I had a Chemistry test today, and I think I did very well!  I got a look at the key after the test, and there was only one problem I answered wrong (that I could remember). 

Kelly is doing well this morning; we've taken a couple of walks, and played a few games of Mancala.  His white blood cell count is in the 20,000's, but Dr. Holbrook isn't worried, and says that's not unusual after a spleen is taken out.  

I'm just hoping the CT goes well tomorrow, and he can come home this weekend! 

Today has been pretty good, although the surgeon got to torture me a bit this morning.  He partially pulled out the drain he placed during surgery in order to wring some more drainage from it.  It's called cracking the drain, and it hurts like a hot poker in the side!  I munched a few more pills and awaited Mom's arrival.

Breakfast was an almost-normal eggs, toast, OJ and cream of wheat.  We took a walk around the floor and I'm feeling pretty good.  Pat and Tim from work stopped by to wish me well.  Life's kinda boring on the tenth floor today.

The surgeon wants to do one more CT scan on Friday to make sure there are no new fluid pockets and then I will be going home drain and staple free some time this weekend.   The fluid that came out of the pocket yesterday didn't have a significant amount of amylase which is good news as it means that my digestive juices are staying where they should.  It didn't appear to be full of infectious stuff, but they are going to culture it anyway.  They also found a lot of WBC's which is evidence of a past infection that I've gotten over.  So I'm still on the antibiotics for the time being.  In fact, the nurse just hooked up a fresh bag of imipenem/cilastatin mix.  And some students just came in and gave me a round of immunizations against pneumonia and meningitis since I no longer have a spleen.

Mom's planning to leave in a few and come back this weekend, so I should wrap this entry up.  Things are looking up! 

Yesterday, shortly after my posting, I was ordered a CT scan to try to explain my latest temp spike and jump in WBC count.  So I cheerily drank yet another gallon of nasty oral contrast and got run through the scanner.  Later that day, my surgeon called to tell me that they found yet another collection of fluid above the prior bad site.  So today I had yet another drain installed.  This time the entrance is high up on my abdomen, just below my rib on my left front.  It was not a joy to get put in.  Initially they tried to get it in from the back or side, but the bottom part of my lung was in the way.

So the front door was the best approach.  At first I could watch, which was probably not such a good thing.  The sensation was like being staked like a vampire with a plastic tube and then rolled into the CT ring for a scan to see where it ended up.  This went on for five or six times.  Finally what looked like the A string of a guitar painted blue was run down the hole to serve as a guide to the tube's final resting place.  At this point they covered my eyes.  Next the tube itself was run down the hole following the wire and the pigtail end was engaged.  This was the most uncomfortable of all.

This type of drain has a string inside the lumen (fancy word for tube) that connects to the very tip, when pulled taut, causes the end to curl up.  This string is then locked off on a stud outside the wound.  Kind of neat, and it helps hold it in place.

So that was this morning's entertainment.  Mom came up last night and she's here reading magazines, Jakki came by, but she's got lots of studying to catch up on from last week.  Emelie will be coming by this evening after getting her Nov. bus pass down town.  In good news, my doc put forward Friday as the projected day for me to go home, as well as answering a few other of our concerns.  The main event will come tomorrow when we actually figure out what's in the section they drained.  If it has amylase (a digestive enzyme), that could be bad because it might mean that what's left of my pancreas is backing up into my abdomen again, or something else is leaking.  If it cultures for an infection, then we can try to treat it with anti-biotics and hopefully it will go away.  If it's just post-surgical bleeding or fluid, then just drying it up will help.  Personally, I'm just hoping for the latter.

--  Until tomorrow...

So it's almost exactly seven days after the OR nurse was wheeling me back to the operating room and having me hop up on the table for my epidural catheter.  Not pleasant at first, but highly recommended later.  Things are kind of on a wait-and-see mode right now.  My white blood cell count had gone down over the weekend, and with them taking out the Foley catheter and the epidural, I was feeling like I could go home soon.  This morning more blood work was ordered and my WBC is back up a little bit, combined with the fevers I've been having all along.  So my surgeon came in this morning and ordered a CT scan just to see if everything is okay.  He's got three big cases today, so I don't know if he will get back with the results today or tomorrow.  Right now I'm just chilling on the oral pain meds (oxycontin and oxycodone) and waiting to take a shower.  The first shower in a week-- it should be nice.

Now that I have net access (albeit Dark Ages style) I'll try to post my ongoing saga to the blog everyday.  So stay tuned!

In other news, Jakki has been overcome with Halloween Spirit.  Last night we bought a giant rubber spider, the first such purchase of my life, to place in a web of Jakki's construction on the front of the house.  However, her attitude is contagious, and I find myself anticipating a stream of candy-hyped nose-miners at our new door.  Having never had trick-or-treat'ers before, this season will be one to remember.  I'll try to take lots of photos.

In yet more news, my sister Emelie will be moving to a duplex just two blocks from us.  It will be nice to have her so close, and I'm hoping to rig up a way to share my internet connection with her over WiFi.  I'm thinking an outdoor Yagi directional antenna, but we'll have to do some testing first.

Also from the geek desk, I'm considering scrapping my MythTV installation and changing to  the Windows-based SageTV, which is easier to use, and has better driver support.  If I attempt this paradigm shift this weekend, I will report on the outcome.

With much help from my father, we now have a working garage door opener for one of our garage doors.  I'm very happy because now I don't have to worry about the cars sitting out all night.  Jakki is pleased because parking her bike is a much easier proposition.  Earlier this week she did the roundtrip to school in eleven minutes; speed demon that she is.

My next tricks on the homefront are:

• Hooking up the security light in the backyard
• Fixing a hole in the heating duct
• Changing out the kitchen faucet
• Hanging Jakki's light fixture over the dining table

This past weekend on August 6th, Jakki and I officially tied the knot. While at Ohanapecosh campground at the base of Mt. Rainier, with many friends and family members present, we enacted a Celtic handfasting ceremony under the guidance of the Capt. and Rev. Gary Kelfner.

Here is how the blessed event happened:

The flower crew assembled bouquets and boutonnieres...	The wedding party was gathered...	Witnesses were in attendance...
Vows and rings were exchanged...	Hands were made fast...	A table was laid...
Glasses were charged in honor...	Much smooching was in effect...	And finally, groove thangs were shaken.