Where were we? Ben mentioned today that he's not even sure he has pneumonia because the doctors don't talk about it anymore. So I asked the two who seem to be regulating his overall schedule, and they said "Oh yes, he has pneumonia, but that's improving," then changed the subject. I'm guessing he would be home soon if that were the only problem.
The main event of the day was the stint installation/biopsy of the bronchial tube. No problems (praise God!) and no news yet on the biopsy results. Because Ben was under general anesthesia, he's spent most of the day feeling loopy and confused. You can tell when he's drugged because one of his eyes will open with a little delay after the other.
The main problem at this point is that Ben's kidney and liver functions are still abnormally high. I believe it's the creatine level? This is most likely due to a combination of stress, dehydration before coming to the hospital, and all the drugs pumped into his system since. If this is the case the kidneys should recover soon without intervention. Meantime, even more doctors have gotten involved checking out less likely and more scary possibilities. We saw a "blood doctor" today whose title was "benign hematologist." Wonderful guy - my private nickname for him is therefore "the good hematologist of the south." Anyway, the blood work looks positive, which rules out some possibilities. It sounds like Ben will need to be in the hospital until they get this one figured out.
Thank you for your prayers!
We're praying for you tons, guys.
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