karenulijohn

It has been almost two months since I last put finger to key, so I will attempt to bring you up to date on what has been happening.  You will recall that Harvey had a serious cellulitis infection that required daily intravenous infusions of antibiotics for a week.  It was clear that the infection had not completely cleared up, so the Dr. suggested another course of antibiotics.  Those of you who think that Harvey can’t act would have loved the performance he gave for the Dr. which included the trembling chin and quivering lip as he whined that he was tired of being stuck with a needle every day.  Talk about manipulation!  However, it worked, and the Dr. gave him a prescription for oral antibiotics to be taken over the following ten days.  Thankfully, the infection is gone.

April was a good month.  Harvey felt well and his appetite returned, so we decided to drive to Spokane, WA to visit his sister and his mother.  We enjoyed the trip very much although we are not sure whether his mother knew we were there or not.  She is 100 years old.  When we returned home, Harvey had a last appointment with Dr. Colbourn, who has now retired.  In fact, the entire practice was bought by Sutter and all of the Doctors are now Sutter employees.  This means, of course, that the infusion center has also been turned over to Sutter.  On April 30th at 10:00 AM we arrived at the infusion center and never got home until almost 4:00 PM.  It was utter chaos.  Gone were the homey quilts, and the bright and cheery staff.  Confusion reigned.  The nurse finally got Harvey’s premeds going and insisted that the Yervoy would be delivered by the pharmacy “soon.”  It was one and a half hours before they started the Yervoy.  They also decided on a new protocol which requires him to remain after the infusion for one hour so that they can take his vital signs and weigh him.  The study coordinator was very apologetic and assured us that things would run more smoothly next time.  Still, we are grateful that this treatment is being made available to him.

Up until last weekend, Harvey was feeling pretty good.  Then, on Sunday the 12th, I came home from church and he looked very pale and said he wasn’t feeling so good.  His appetite has disappeared and he is back to sleeping several hours in the afternoon.  Thank goodness we went to Meridians on Saturday for our Mother’s Day beef stroganoff.  It was delicious.  Now we are back to mushroom soup.  Ugh!

He continues to try to stay active.  We have moved some of the planted pots around on the back patio, and Harvey was busy rerouting the drip system when, all of a sudden, I heard a tremendous thump.  I looked out the back window and saw him lying flat on his back, his eyes closed, not moving, and I screamed “Oh my God!”  At that, he turned his face toward me, smiled, and lifted his left leg to reveal the outdoor lamp cord wrapped around his ankle.  After we ascertained that he had sustained no injury, I told him that I would probably die of fright long before he shuffles off this mortal coil.