Friday July 17

Today, John was taken by transport ambulance to Hermann Hospital to remove the catheter which has been providing his dialysis. This is an awesome development as it shows that his kidneys have healed and are no longer in need of extemporaneous support. Yesterday, his line which was in his right arm was removed so what this means is that John is line-free. There are no more tubes attached to him and he is in the process of re-learning how to urinate and do the other all on his own. During his treatment sessions, the lines in his arm and chest which had been there precluded him from his normal, natural movement so these being removed should only help with mobility and overall stability. He tolerated the trip well and I actually got to be involved in the removal of the line today and hold his hand. His mother, Paulette was also there but it is her son and she is a bit squeamish seeing blood so she waited next to us. She also rode in the ambulance with him from TIRR to Hermann and back and was soothing for him in case he needed a familiar face.

I will tell you that so far we have been remarkably lucky in that our parking situation has been easy. Today, trying to find parking and trying to find out where John was made me realize how grateful I am that so far parking and navigating has not been a problem. While Memorial Hermann Hospital is a truly exceptional facility, you need to be Magellan or kind of know your way around to figure out first where to park your car and second how to get from the parking garage to where the patients are. I'm quite sure that any of you who might have had to plot a course through that area understand, I cannot understand how it would be possible under duress!

John had an eventful week and while the weekends are a bit calmer and he won't have the intensive therapy he has recently experienced, he is tired and worn out and it makes sense that they give patients a bit of respite over the weekends. The physicians and therapists continue to make rounds and his nurses and other support staff will continue to care for him, he gets to relax a bit and take in all that is going on.

Tomorrow, Holly will spend the day with him and at some point this weekend I get to go play dominoes with him. I will take photos of him beating me and promise to post them here. I wish to express deep gratitude to Holly's co-workers and bosses who have allowed her this time off to be with John and although the transition back to full time work will be difficult, she receives great consolation that he is being well cared for and is in the best possible environment at this point in his recovery.