Annnnd . . .we're back.

It's with much hesitation and regret that I am reactivating the blog tonight. As much as I truly appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers, I am having a hard time answering everyone's texts.

So, here's the scoop.

Saturday Brent started running low grade fevers, which we thought were associated with his bimonthly stelara shot, which tends to make him a little sick and feverish. By Sunday morning he was shaking uncontrollably and spiked a fever of 104.4.  After a blessing by awesome neighbors, always ready to drop everything to come over, we rushed to the ER in Murray. Most of you know why we go the extra distance to Murray, even though there is a hospital less than a mile away. For those who don't, suffice it to say that they tried their hardest to kill him about eleven years ago, and the stigma remains. Also, Brent's entire medical and nutritional team is now up here.

When we got to the ER, Brent was already septic. They started fluids, IV antibiotics and a unit of blood. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly he can crash. Because of the sepsis and the dangerously low blood pressure, he earned a trip to the ICU.

The cultures they took have all come back positive for bacteria of some kind. Both lines of the IV and the peripherals they drew all came back positive. He's been bouncing all over with his fevers and counts. He was pretty stable today and they were ready to transfer him to a normal floor. At 6:30 they hooked up his TPN ( his IV nutrition that he gets every night at home.)  Well, that was a dumb idea. Especially hooking it up in his Hickman, which already came back positive for bacteria. I must be off my game, because I didn't question it. Within an hour, and while the Dr and all his minions (aka residents) were in the room, he went into full blown rigor (severe uncontrollable shaking) and spiked a fever of 105+. Probably the most scariest thing I've seen. Well, probably not, but it was scary. After they figured out it was most likely because of the TPN going in through the compromised line, they immediately unhooked the TPN, gave him a ton of demoral and waited. So, that was fun. It's now 11:00 and after the meds and a blessing from Joseph and his father in law, he has finally come back to the semi-normal ranges.

Needless to say, he won't be leaving the ICU anytime soon. They have a TEE (transesophageal echocardiagram) scheduled for the morning to check his heart valve to make sure no infection has settled there. They will also need to pull the Hickman and put in a PICC. Not fun.

You know how much I hate the ICU, but the nurses this time have been phenomenal. (Minus the little incident with the TPN that could have been deadly, but, hey, we're a forgiving kind of people.)

We appreciate everyone's offers of help, but seriously, the only thing right now is your good thoughts and fervent prayers. We have no kids at home to feed, even though I'm sure joseph and Erin would love it. Ha. Thanks for your texts and prayers. I'm not saying don't text me, I just can't answer everyone. Hence the blog again. If you desire to pray for something specific, please pray that the antibiotics do their job, the fevers go away, and that the Dr.'s and nurses are guided to know what to do. Thanks so much.