, and he coughed up more blood while we were there. The situation progressed to where the doctor ordered a bi-pap machine for Jim (a bi-pap machine is a machine that pumps air with extra oxygen, through a mask-type apparatus, into Jim's lungs, as he breathes). Eventually, as I indicated before, it became necessary to intubate him.

Jim's doctors are doing an amazing job, and no one is panicing here.