A Change of Plans

Things have changed again. We have had a rough couple of days. Ron did come with me to the apartment all day Sunday, but he was weaker (used a wheelchair instead of walker) and did not walk or exercise while there. Monday morning he had his regular appointment with Dr. Mag at the BMT Clinic. He was noticeably weaker Monday morning and less communicative. On the way to the doctor he told me that the vision in his left eye had started to gray on Sunday. At his appointment he did not talk much, and had great difficulty standing even with support. The doc thought he possibly was developing a cataract and had Parkinson's characteristics that needed to be investigated. I had needed help getting him out of the car into a wheelchair. Dr. Mag arranged an MRI and appointment with neurology for later in the week. At checkout he had forgotten that he had even seen Dr. mag. We returned to Heartland, and he had OT and PT in the afternoon. While eating dinner I asked him if his eye had improved or was the same. He covered his right eye and told me everything was black. I went immediately to his nurse who called his Heartland doc, and she (the doc who called me immediately) told me that he needed to go immediately to the ER via ambulance. This progression of events occurred very quickly. It was about 7:00 PM. Ron had quick, thorough, and lengthy care from a private room in the ER. ...bloodtests, exams, neurology team evaluation, opthamalogist exam, ER doc and nurses, CT scan and then MRI...tests wrapped up about 4 AM. He was admitted, and transferred to the BMT hospital unit on seventh floor in Mott. ..exams and many more tests ordered by various consulting specialists during Tuesday and Wednesday have led to the following information. He has several infections including bladder infection, his central line/ port is infected and will come out, and bacterial infections in his blood --staph being one. He is now on powerful antibodies. Most sadly, the loss of vision in his left eye is likely permanent. Cale came to be with us all day Tuesday as the medical specialists had continued to sort through their findings and begin to arrive at partial answers as to what was happening to Ron. Physically, he was markedly stronger and had better balance on Tuesday. His voice was stronger. He was more talkative and although confusion continued to be an issue, he had improved. I will update later in the day after we know more. Please send positive thoughts and prayers our way. Love, Jan