Shingles

Yep, that was what was causing the pain. Fran woke up this morning with a rash on her left side of her stomach. She already had medicine for it so she began taking it immediately after talking with her Dr. So that is where we stand at the moment. She is in pain but the morphine pills are working somewhat. Never a dull moment around here.
Till next time. Charlie

She's home

Fran got home today. Nothing showed up on the MRI so the Dr. seems to think that it was possibly a muscle spasm. Really no other explanation since all the tests showed up nothing out of the ordinary. Fran was able to go on over to Blue Ridge Cancer Care and get her blood work and Zometa drip (for bone desity). The Dr. is a little baffeled that her hemogloben is down but hopefully all the blood work will help explain that as well.
There is still pain but thanks to morphine pills it is manageable. Our next visit to Duke has been changed to the 12 of August. We will be out for a few days next week to celebrate our 35 wedding anniversary, but Robert and Emily and Ben will be here. We will update when something changes. Thanks for checking in on us.
Charlie

no News

Fran did her MRI this afternoon around 4 but naturally no one came by to give us the results. So she is still at Lewis Gale. The pain is better because she has been on morphine all day (they even gave her the pump for it). Hopefully we will know something tomorrow morning. I will keep you posted.
Thanks for praying, Charlie

Back in hospital

It is Sunday night and we have spent all afternoon in the ER at Lewis Gale hospital. Fran has been having pain in her lower left back and for the past three days it has been getting pretty intense. She called her physician this after noon after church and she suggested we go to the ER to rule out some things so we did. After a CT scan, EKG, and blood work nothing showed up which is great but still we don't know what is causing the pain and swelling in her feet and legs. The ER doc decided it would be best to keep her overnight to moniter her and giver her a blood transfusion. And to help with the pain. Hopefully we will have some answers tomorrow. I'll keep everyone posted.
Charlie

Overdue update

Sorry for the delay in getting this out, a lot has happened since the last post. Fran is doing well. She is eating and gaining weight. She still has to stop and rest periodically but that is to be expected. She is retaining fluid in her legs and feet which we are concerned about, but she is on medication and she is elevating her feet (as one Dr. said keep your toes above your nose).

Our other news is that Robert, Emily and Ben are back home! Last week Fran was feeling well enough to spend several days with Natalie and Jordan to help them make curtains for their new home. Then we went up to pick up our African clan last Sunday. They arrived early Monday morning and we brought them home. They are staying with us for the time being until Will can find somewhere to go.

We go back to Duke on August 5th so I will wait to update you then, thanks for checking in.

Charlie and Fran