December 25 (Picture from Halloween)

I fixed the #%#$^&! digital camera. This is from Halloween.

December 23 update

We're doing dialysis today (Sunday). We normally do Monday/Wednesday/Friday, but for the next two weeks we're doing Wednesday/Friday/Sunday. This gives the dialysis staff Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve off. Everybody came in very early, so there's still some weekend left when we finish.

Yesterday, we participated in a ceremony at our synagogue to give him (i.e., add) a new Hebrew name - Chaim ("life"). He's now Yaakov Chaim Avraham Silverman. This is apparently an orthodox/Lubavitcher tradition, but we went with the flow. He didn't even participate in the process. Dad was part of the minion, the prayer was recited at the Torah, and presto. The scary part was Dad having to recite the Hebrew prayers that are looong forgotten. Reading Hebrew with my 41 year old eyes is out of the question, so it's a memory thing. Jake was out playing with the other kids while all this was taking place, and Mommy was behind the lace curtain (the sexes are separated at the shul during services, much to her displeasure). It was nice, because the synagogue building had a serious fire last week and services were held in somebody's house. The house had a big front yard, it was a beautiful day (70 and sunny), and Jake had a fabulous time playing with the other children. I had suggested adding Shaquille as his new name, but nobody seconded the motion.

He had a flu/cold for a few weeks, but he's mostly recovered. He still has that little kid chest cough that comes from not knowing how to blow his nose or cough up, but there's no more fever. Kidney function is unchanged. The docs seem to feel that the lack of improvement in creatinine levels means that transplant is the proper course. That would still hold to a schedule where we "go on the list" in March or so.

We're staying home for the holidays. After the new year, Jake and Mommy will go to Jacksonville for a few days (with one day of dialysis in Jacksonville).

November 21 Update

It's been a long while since the last update. I can explain a few weeks of the delay, but the last 15 days were was laziness. The explainable part was that his blood chemistry results started improving - so much so that there was talk of taking him off dialysis if his 24 hour kidney function test results hit 20%.

In order to do the 24 hour test, you have to collect urine in a jug (which is kept on ice in a cooler) for a 24 hour period. Since we can't hang around school with a jug and a cooler, the test is normally done on a weekend. Each weekend following the last update, there was some collection mishap which required that we start the process over again the next week. One weekend he forgot about the collection process and went to the bathroom without the jug. One weekend he had a jug-less playdate. One weekend the cap fell off the jug and it spilled out in the driveway on the way to dialysis. We ended up completing the test three weeks ago, and his kidney function numbers came out at 10%. That's an increase from the 7% we saw in August/September, but it's short the 20% we'd need to cease dialysis. He's scheduled for another 24 hour test in late December.

The evening human growth hormone injections are going a little better. We give it to him an hour after he falls asleep. Mommy gives the shot and Daddy holds him down as necessary. He cries when he gets the shot, but generally goes back to sleep fairly quickly.

He still likes school. We're going to start some reading tutoring after the holidays, but he's very advanced in math. At home we've been reading the Star Wars books at night, and playing the new Lego Stars Wars Complete Saga for Wii.

Mommy has been very busy helping her brother close out her grandmother's probate estate and helping Daddy with some other projects. Daddy's been working and bike riding (triathlon season is over). Mommy's family is in for the Thanksgiving holiday, so Jake has time to play with his cousins.

October 8 Update

The little pischer discovered that if he "doesn't feel good", he doesn't have to go to school. His Grandma came to town for a visit last week, so he decided he didn't feel good. He stayed home from school that day and got to play with Grandma. In the next few days, he got a little cold, which he's attempted to milk so he can stay home from school. Now he's just fakin' it every morning. I'm starting to threaten him that he's going to have to repeat first grade if he misses more school. Since he does have occassional bouts of nausea as a result of his condition, it's hard to tell when he's crying wolf.

As soon as we complete parent training (which is a story by itself), he starts daily Human Growth Hormone injections at home. I'm sure it will be an ordeal at first, but hopefully he'll get used to it. He's now used to his yucky Sunday Kaexolate dose and his bandage changes at dialysis, so it will be a matter of time.

October 1 Report

Jake's still doing well in school. He's very good in math, and is progressing well in reading. The only part of the homework where he gives us grief is that he doesn't have the patience to color the pictures after he's filled in the answers to the narrative questions. We cut him some slack on that (for now).

It's been over a month since he vomited ("Does your tummy hurt? Mommy, you know I don't throw up anymore"). The new bandage-changing procedure is working well, and he says he doesn't mind going to dialysis. One of the other kids in the unit (with a different form of HUS) had her kidneys resume functioning, and he was stoic but disappointed ("I hoped that hers and mine would come back at the same time").

We received a second opinion pathology report from Columbia University Hospital, and they are very pessimistic. They don't think that his kidneys are coming back. We'll have another 24 hour urine analysis next weekend, and we'll see what that brings.

September 21 Report - Pre Yom Kippur

Jake had a pretty good week. Mommy had to go out of town on Wednesday afternoon, so we had some quality Daddy-Son bonding time. We did some homework, rode our bikes, and played a lot of an improvised game involving Legos. He's also into the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, a DVD set of mixed live action and cartoon shows from the late 1980's. I'd never seen it before. "Captain" Lou Albano (the wrestling manager) played Mario, which is kind of cool. When we go to the playground, he likes to pretend we're playing a real-life Super Mario Brothers level. Our next purchase is the "Legend of Zelda" DVD box, which contains another cartoon series from the 1980's that was heavily cross-marketed on the Super Mario show.

No big changes on the health front. We're waiting for final insurance approval to begin Human Growth Hormone treatment, because he's stopped growing since beginning dialysis. The doc says that you can "catch up" missed growth as long as HGH is provided before transplant.

No big post-yom kippur plans.

September 15 Update - More of the same, but . . .

More of the same is generally a good thing. This was our most recent message from school:


Dear Mom and Dad,

The bad news is that Ivy League colleges are expensive, so start saving! The good news is that Jacob will no doubt be applying to some of them in a few years! He scored another 100%, this time on our Chapter One Math test. I am so proud of him, to say the least, and I see his academic progress as exponential! I thought you might enjoy knowing this before the weekend!!Love to all the Silvermans..... Have a great weekend!


Jake had a CAT scan of the kidneys on Friday. This was his first scan that used contrast (which is more radioactive) to show blood flow, so we can't really compare it with the prior non-contrast scans. There's a section of healthy kidney tissue which receives blood flow, but there are large parts of the kidneys which don't appear to receive blood flow. There are risks and side effects associated with the contrast CAT scan, and we don't expect to do another one for a while. If there is improvement, it will be revealed when they do chemical tests of his urine (which is collected over a 24 hour period). That was the test which reflected 7% kidney function as of last month. They will do that test every 90 days or so.

September 14 - Happy New Year

Happy Rosh Hashanah! Jake went to childrens' services at the shul, and later in the day we went to the Rabbi's house for an awesome dinner. Unfortunately, Jake didn't accept my advice to take a nap some time during the day, and conked out at around 10:30, costing me a second helping of stuffed cabbage.

He's still enjoying school. He felt fairly well this week. He's got the same school year runny nose and sniffles as the other kids, but that doesn't seem to impose additional kidney-based fears.

We're sitting at Friday dialysis, trying to obtain some star coins on Super Mario Brothers on the Nintendo DS. We're going to work on his "home-fun" reading assignments, too.

September 7 - A report from school

We received this email today from his teacher:


Sent: Friday, September 07, 2007 9:45 AM
Subject: Perfecto!!!!!!!!

Dear Mom and Dad,
Jacob got one of the few PERFECT spelling papers on our test this morning. I am so proud of how well he is doing! I would never know that he missed part of school last year! He is not average; He is above-average at least, but I suspect that he will be at the top of the class by the end of the year. I am not saying this lightly!! He is so smart and "with-it"!! Have a great weekend!!xoxo

We're ecstatic. I though the only words he knew were "start", "save", "load game", "new game", "attack", "defense", and "game over".


P.S. - He recently decided that I'm "jumbo." I told him he'll be jumbo when he grows up.

September 3 - Status Report

We're at Monday morning dialysis (no Labor Day here). He's doing great. In his words, "I don't just like school, I love it." He's right in the middle of the class for reading and near the top for math. He has no interest in organized sports, but he and I go bike riding (he's a two wheelin' guy) a few times a week. In other words, he's about right where he was (or was going to be) both in school and athletically.

His primary hobby right now is New Super Mario Brothers for Nintendo DS. I'm his hero because I can finish the few levels that he has problems with (although there are other levels that he can finish but I can't).

I am reminded of how much he's improved. When we left the hospital, he couldn't walk, and was wearing his "hospital pants". Now he's an emergent reader, a Nintendo wiz, and a bike rider.

No big changes in kidney function. They will do another kidney function test mid-October, and we'll find out how he's doing. Meanwhile, his blood chemistry levels are stable, his appetite is good, and blood pressure is in check. The transplant paperwork process is ongoing, but we don't expect to go through with it until late summer 2008.

OK, so it's been a while . . .

Sorry for the long layoff. The ghostwriter's union was on strike . . .

He's excited for the first day of first grade tomorrow. He'll go to school full time, but leave at around 1:00p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday so he can go to dialysis. He can do some schoolwork at the hospital, although it's more likely he'll play Nintendo DS and watch TV.

He's doing OK. He's off the Depakote (seizure medicine), which has helped his tummy. As a result, he's vomiting much less.

He's generally in good spirits, but he can get a little cranky at times. Some of that is due to the fact that he gets worn out a little faster than normal, and some of it is due to the fact that we have get him used to hearing "no" on occasion. We presume that they won't be able to indulge him at school like we were during the summer, so it will be a bit of a culture shock for him. He likes the teacher and knows most of the kids in his class, so we're hopeful. As a general matter, he's pretty good in familiar settings (play dates, etc.), but has more trouble with groups of unfamiliar people (birthday parties, etc.).

He recently had a kidney function test (which samples 24 hours worth of urine collection). His kidneys are currently working at 7% of normal capacity. We don't know whether that's improving (this was the first full test since he left the hospital), but if he can get to 15% he can live without dialysis or a transplant. I wouldn't say that the medical staff is optimistic about a recovery, but it's enough of a possibility that they've slowed down the preparations for a transplant. Right now the transplant schedule is deferred until at least next summer.

I'm out of town all week for a trial (my karma-impaired opposition wouldn't agree to a continuance). Jen's holding down the fort alone, so I'm sure she'd appreciate some help - at least until Wednesday, when my Mom comes to town.

Since we're pretty busy on medical issues, all out-of-town athletic travel(duathlons, triathlons, etc.) for the fall has been cancelled. If anyody wants my spot for IronMan Florida, let me know.

7/21 - Birthday Preparations and such

Tomorrow (Sunday) is Jake's birthday party. The party is at 11:00 at Gym Kidz in North Miami Beach (www.gymkidzmiami.com)
It's just off West Dixie Highway and 155th. If you are coming from I-95, take the 163rd street exit and go east to West Dixie Highway (just after the Honda dealership). Go south (i.e., turn right) on West Dixie to 155th or so and turn east (left). The facility is inside a warehouse complex. There are usually balloons outside, but I presume there will also be a bunch of parent-mobiles outside the entrance. Just look for the SUV convention.

Jake's doing OK. He continues to have unpredictable bouts of nausea each day, but once those pass he's fine. His cousins are in town for the week so there's been lots to do. They all went to Wanadoo City, which was OK. It would have been more fun, but we'd forgotten that girls and boys like to do different activities there, and they could never agree on a joint activity.

7/11 - Dangerous chemicals

Monday was our 12th wedding anniversary. I got Jen a massage and a "champagne and roses manicure and pedicure" at the Biltmore Spa. To make it really special, I scheduled the treatments for dialysis time (1:30 to 6:00) this afternoon, and I'm covering the hospital duty. So far, so good. With the wireless internet, I can respond to work emails and bid on Ebay Yu Gi Oh cards at the same time. Hopefully, I can keep those tasks separate. I'd hate to accidentally declare a mystic Yu Gi Oh attack on a client.

He's in pretty good shape. They are experimenting with different bandage dressings to try to alleviate the skin pain. He's got a copper deficiency, so he needs to drink hot cocoa. On the other hand, the mini marshmallows have no therapudic effect.

7/9 Update - Let's (Birthday) Party!!

We're planning his make-up birthday party for Sunday, July 22, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. at Gym Kidz in North Miami Beach. It's a reverse-invitation process. If you're within the sound of my voice (figuratively speaking), and you'd like to go, let us know at larrysilv@gmail.com so we can get a headcount. We had considered replicating my 40th birthday party (bounce house, cookout, etc.) However, the last few days of oppressive heat and humidity and intermittent rain have caused us to pick an indoor party.

Jake's doing OK. He feels crummy a few times a day, but I can usually distract him by changing the subject to something that excites him. Either that or he vomits. Dialysis is now 2:00p.m. M/W/F, so that lets Jake and Mommy sleep later. They don't get home from dialysis until 7:00 or later, so that makes family dinner later. That means he goes to sleep much later, and the cycle continues. If I get home early, I can knock of some Tour de France footage off the Tivo before it piles up. (My fearless prediction for the Tour is Alexandre Vinokourov, the pride of Kazakhstan)

Happy Fourth of July

We're hanging out in the coolest place in Hollywood - the pediatric ambulatory wing at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. The usual dialysis kids are all here. You would think that you could skip a day now and then (kind of like going two days without dialysis on the weekends) but that apparently screws up the biological schedule. I'm skeptical that the body adjusts to a seven day schedule (i.e., the body gets used to weekends), but the docs have more experience than me.

In order to switch from morning 8:00a.m. sessions to 2:00pm sessions, they make you go through an 11:00a.m. session on one of the intervening days so that the body gets used to the time change. Today is our 11:00a.m. day, and then he'll be doing 2:00pm M/W/F for the foreseeable future.

He's been a little off lately, with bouts of nausea and fleeting bouts of grumpiness. The grumpiness is somewhat attributable to spoiledness (it occurs for frequently when we say no to a request), but there's enough chemical stuff going on in his little body that he may not be able to avoid it. He roll with it, and he quickly forgets that he was mad and forgets 9or pretends to forget) whatever he said.

Daddy did the Independence Day Duathlon, and did a personal best. I finally broke 1 hour (59.01) for the 2 mile run, 10 mile bike and 2 mile run. If the 14 people who finished ahead of me in my age group all test positive for drugs, I qualify for the World Championships.

Trip to the Office

By coincidence, today was our Summer Ice Cream Social day at work, so he got some ice cream and some candy. Since he's so thin, getting a sugar high is pretty easy to do, so he was wound up for the rest of the day.

I had forgotten to describe last weekend's trip to the comic book and science fiction convention. Lots of teens were in costume as anime characters (which is known as "cosplay"). Most of them were Narato related, which we're not really into. Some of the female costumes are way out, which isn't surprising because that's how women are drawn in japanese cartoons. Jake's not that interested in classic Marvel comic books (he likes the characters, but we don't collect them), which were the majority of the comics for sale. No Yu Gi Oh or Pokemon stuff to be found. There were some Super Mario stuffed toys that were cool (as seen in the picture), but not cool enough to buy. This was the only picture I remembered to take. For somebody who is a gadget hound, I'm very remiss in my picture taking duties.

He seems to be in pretty good shape. Potassium level is good, but phosphorus levels are a bit high. Tomorrow is a dialysis day. The Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule continues no matter what, which means that July 4 is a dialysis day.

Mid Week update

The catheter is failing again, so he'll probably need to go into surgery next week to get it replaced. He's been a little under the weather this week. He may have a touch of the cold Jen just got over. However, he was well enough to go with his friends Remy and Zoe to Wannado City yesterday. It's almost like day camp without the bologna sandwiches.

The initial report from his second pediatric nephrologist opinion is consistant with the first opinion, so we're still on the transplant path unless something drastically changes. The kidenys are putting out urine, but aren't doing much filtering.

He's excited for the release of the Ratatouille movie on Friday, so that will be the big weekend activity.

He's going to spend the afternoon at Daddy's office tomorrow. That should be good for a few anecdotes. He doesn't have to rough it too much, because I have cable TV and videogames in my office.

Big weekend plans

Jake had a pretty good week. No major health developments. The blood pressure medicine is cut down a little, but nothing substantial. Mommy's got a bad cold.

The weekend should be fun. Tomorrow Jake and I are going to the Fort Lauderdale Comics and Anime convention. How cool is that! Go to www.Floridasupercon.com for details. I plan on releasing my inner nerd, although my outer nerd is fairly transparent and the inner nerd is usually visible.

If I can fit it in, the state track bicycle points race (elite division) championship is Saturday night. I may go and be an early casualty. I normally race Masters (old guys), not Elite (young guys). We'll see if I can go -- Jake gets bored watching the racing, and Jen needs to stay home and rest.

Driving to a comics convention is the right time to blast my Rush cassettes. The other Jen (Remy's mom) took me to the Rush concert last week, and I forgot to mention it. Just prior to Jake getting sick, we saw Geddy Lee taking his dad to dinner at Katz' Deli in Aventura. A brush with greatness (and dill pickles).

Happy Father's Day - June 17

Happy Father's Day. We had a fun day. Jake wanted to go to the Swap Shop again, and Mommy even came along. I had imposed a "no complaining on Fathers Day" rule, and Mommy complied. We bought some used toys and some video tapes. It was about 90 degrees, and it took a lot out of him. He's supposed to be on limited fluids (16 ounces a day) and its unclear whether the kidney and fluid issues implicate his sweat functions. I presume he can take more fluids if he's sweaty, but we'll clear this up with the pediatric nephrologist tomorrow.

We were going to go to the movies, but ended up watching TV and JOOST (which is TV through the internet). He's interested in The Fantastic Four and Transformers. The constant commercials for those movies are probably contributing factors. His favorite characters are Dr. Ben Grimm (The Thing) and Optimus Prime. In a very obscure coincidence, those two characters have something in common. They're both Jewish. Look it up.

Jake has a busy medical week, with three dialysis dates, a trip to the neurologist, and a second opinion examination at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He's been in pretty good shape, although he's been vomiting in the mornings (after he takes his blood pressure medicine but before he eats).

Weekend ramblings

We went to a birthday party today at the laser tag/arcade facility in Hialeah. He had fun playing the redemption games (win tickets, get junky prizes, etc.). He couldn't do the laser tag because the vest apparatus was so heavy it was uncomfortable for him.

As an aside, many people feel that redemption games killed the traditional "arcade," but in the age of super home video game consoles it is also possible that redemption is the only thing that keeps arcades alive. Do you really need to go to an arcade to play the latest and greatest when its easier to play at home or online? When we go to those places, he may play one or two jetski racing games, but he really sticks with the redemption stuff. I guess having a home arcade makes him a little jaded.

Anyway, birthday parties are a little tough because he really shouldn't eat pizza, but we roll with the party, focus on the candy and adjust the eating for the rest of the day. One of my favorite websites, www.fark.com, had an entry today discussing people's favorite candies. See http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=2871924. Jacob says these are his favorites:

Now and Later
Sour Skittles
Fruit Gushers
Skittles
Fruit Roll ups
Sour Gummy Worms
Airheads
Swedish Fish
Tootsie Pops
Extreme Sour warheads
Pez

For Dad, its:

Fruit Flavor Tootsie Rolls
Dark Chocolate Raisinettes
Mike and Ike
Smarties (the Nestle version of M&Ms)
stale gummy bears
Fireballs
Razzles
Fruit Flavor Necco (mmmm, chalky)
Hershey Milk Chocolate

June 16 Update

Jen had her kidney donor compatibility tested, and it seems like she's a pretty good match. I think we're tired enough of the dialysis, pharmaceutical regimen and limited renal diet that she wants to accelerate the transplant process. However, our pediatric nephrologist returns from his two week vacation next week, and I presume he'll remind us to stay the course (i.e., a transplant next summer).

Jake is doing well. He doesn't want to go to the day camp at the local art museum, so there's no camp this summer. The art camp is only real camp option for him because it is day-to-day. Since he's in dialysis Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and isn't allowed to go swimming, there aren't a lot of camp options. I guess Tuesdays and Thursdays will be a series of play dates.

June 13, 2007 Update

His spirits have been very high. He's got lots of energy. Since he doesn't do much strenuous physical activity, he runs from place to place in the house, dances and shakes his booty to any music that's playing, and is generally full of pep. He's got even more energy on dialysis days like today, which presumably comes from the nap that he takes during that process.

The kidneys aren't doing much filtering. We tried lowering his potassium medicine (the yucky one), based on the belief that he was pooping more (which helps that process). Unfortunately, his potassium levels were very high on today's blood test. That medicine has to be continued until further notice. He and Mommy apparently made some kind of deal whereby he'll agree to take it as long as I'm not involved. Sounds like another surreptitious devaluation of the bribe dollar, but I won't ask too many questions.

6/10 Update

Jake was in good shape this morning, so I took him to Florida's second favorite tourist attraction - the Swap Shop in Fort Lauderdale. I had tried to take him last week to look for fake Yu Gi Oh cards, but we went at 5:00 p.m. that time and everything was closed. On a Sunday morning, it's in full splendor. While walking around (with him on my shoulders the whole time) I explained to him that this is what people did to get rid of their stuff before they invented E-Bay. On of the vendors overheard me and said that he just likes to be outside. It was 88 degrees at 10:30 a.m., so we only stayed about an hour. We bought some kid videotapes (3 for 5 bucks, such a bahh-gan) and some Yu Gi Oh Hot Wheels cars. We capped it off with a Mister Misty at Dairy Queen.

He was generally good this weekend, although the blood pressure was high -- which led to extra medication, which led to tantrums, which led to high blood pressure . . .

6/9 update - It wasn't my fault . . .

As soon as I rededicated myself to frequent updates, the rocket scientists at Comcast disconnected us for three days. The service people came out today, and told us that they had inadvertently disconnected our service (at the pole) instead of our neighbor's service. It is kind of hard to go without TV and internet for three days, especially with his excellency demanding his two daily shows.

He's been pretty good. He throws the mother of all tantrums when he has to take his potassium-reducing medicine (8 ccs of yucky stuff), but other than that he's in good spirits. The temper tantrums are soooo bad (I hate you, etc.) that it scars mommy and daddy for the whole day, but he shakes it off and forgets about it. It's the kind of advanced nasty tantrum you'd expect out of a twelve year old teenage runaway who wants to dye her hair blue against parental wishes. I guess he's just advanced for his age.

He came to work on Thursday afternoon with me, and was great. He was in really good spirits and it was great to walk him around and introduce him to the many people who send him wishes and presents. The fact that he got sugared up on the walk through also helped his energy level.

Kidneys are still "eh."

June 6 update

We have a foundation upon which we can base Jacob's daily regimen - the premiere of the new Pokemon Diamond & Pearl TV show this week. It comes on every weeknight at 7:30 on Cartoon Network. If he complains when he takes his medicine, we can threaten to withhold the show. If he doesn't eat his food, no show. This is all we have left. Let's face it, we've failed as parents. On the other hand, the show has a female lead, so we're really educating him and broadening his horizons on gender equality issues. Just kidding. We've failed.

I did have one good Pokemon related moment. On the premiere episode, the lead character (Dawn) had to travel to pick up her Pokemon, but kept getting lost. I told Jen and Jake - she should take Route 201. One minute later, they showed the correct road sign, with Route 201 on it. Jen looked at me astonished. I admitted that the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl videogame came out last month (Jake received it as a birthday present from the Ornsteins), and I still remember the maps. Nerds rule!

He has dialysis today. The blood pressure has been a little funky for the last two days, but he's been in very good spirits. No big plans for the rest of the week. We may bring him to watch the firm's softball game tonight, which is a fun family outing. We'll see how dialysis goes. The new catheter is working fine, although the change in the apparatus didn't reduce the skin pain he endures when they have to change the dressings.

June 4 Update - OK, I got a little behind

Jake is full of energy. He's feisty. Given what we've been through, you'd think we couldn't get enough of that. You'd be wrong.

Last night, he was disappointed because we "promised" that we'd watch "Night at the Museum". We had some things going on yesterday (the Lion King show, a trip to the Swap Show, a late dinner). All fun kid things, and each accompanied by a toy. One thing leads to another, and it's 9:00 p.m. with no movie. We tried to tell him that we'd have to defer the movie until tomorrow. At that point, he got mad. He followed Mommy around and said "you lied to me". He did that continuously for 30 minutes, varying his tone and diction every few minutes for emphasis.. "You lied to me. You lied to me. You lied to me ..." You get the idea.

The best conversation of the weekend:

"Mommy, remember you said my brain was injured in the hospital. Well, I still have the sore on the back of my head, and my brain hurts."
"Honey, that's not how it works. the brain stuff is different than the sore in the back of your head. That was a bed sore . . ."
"Mommy, doesn't anybody understand sarcasm around here."

Mental acuity is at 100%. Physical dexterity is close to 100%. Kidneys need work.

May 31/June 1 Status Report

Jake is home and doing well. His mental and physical status is excellent (except for the kidney thing). They've slightly modified the medication schedule, so it's a little easier. They've eliminated (for now) the yucky 8 tablespoons per day medicine for potassium reduction. I think he's curently on a regimine of 8 medications.

He has dialysis Friday, and we'll see whether the new catheter improves the clearance process.

So Far So Good

The surgery seems to have gone fine. He's sleeping off the anethesia. In 90 minutes they'll start his dialysis.

5/30 Status Report from Surgery

A List of Things You Don't Want to Hear During Surgery:

Oops!
Has anyone seen my watch?
Come back with that! Bad Dog!
Wait a minute, if this is his spleen, then what's that?
Hand me that...uh...that uh.....thingy
What do you mean he wasn't in for a sex change!
Damn, there go the lights again...
Everybody stand back! I lost my contact lens!
Well folks, this will be an experiment for all of us.
What do you mean, he's not insured?
Let's hurry, I don't want to miss "Bay Watch"
What do you mean "You want a divorce"!
FIRE! FIRE! Everyone get out!

He's scheduled to go under general anesthesia in a few minutes. He's asleep, which is good because that means he doesn't realize that he hasn't had anything to eat or drink today (which is a pre-anesthesia requirement). He'll have the catheter replaced as soon as the anesthesia takes effect. Once the procedure is finished, they'll wait for him to wake up (so they know that things are OK), and then transport him back to the pediatric ambulatory wing for 4 hours of dialysis. The hope and expectation is that his dialysis sessions will be more effective with a fresh catheter.

5/29 Status Report

Yesterday's dialysis went as smoothly as it ever does. We had some friends over for a late dinner and Jake was in good spirits. Today he's back at the hospital getting a neuro-optical checkout (there's a word for that specialty, but I can't spell it), then it's time for more occupational therapy. He doesn't really know about the plan for tomorrow's catheter replacement surgery.

The current party game of choice when people come over (other than Wii) is SingStar for PS2. It's a Karaoke game with current songs, and it doesn't require hand-eye coordination. We highly recommend it.

P.S. - Happy birthday Zoe!

5/28 - Happy Memorial Day

We're back to a hospital-based blog this morning, because I got to accompany him and Mommy to dialysis today. There seems to be a holiday kind of vibe at the hospital, because the main facilities seem pretty empty. On the other hand, the pediatric dialysis wing seems the same, because none of the regulars are missing. I don't thing you can "take a day off" from a dialysis schedule.

We get the parent's price at breakfast in the cafeteria, even though we don't have wristbands. It's a little like Cheers, except we wish everybody hadn't had time to learn our names.

We had some inconvenience yesterday, because his catheter dressing came off and Jen had to take him to the emergency room to get it changed. She probably could have done it herself, but we didn't have a sterile kit handy. Thankfully, a friend helped expedite that process, so the day wasn't lost. After dialysis is done today, we're going to stop by the pharmacy and try to get some supplies for our new do-it-yourself home trauma center. Since Miami is notorious for garage-based back-alley dental offices, I don't think an amateur trauma center is a big stretch.

Jake's in pretty good spirits. He got to spend some time with friends this weekend, and is holding his own. When we're done with dialysis I had promised I'd take him to the Swap Shop to look for some knock-off Yu-Gi-Oh cards. (The poor translations amuse him.)

I brought my track bike to the hospital with a thought that I could sneak off to the velodrome for an hour (the Florida State championship is next month and I'm woefully out of shape), but it rained just enough this morning to make it too dangerous. I'll give it a shot anyway. If I end up with a Daddy recuperation blog, it's my own fault.

5/26-5/27 Status Report

We went to the end of tee ball season trophy ceremony, and Jake got a game ball award for being the "most courageous player." I am normally skeptical of the dilution of "the trophy" (when I was a kid you had to win to get a trophy, but we also walked to school barefoot in the snow . . . ) but this was very nice.

He's improving mentally and physically. We had OT today, and we continue to work on field of vision issues. He's a little better each day. His sense of humor is strong. He really liked Shrek 3 last night. It was good to get out, although going to the movies without popcorn is tough.

Unfortunately, he was to be admitted to the hospital next Wednesday to have his catheter repaired or replaced. He'll be put under general anesthesia, and we really hope to avoid an overnight stay.

5/24-5/25 Status Report

We still don't know what to do for a Make A Wish Trip, but we know how we'd want to travel . . .

Today was the last day of school. Our job is to get him ready for first grade over the summer. Friday is a dialysis day, and they are scheduled to do some blood tests to see how kidney function is going.

5/23 - School visit

For those of you who have been following along but haven't ever seen Jake, here he is at school. He had fun at the class party.

P.S. - As you can see, we haven't made it for a haircut yet.

5/22-5/23 Status Report

Jen came back from a big shop at Whole Foods Market, in a vain attempt to find something healthy that is acceptable to his majesty. $300+ for about three bags of food. I could fill a Chevy Suburban with Publix groceries for $300.00. Whatever.

Remember, this whole ordeal probably began with some kind of organic vegetable. We seem to have found some new potential staple foods (mac and soy "cheese", lemon juice based lemonade, celery, modified sugar cookies) but we need to get some weight on those bones.

He has dialysis tomorrow, and then we hope to bring him to his Kindergarten end-of-year party at 1:00.

The doc estimates his current kidney function at 10% to 20%. He's got a bunch of OT and PT issues to resolve, but at least he's in good spirits.

5/22 Status Report

Jake had a good night and woke up in a good mood. Some of that mood may be due to the fact that he slept 11 hours. He has his first outpatient occupational therapy session at 10:00 this morning. After that I may take him for his first haircut in about 4 months. He's got an early Beatles moptop.

We skipped visiting school this morning because he slept late, but we'll go tomorrow.

5/21 - Day 5+ - Status Report

Jacob had a good weekend. He's still "cloudy" in terms of reaction time and speech, but he's generally in good spirits. We have dialysis Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, and he has occupational and physical therapy some afternoons.

There's no question that he got taller (almost an inch and a half) while he was bedridden. Since also he lost weight during the process, he's now a very skinny guy. In addition to the balance issues caused by the brain lesions, the extra inch of leg length makes him walk awkwardly.

He's still a picky eater. It's kind of hard to meet his fickle food demands while sticking to a low sodium, low potassium, low phosphorus diet, but we're trying. Right now the occasional microwavable White Castle hamburger seems to fit the bill. A little high in sodium, but not too bad as part of a balanced diet.

This is the last week of Kindergarten. We're going to try to stop by the classroom tomorrow morning for a bit, and we hope to stop by the class year-end party on Wednesday afternoon.

The Kidney - by Theo. LeSieg (sorta)

The kidneys control “renal function”
Well, what does that really mean?
Now that Jake has kidney malfunction,
This is what we can glean:

The kidneys filter “urea”
and other kinds of waste
Now that you get the idea
Of the kinds of challenges we face

When the kidneys are broken
the fluids can’t get out.
Thus it remains unspoken
We face a urine drought.

The kidneys also filter
other kinds of things
If not, he’ll get off kilter
With all the trouble that brings

The kidney limits phosphorus,
and also potassium.
A very busy organ process
behind the peretoneum

As long as we watch the food intakes
and nothing goes amiss,
we can avoid most electrolyte mistakes
and have an easy dialysis

He’s on the low sodium diet,
to keep the pressure tolled.
Because the kidneys remain too quiet,
this needs to be controlled.

“Renin” is what makes the pressure even
But his kidneys put too much out
While the docs we do believe in,
this issue injected some doubt.

Now that he’s home,
and can do everything that he missed,
the medical journals we do comb,
and await the transplant list.

5/19 - Day +3

Jake got to go visit his friends Aaron and Lane next door this afternoon, and his friend Remy came by yesterday. He's in good spirits. He's still a little foggy from the drugs and swelling, but the substance is all there. Remy's parents brought a good bottle of red wine, so mommy and daddy are a touch foggy too.

We're still learning what feeding techniques work best. He threw up this morning, which we attribute to taking in too much liquid too quickly. We have to be conservative regarding no-no minerals (sodium, potassium, phosphorus) in foods and liquids on weekends, because there's an extra day between dialysis sessions. We're told that adults on hemodialysis have as much as 12 pounds of liquid removed on Monday dialysis sessions if they've had a "big weekend".

Now that we're back to "normalcy" - such that it is -- Mommy got to try out the latest edition of Singstar-Pop, which is a Karaoke game for Playstation 2. It's therapeutic. On the other hand, listening to Daddy sing is antiseptic.

5/18- Day 2 - A new routine

Today is our first day of outpatient dialysis. He has dialysis every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:00 a.m. That schedule will probably continue until the end of the summer, and then we'll reevaluate.

This morning he was so tired that he stayed sound asleep from the bed through the car trip through the hook up to the dialysis machine. He was sleeping so deeply that it was kind of scary, but we have to remember that he stayed up late and had a big day yesterday. I guess it's better than being tired and cranky . . .

We don't know how he'll react to going back to the hospital as an outpatient. He's been fairly stoic about medical treatment - except his medications, which he hates. He had some digestion problems yesterday, so they've added Tums to every meal and snack. There's no problem getting him to take those, because the tablets come in tropical fruit and berry flavors. Chalky, but yummy.

The house is a disaster area due to the construction. If you visit, don't bring stuff (except food, which is always good), because we don't have any room. He already has every toy ever made.

On TV they announced the introduction of a new series of Yu Gi Oh cards, which will provide bribe-fodder for a little while. Other than a visit to the trading card store, we'll probably sit tight at home for a few days. We'd like to take him to the movies, but 1) we're not over the germ thing just yet, and 2) I doubt they have the low sodium popcorn he eats. We still have 20 hours of Yu Gi Oh DVDs to watch, and Jen has 7 weeks of Boston Legal, Gray's Anatomy and Law & Order to catch up with. As for me, I can now watch the Giro (go Liquigas!) on the internet and the Floyd Landis trial.

5/17 Status Report - Home is where the house is

We're home. He's much happier here, and his greatly increased physical capacity is a reflection of that. He's walking around and looking at all the renovations and developments. He has fed all of his Club Penguin puffles, and vaguely remembers that he has received a bunch of gifts that he hasn't played with yet.

He's still subdued, which is probably a function of the combination of 11 different medications and the brain lesions. However, he seems happy and optimistic.

I have to sign off now, because he remembers that he's been banking his allowance for 7 weeks and he now wants to go on Ebay and spend that money. I had seen a poem that talks about how much simpler life was at age six, but very few of those parables still apply.

5/16 Status Report - Time for Tubby bye-bye!

We've been approved for discharge, but we're awaiting the "final paperwork" so we can say bye bye to the inpatient lifestyle.

We've been waiting for that paperwork for over three hours. I've never understood why hospitals consistently ruin their goodwill by delaying and botching the discharge process.

I had not commented on the passing of Reverend Jerry Falwell, but I really like this quote from former Teletubby Tinky Winky:

Asked about Falwell's death, Winky turns serious and chooses his words carefully.

"I'm not going to pretend I'm sadder than I am," he says. "There were late nights during the dark times when I wished to hear news like this. I'd be lying if I denied that. I don't feel that way anymore. I like to think I've grown over the years, gotten past all that pain.

"But at the end of the day, I'm not terribly sad, and I think a lot of people feel the same way. Jerry Falwell was a divisive person, a hateful person, and what I've tried to be all about, in the Teletubbies days and since then, has been love. I've got to keep it that way. I don't want anybody feeling good about it when it's my time for Tubby bye-bye."

5/16 Status Report

Jacob is in hemodialysis this afternoon, and won't be done until 6:00 p.m. Once hemodialysis is finished, they'll let us know whether he's discharged today.

He's kept his food down so far. The tummy is still bothering him, but not as bad as yesterday.

He's a little frustrated with his (presumably temporary) lack of coordination and lack of concentration issues, but he knows he wants to go home. Our housekeeper and construction workers have done an incredible job of making the house more liveable for his impending arrival.

5/15 - Day 47 - So we're not going home today . . .

He's having trouble keeping food down, so they won't discharge us until that's resolved. Vital signs seem good, but he hasn't eaten anything (well, not for very long). Since tomorrow is a dialysis day, we probably won't go home until late, late afternoon. It's a good thing we didn't check out of the Conine Clubhouse yet.

I went downstairs to get a copy of the bill, but they said it won't be ready for another two weeks.

5/14-5/15 - Almost at stage 2 . . .

We go home tomorrow. We've got a rental wheelchair, bought our computerized test equipment, and ordered our bland tasting food. We can fully replicate the hospital experience at home.

The ongoing renovations to the interior of the house are still in full swing, so we'll be hiding in the Mommy and Daddy bedroom until everything's done. We're guessing three more weeks until completion (although work started last October, so take the schedule with a big grain of salt).

Hmmm - restricted to one room for weeks at a time? We're used to that. Until the house is done, it will be very hard to entertain visitors at the house.

We'll be doing hemodialysis at 8:00a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for at least the next 10 weeks. We don't have a schedule for physical therapy and occupational therapy yet.

5/14 Morning Report, and more medical humor

Everything seems on track for discharge. He wants to have Yu Gi Oh duels all day. Oh boy. We have to get those brain muscles (ours, not his) back in shape.

Here are some entries on patient charts (at Kenyatta Hospital, not Joe DiMaggio):

1. She has no rigours or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.

2. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

3. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.
4. The patient is tearful and crying constantly.She also appears to be depressed
5. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
6. Discharge status:Alive but without my permission.
7. Healthy appearing decrepit 69 year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.
8. The patient refused autopsy.
9. The patient has no previous history of suicides.
10. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.
11. Patient's medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.
12. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
13. She is numb from her toes down.
14. While in ER she was examined, x-rated and sent home.
15. The skin was moist and dry.
16. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.
17. Patient was alert and unresponsive.
18. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid .(!!)
19. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life,until she got a divorce.
20. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.
21. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.
22. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.
23. The lab test indicated abnormal over function.
24. The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stockbroker instead.
25. Skin: somewhat pale but present.
26. The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.
27. Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Wangui, who felt we should sit on the abdomen and I agree.
28. Large brown stool ambulating in the hall.
29. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

5/13-5/14 Status Report - Back to School (almost)

We're making preparations to go home on Tuesday. Home is a relative term, because he still comes back to the hospital three times a week for four hours worth of hemodialysis. Even when he doesn't have dialysis, he still has physical therapy and occupational therapy. It's unclear where and when those therapies will be provided.

It will be good for him to be home. Club Penguin is blocked on the hospital internet service, and he hasn't fed his puffles for 45 days (you have to be a parent to understand). He reminds me of this fact several times a day.

Jake's Kindergarten ends on May 25, so we're going to do what we can to bring him by the classroom as soon as practicable (maybe Thursday)? He really misses school, especially because he thinks he can get a cupcake birthday party in class.

Monday is a dialysis day, so we're tied up all day.

5/13 - Status Report

He's in good spirits. Vital signs are good. He's a little quiet, but seems happy and contented. The staff is getting us ready for a Tuesday discharge. They think he looks much better. We need to avoid any hospital-bourne illnesses between now and then.

We had a kid visitor yesterday (Gabriella), and we did what we always do - give the tour. The kid's tour now has a heavy focus on the different kinds of shiny rocks in the Serenity Garden. It's apparently fascinating for the eight and under set.

Happy Mothers Day

P.S. - Nothing expresses love better than a Mother's Day e-card from the Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov/mom). (You can decline the offer to install the Japanese language pack when you click on the link)

5/12- News Flash - Back to the "hotel"

We're back in room 406 in the rehabilitation wing- the "hotel" (as Jake had called it). The presidential suite at Ritz it ain't - but it's probably the same price. Our phone extension is back to 1406.

They've told us that our target date for discharge out of the hospital is Tuesday if everything goes well. Vital signs are good today. So far, so good.

Special thanks to Candace for the Carvel birthday cake and "cookie cake." We're carbo loading for discharge day.

P.S. - Did I mention my brother turned 37? I did? OK - just checking.

5/11 -Day 43 - Our plan backfires

His physical health was pretty good today. He's very ornery, but has fleeting moments of cuteness. The pediatric nephrologist thinks we have at least 4 or 5 more hospital days left. He clotted up the dialysis machine, so that process took longer than usual.

Our previous plan was to stay in the ICU as long as possible before moving to the cushy rehabilitation rooms. As a result of our delays, all the nice rehabilitation rooms are now occupied until further notice. It looks like we'll stay in our ICU room another week, but we're no longer considered "ICU status."

When I came back to the office today, I picked up some more birthday presents that my colleagues dropped off. Thank you to the Chaskes family for the Wedkidz frog, which will get a lot of use tonight (especially since Club Penguin is blocked on the hospital internet server). A special thanks to Jim Miller and family for a beautiful card and message, which was accompanied by stacks of Yu Gi Oh cards and a neat deck box.

P.S. - Happy 37th birthday today to my brother Noel. That's right, 37 years old. An age when most professional athletes have already retired, and the remaining few are considered "grizzled veterans". An age when you may say to yourself - "gee, this minivan has pretty good pickup on the highway". An age when you shop for Dockers, "with a skootch more room in the waistband."

Thank you for the overwhelming generosity . . .

We had Jacob's party today. He was pleased. Stoic, but pleased. For the first time, he was willing to make eye contact with the members of the medical staff who joined us for lunch.

The most surprising development was when he decided to stand up and walk around the room so he could sit in Mommy's lap. It was a complete surprise to us and to the physical therapist (who was sitting next to him). They don't do unsupported walking in PT yet, because his balance is still iffy due to the brain swelling.

His blood pressure was very good today. If he stays controlled after dialysis tomorrow, we're a sure bet to get transferred - somewhere. There's a waiting list for pediatric ICU rooms, but they can't move us out yet because the rest of the pediatric wing is also completely full.

Occupational therapy is working with him on the neuro issues, which are improving a little bit each day. We'll be in dialysis tomorrow, so we'll be tied up continuously (mostly) from 9:00 a.m. through 5:15 p.m.

One sad note - little Destiny is back in the ICU again.

Thank you all for the incredible gifts today. We're overwhelmed. Among the many gifts included:

A Pokemon basket, including the new Pokemon Diamond video game, from the Orensteins;
Every Yu Gi Oh DVD ever released (17 DVDs, in English) from Noel and Dita;
Rare Shel Silverstein books from Stan and Ronnie;
Color by numbers art pencil set and books from Gowie;
An indoor remote control helicopter (very cool!) from the Jockers family;
A three year preschool retrospective poster with candy attachments from Miss Vilma and Miss Marla and Miss Elena and the other teachers at Temple Sinai of North Dade School;
Cookies from Miss Jenny and Miss Helen;
Card games and Legos from Miss Mila and Miss Helen;
SpongeBob and Puffles artwork, a Cranium game and a SpongeBob book from the Dillworths;
Dinosaur stickers from Miss Beverly;
A candy extravaganza basket from Mary and Carl;
A gift book, individually drawn get well cards and a talking Pikachu from Mrs. Holsing, Mrs. V and the kindergarten class;
Individually drawn get well cards from the Covington, Georgia Presbyterian School;
A toy basket from Sunny the nutritionist;
A toy car and candy from the hospital volunteer staff;
Yu Gi Oh tapes from the rehab department;
A cool storybook (in which the main characters look just like Jake) from the Rabbi and Rebbetzen;
Homemade get well cards and Gushers from the Bergers;
Spiderman toys and Yu Gi Oh cards from Will, Ivan and Jen at Somer & Associates;
A Marvel Heroes Pog game from the Child Life staff;
A home made treasure box from the Battistas;
A 2007 shorts shirt and a Pokemon cards set from Lily and Ivan;
A muscial Shrek card from the "girls" at the Conine Clubhouse; and
Cool DVDs from the Trinz family (as well as dinner last night);

and tons of other stuff that has come in over the past 42 days. We received so many things that if I failed to list something here I'll make sure to include it tomorrow. It may be included in some sort of obscure code that nobody understands, but it will be included. Mom got him a "few" things too. It's a good thing we bought the large SUV.

5/10- Jake's 7th birthday

Jacob realized last last night that he can have three different birthday parties - a hospital party, a party at school, and a big party at home. This made him very happy. We may need to accelerate the healing process to get a school party done before the end of the school year, but we'll see. His Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Holsing, is bringing over some cards that his classmates made, so he'll enjoy that.

Our "party" will probably be in the conference room in the playroom. I'm sure Jen went overboard on the food, like we always do. She spent a few hours last night wrapping his presents, which didn't seem necessary to me. Whatever. I think we now have every toy ever made. When I was a boy, we played with a box and a piece of string, and darn it, we were thankful. No, wait . . . I seem to recall having every toy ever made. Johnny Lightning cars. Matchbox cars. Lionel trains. Tyco cars and trains. Super Tinkertoys. Pong. Atari 2600 and Atari 800. Never mind.

In honor of his birthday, I brought him his favorite foods last night - cole slaw and pickles from Katz' delicatessen. They are a little high in sodium, so we had to go bland the rest of the day to fit them in. I guess he has yiddish (or yodish, as per last night's blog) tastes.

He's on his usual cycle. His numbers at night look great, and the blood pressure creeps up during the day. He's on a new cycle of medications, so we need to stay the course for 4 or 5 days to get to a "steady state", and see how he does on that. We'll probably move to the regular pediatric floor in a day or two, but will continue under the supervision of the ICU docs.

The blood pressure issues appear to be a general kidney disease issue (related to renin output), and don't appear to be related to specific dialysis treatments. Therefore, the current track is to continue hemodialysis treatments monday/wednesday/friday and to try to convert to peridialysis at the end of the summer.

5/9 - A quick update

The blood pressure is strong in him. Fix it they cannot. Succeed they must, because there is no "try."

Excited for tomorrow's in-room birthday party he is, hmmm.

5/8-5/9 Status Report - More Calvin and Hobbes . . .

He's doing well, but they are still keeping a very close eye on the blood pressure . If the blood pressure stays under control, we may get moved back to the regular pediatric floor in the very near future because they are running out of space in the ICU for critical patients.

Blood pressure is calm at night (105 to 115), but during the day it elevates to 128 to 145 even with blood pressure medication. They'd like it under 120. It's unlikely that these levels of blood pressure would lead directly to additional brain lesions, but the easiest way to avoid acutely high blood pressure it to stop it before it gets acutely high.

He looks good, with rosy cheeks and some laughing. He's still got some fine motor and occupational therapy challenges (like difficulty with some finger movements), but those will hopefully resolve through therapy and when the brain lesions heal.

Finally - the previous blog was written without using the letter "s". It was very difficult to do, and nobody noticed (kind of like making risotto). However, Lori Colan's answer was far more interesting, so I'll adopt that one instead.

P.S. - I almost forgot the Calvin & Hobbes quotes:

You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy (John Calvin)

Science is the knowledge of consequences, and dependence of one fact upon another (Thomas Hobbes).

5/8 - Daily Report, Day 40

Another good night all around. We have therapy (OT and PT) planned for the whole day and he will probably enjoy it -- particularly the informal Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh video game occupational therapy. A happy mood all around -- including Mommy and Daddy. BP running a little high (around 130) during the day - they are trying a new medicine today. Birthday party planning (for both the in-room party and the after-departure gala next month) proceeding full-bore. Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon party paraphernalia will arrive (via Fed-Ex) today or tomorrow. Let the frivolity begin!!

To avoid infection, we continue to try to keep our ICU room until we're evicted. It may not continue forever, and we're practicing our germ warfare protocol.


A prize for the reader who can identify the peculiar nature of the blog today. (Note the cartoon hint . . .)

The 5/7-5/8 overnight blog entry included (among the over 20 that I incorporated) each video game machine in our home arcade.

May 7 to 8 - Rehabilitation, Silverman style

Like a Phoenix, he's back to full strength again. The berserk period is over, which means no more frenzy and no major havoc. The antibiotics have repelled the space invaders, and he now tests negative for C.Diff.

He's off contact restrictions, and off most of the machines (no more annoying pong sound every 10 seconds). Tomorrow we restart the full range of physical therapy, occupational therapy, track and field practice, french lessons, tuba, jousting, etc. Just as importantly, they've taken off his hand-boards (which worked as the defender of his IV ports) so that he has full range of finger motion.

We have to scramble to buy some of the latest video games in time for his birthday on Thursday. We're planning on a low-key in-room Star Wars party (featuring a cameo from the people who dress up like Stormtroopers and come and visit pediatric wards).

He's in good spirits, except when they try to give him injections or blood tests. When they stir up that tempest, he fights back like a street fighter. He's looking super. Mario's pizza is still the primary request, although tonight it's burger time. We still dig (dug, actually) the hospital food, but it's getting old.

We haven't gone back to the main pediatric floor yet. It's a germ battle zone out there, so we're hiding in the room to punch out (or at least outrun) the infections. We wash every time we touch a wall or pole. Position of each of the numerous bacterial cleanser dispensers is noted on the handy map we give visitors. When we face occasional elevator action, we try to let other people touch the buttons. We're on the vanguard of paranoia.

P.S. - For the very few people who asked (or even noticed), yesterday's entry includes the titles of 28 Tom Cruise movies.

5/6-5/7 Status Report - Cruisin'

We're cruisin' today. We've been watching a lot of cartoons, because days of thunder and rain (man, it came down hard) have severely limited our time in the downstairs garden. During the storm it sounded like the war of the worlds outside our hospital window, but the storms have subsided and we're back to a plain vanilla sky.

Now that he's in better shape, I expect we'll spend a lot of time in the garden (weather permitting). He likes sitting under the magnolia and looking at the different kinds of rocks. I like it, because I collected started minerals as a kid at about the same age. I'd suggested a trip to Franklin, NJ (the worldwide mineral collectors mecca) as a Make A Wish trip, but all he wants right now is Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando.

Far and away, he looks better than he has all week. He's sitting up, talking, laughing and joking. He's very, very excited about his big boy 7th birthday on thursday. No more little baby stuff. Now he's a kid-man.

Meanwhile, our top gun physicians haven't figured out the blood pressure issue yet, but they are working on it. Right now, fixing the blood pressure issues ASAP is the primary mission. Impossible? One, two and three days of new drug cocktails have everything pretty much stabilized -- except for the blood pressure. Meanwhile, no new tests (spinal taps, MRIs) are on the horizon. His stool seems much healthier, and no longer look like infant poop (i.e, the color of money).

Things seem positive and we approach it one day at a time (with eyes wide shut). We want to avoid losin' it again. They've made all the right moves when bad things happen, but we need fewer bad things to happen. He's probably in good enough shape to get released back to the main floor, but braving the panoply of germs and avoiding collateral damage is risky business. So we're taking it verrrry slowly. At the very least, we'll be out by the Fourth of July.

We have dialysis tomorrow. I think the kidneys will be back at full force very shortly, but I'm in the minority. Report to follow.

I've got a meeting at the firm tomorrow. It appears my litigation team doesn't need me much, now that the young guns have taken over. A few good men can do wonders. I've been at work so infrequently, I'm more of a legend than an actual employee. The office building security staff now thinks I'm one of the outsiders, and keeps asking for ID.

If he falls asleep early, I have some DVDs (The Last Samurai and Jerry Maguire) to watch and books (Freakonomics and Interview with a Vampire) to read. Of course, I'll probably end up watching SpongeBob and Fairly OddParents. You have to ease back into reality very slowly . . .

5/6 Report - Q: How are you? A: Haiku!

In the hospital
Waking up with a pin prick
Worst part of the day

Blood tests seem ok
Pressure still a bit too high
Cartoons should fix that

Had heart EKG
Nothing bad was reported
No news is good news

Seems in good spirits
Making a bit more urine
I'm optimistic

39 days in here
Daddy sometimes gets very bored
Now see what happens . . .

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator

5/5-5/6 status report

Everybody had a good day. Jacob got to wheel around in the wheelchair, nap, shop for Yu Gi Oh cards on EBay and watch some TV. Mommy got out for a little Target therapy. Daddy got to work in a quick 60 mile bike ride (which makes up for having to miss a race tomorrow).

Jake seems healthy. As I (Dr. Dad) had predicted, the hallucinations and eyesight issues seem to have disappeared once the Adavan wore off. No observable seizures today. Other than medium-elevated blood pressure (high 120s to low 130s), he didn't have any major issues today. He had a cardiac ultrasound study in the afternoon, but we haven't received the results yet. He made urine at a decent clip today.

He's a resilient kid, with an especially resilient brain. Like they say . . .

CYRIL: You know what I'd like to be? A cartoon of some kind. You know, like when they get hit on the head with a frying pan or something, and their head looks like the frying pan, with the handle and everything? Then they just go boiiinnng and their head comes back to normal? Wouldn't that be great?

(from the movie Breaking Away (1978), which I know by heart)

5/5 - All that (and a bag of low sodium chips)

He slept well (i.e., like a rock). So well that it was really difficult to wake him up. Blood pressure and heart rate were and are solid, and no fever. Poopie is back to normal. A little urine. All in all, an excellent post-dialysis day.

More importantly, he woke up in a good mood. He knows and recognizes everybody. He's communicative (well, as communicative as he ever is at 6:00 a.m.) He's hungry. He's pleased with the presents that Grandma brought. No hallucinations so far. Short range peripheral vision seems much improved.

For the next few days, please call first if you're going to visit. If you bring food, he's now on a low-sodium diet (1500 mg per day), so we're on a sympathy low sodium diet. We already have a case of mail order organic low sodium low oil microwave popcorn. The packing materials probably have more flavor, but he likes it. It reminds me of when I came off the South Beach Diet a few years ago and believed that Powerbars were really tasty.

5/4 - The prognosis

Jake had his MRI and EEG. It was an excruciating day, because you have to refrain from food pre-MRI, and all he wanted all day long was food. He got more and more worked up and grumpy about hunger, and it ultimately took three doses of the sleep medicine to put him out for the MRI.

The neurologist's opinion is what I expected - It's either very scary or somewhat reassuring, depending on your life outlook. He has multiple brain lesions, which could be impairing his functions. Sounds awful, doesn't it? The neurologist thinks they were caused by the high blood pressure.

However, these kinds of lesions are treatable and the body cures them on its own. In layman's terms (which is all I've got, until our friend Jon the neurologist guest blogs), when you get really high pressure, the brain gets a bit leaky and brain fluid leaks into the blood. Take away the pressure, and the lesions start to resolve themselves. The MRI shows no bleeding, no pools, no bursting. It's kind of like a brain bruise. The MRI also shows the infarctions from the prior strokes have essentially disappeared. It's my belief that the same thing will happen with the lesions.

The neurologist has suggested there's a possibility that the hallucinations and the eyesight issues could be from the brain lesions and not the Adavan. We'll keep an eye out on this, but my parental instincts and our previous experience with painkillers make me believe that it's a pharmaceutical side effect. On the other hand, if the hallucinations are going to continue until the lesions completely disappear (which can be three to six weeks for them to resolve on the MRI), our lives are really going to stink for the coming weeks.

So - where does this leave us? He'll be on anti-seizure medicine (Depakote) for a while. We'll continue to carefully watch his blood pressure. We (i.e., not Larry, but the rest of the family) will continue to second guess every physician in the hospital as to where the blood pressure issues are coming from and whether this latest event was avoidable.

P.S. - the neurologist that we met with is the same one who gave us the "gruff" assessment last month. Today's consult was a pleasure. Call off the hit squad (you know who you are).

One special acknowledgement. I'd mentioned in a previous entry that Jake likes Gushers. Our friend Camille and her son GianPaul created a "Gushers tree", which is like a Christmas tree made out of packages of Gushers. You really have to see it.

5/4 Status Report, continued

Akerman rushed over a replacement power adapter. I was without internet access for almost an hour. Traumatic, but we overcome . . .

Jake is still hemolizing (breaking down) red blood cells, so he gets transfused (they add a pint and check the oil) when he gets dialysis. It may be that he's still in HUS mode, which could explain some of the other things going on. He's had one or two microseizures (10 seconds or less) this morning.

Dialysis ends at 12:30, and then we go to MRI and then EEG. They'll give him a sleeping medication to get him to hold still for the MRI, so he should be out cold for a while. Of course they said that about the Adavan, and he's still hallucinating and drooling like a drug addict in a Dragnet episode.

Maybe this is all C.Diff related? Bacterial infections have been the bane of our existence. I am reminded of an instructive science experiment regarding bacteria:

Get a microscope and some spit. Put the spit on a glass slide and put it under the microscope lens. Now look through the eyepiece. You'll notice, if you look closely, that you can't see anything, because you have no idea how to operate a microscope. But while you're looking, billions of germs, left on the eyepiece by the previous microscope user, will swarm onto your eyeball - which to them is a regular Club Med - and start reproducing like crazy via wild bacterial sex. You'll probably need surgery. (Dave Barry, 1995)

5/4 temporary update

Nothing much to report this morning. He was up all night in altered states. My favorite line was "Who runs this organization? Is it evil?" Jen and I alternated staying awake so we could calm him when he would see monsters. She got the brunt of it. Right now he alters between half-asleep and full-ornery.

We have dialysis, a CAT scan and an MRI scheduled today. The day's just packed. I don't know the times that they will do those tests, but he's fasting for the MRI so that's another aggravating factor.

The laptop is dying, so this is it for the report until the office hand delivers me a new power adapter.

May 3 Status Report - Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

Just plain weird. Scary. Occasionally mildly entertaining. Mostly scary. And really, really weird.

We know he's sensitive to Adavan. He'd already had a couple of doses this week. While I was gone this afternoon, he started having multiple mini-seizures. They appear almost narcoleptic, where he nods off in the middle of an action or thought. It may be a remnant of the previous strokes, but it's more likely (to me, anyway) a symptom of the multitude of drugs and conditions he's fighting. His CAT scan earlier in the week showed some brain changes, but they were in the nature of an equilibrium shift, not infractions or ruptures.

The immediate treatment to stop the seizures was a double dose of Adavan. Now he's a blabbering (free association) mess. That would be OK (we're almost used to it), but he's also hallucinating some scary stuff. Tubes become snakes, and hands become claws. He sees something scary and shrieks in agony. He blabbers in full sentences with full vocabulary, so intelligence and motor function are intact. Now that he's back on Adavan, the peripheral vision issues are also back (but we now know those thinsg resolve when the dose wears off).

Tomorrow they are going to do another MRI and another CAT scan. Chances are that the scans won't identify a culprit, but we'll see. I keep saying the same thing - he's intact but they need to "twiddle the knobs" of medications to get him stable. I'd better be correct.