Mr. BikeMan built his first wheel!

Chad had the privilege of learning how to build a bicycle wheel from one of the best wheel builders on the East coast. Here is the fruit of his labor. He'll be building his second wheel soon.

Note the absence of crutches and the presence of two real shoes! Whoopee!

Wellllllllll......

Two more weeks of IV antibiotics for Chad, and after that, two weeks of oral antibiotics. I'm glad that his doctor is taking a conservative approach, honestly. Better safe than sorry in this case.

Ingrid Administering Infusion

Chad finds out today if this is he will no longer need infusions of antibiotics. Praying that this is the case, as this would mean his infection is under control!

He asked Ingrid to administer his "last" infusion. She was very methodical and careful, and only had to re-wash her hands twice after coughing on them.

trash

Administering Heparin

Seven days worth of supplies.

Trash generated by one day's infusion of antibiotic

I am amazed how much trash is generated by Chad's daily antibiotic infusion: three saline syringes, wrappers and lids; two heparin syringes, wrappers and lids; six alcohol wipettes and wrappers; the actual medication "onion bulb." Plus, Multiply by 28 days (4 weeks). Add in the actual PICC line "port" changes, the dressing changes once a week by the visiting nurse... I'm amazed by the amount of JUNK that is generated!

update on Mr. BikeMan

So... why do you think I have this look on my face? And why is Ilsa hiding? Read on..

The scene:

The surgeon's office.

The event:

The impending removal of Chad's wound packing.

There's a video of the actual event, but only for the very stout of heart. View at your own risk. This is your final warning! Mu ha ha ha ha ha! But it is strangely compelling and morbidly fascinating as well. Sort of reminds me of a magician pulling an unending scarf out of his fist.

We did learn some troubling things about the infection, though. Apparently, once you have staph, you have staph. It may be controlled, but it is never fully eradicated. It can be triggered by another illness or injury. Chad wasn't so happy to hear this news. He's off of work several more weeks, and catching up on reading, White Horse Inn podcasts, and other fun stuff.

so glad so glad so glad so glad...

I DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE HIS PACKING!!!!

Just got back from Chad's post-op appointment. The doctor looked at me rather incredulously when I asked him when I was going to learn how to re-pack his wound. He sort of laughed and said, "Everyone tries to do my work for me..." The nurse was HAPPILY wrong. I do NOT have to do this! I may have to change a dressing, which is fine.

Chad uttered some fantastic things under his breath as the doctor removed his packing. EXCRUCIATING...

At this point, Ilsa looked at Daddy, took off her hooded parka, turned it around backwards so that the hood was hanging off of the front of her head to obscure her vision. To quote her, "I'm hiding my head. I don't like that foot."

I don't know that I could do it. His bone is exposed. It is just gruesome. Period. And honestly, not much freaks me out, but this DID.

Looks like he will be off of work at least two more weeks.

I won't post pix. If you like that sort of thing, e-mail me and I'll be more than HAPPY to share :/-

the little shop

I just had to post the sign from The Little Shop. I went in the day we checked Chad out of the hospital, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I'd find a fellow Whovian inside, or at least someone who might understand the reference. No such luck. I didn't even ask.

YAY! He's home!!!

Visiting infusion nurse came and taught me how to administer the antibiotics to Chad's PICC line at 7:30 this morning. It isn't hard, but I was a bit nervous. Now, after 6 syringes, I feel like an old pro! :)

It will take about 40 minutes from start to finish, every morning, at the same time. I'll start the line before I drop Ingrid off at school, and then it'll be done by the time we get home.

The nurse was very kind and patient with me, even when I emptied an entire syringe of saline on the floor the first time I tried to prime one. Heh heh heh...

We continue to be so thankful for the kind help and prayers of all of our family, old friends and new friends!

Chad update - early morning Wednesday 3/9/11

He's coming home today! At least that's the plan as of 6:40 am.

Please give God the Glory along with us! And if you would, please pray for the following:

1. PRAISE! The infection was common staph, and not common MRSA or hospital-borne MRSA.
2. PRAISE! The physicians, technicians and nursing staff have been methodical, brilliant, lovely, fun, caring, attentive and careful.
3. PRAISE! We are so very, very thankful for the outpouring of support, comfort and physical care offered and received by friends and strangers alike from church and through Steph's connection with the Well-Trained Mind homeschooling message board. She even received an offer of help from a complete stranger -- a barista at Starbucks.
4. Pain management at home, and the ability to manage sterility here. Eradication of the nausea and constant headache from the necessary, but very potent pain medicine.
5. We have stairs. Lots of 'em. We need to find the best place for him to settle.
6. For the infection to be completely controlled.
7. Ingrid's health -- her bug just keeps coming back.
8. Emotional strength.
9. For full healing, ultimately, so that Chad would be able to return to his former level of physical activity.
10. That his job would not be impacted negatively by this situation.

Chad update - evening

Chad's surgery was successful, however, it appears the infection did make its way into the bone. Waiting for cultures to come back to confirm with which antibiotic doctors will proceed.

Thanks for your prayers, calls, emails... please know that they are much appreciated, even if I have not personally responded yet. I'm beat... I need to be off to bed now...

Love,

Steph

chad update: having surgery today (Monday 3/7)

Sometime today (probably this morning) Chad is having surgery. They will be opening his ankle/leg and irrigating it with disinfecting solution. I don't know the specifics. Would you add this to your prayer list? Thanks.

haven't seen any Cat-Nurse-Nuns...yet...

Haven't seen any Cat-Nurse-Nuns...yet...

In the midst of Chad's very serious medical situation, I did find a moment of humor while sitting in the ER waiting room watching the hospital info-channel loop over and over again. Doctor Who fans will understand...

The Doctor would be sooooooo pleased!

prayer request for mr. bikeman please

Two weeks ago Thursday, Chad had ankle surgery to repair recently-discovered damage from his bike accident back in October of 2008. He had been walking around on two two tendons and a bone chip...no wonder it kept swelling up. He had just retuned to work on Thursday, and his ankle was quite swollen and sore. Friday the swelling worsened, and was very painful by Friday night. On Saturday morning, he woke up physically ill and his ankle was red and grotesquely swollen, and very red from mid-calf down.

I took him to the ER and he was admitted soon thereafter with a very serious infection in his surgical sight. Infectious disease doc believes he caught staph in the surgery. He's in hospital for at least 5 - 7 days with IV antibiotics, and then he'll have a pic line placed for six weeks of home-injections.

He's in an awful lot of pain and it's a serious situation.

Thank you friends and faithful readers...

I have pictures but I won't post them... you don't want to see. Seriously.

Pedal Powered Snowplow

Mr. BikeMan thinks this is really, really neat and asked me to post.

do sleestaks commute by bicycle?

Mr. BikeMan is looking for a new pair of winter biking gloves.

Am I the only one who thinks they look like they would fit a Sleestak?

sweethearts

Every holiday has that certain treat that just is...it:

Halloween: candy corn

Christmas: mint Frangoes

Easter: Cadbury Mini Eggs

Valentine's Day: Sweehearts -- the real ones

I just can't say no to the girls when they ask for those little pink boxes of Sweethearts. I love 'em too. The purple (grape) is my favorite, with yellow (banana) a very close second. And don't you dare try and sneak a generic brand into my candy dish. I can tell the difference.

When Mr. BikeMan and I first started dating, Valentine's Day rolled around, and he bought a box of Sweethearts for us to share. We sat at the counter of a casual Russian restaurant in Bellevue Square in Bellevue, Washington, and he handed them to me one by one. He'd saved the best for last: "I Love You". True story.

heart attack

So, Mr. BikeMan was gone the entire month of November. He left November 1st and came home last night (December 3rd). Well, save Thanksgiving weekend, which wasn't planned.

So it was Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving. I had just finally settled down onto the couch to watch a movie on Netflix (that X-Files movie from last year -- hey, I never finished it...) when my cell phone rang -- Mr. BikeMan checking in at about 9:30 pm my time, 6:30 his. He asked me to do him a favor, to go outside and take an eye-ball measurement of the length of the chains on the tire swing because he had seen an "attachment" for the swing and wanted to know if it would work out. I opened the front door, and HE WAS STANDING THERE! 10 DAYS EARLY! I screeched. He startled me thoroughly! Ilsa must've heard the taxi door close or something, because she started to come downstairs. Mr. BikeMan wanted to keep it a surprise, so he ran around the corner and hid. Ilsa said, "Mommy, did I just see a man with a backpack downstairs?" Hahaha. I swept it aside and got her back into bed successfully.

He was able to stay with us the entire Thanksgiving weekend, and flew back out to Colorado Springs on Monday. Now I know why he had convinced me to buy a small turkey "just so that the girls get to have a little Thanksgiving on the actual day" (we were going to wait until he got home this weekend to have a family Thanksgiving meal). He must have known early in the week that he was going to come home early! Wheeee!