Life at the UW

We were awoken by the "Team" this morning. It was seven doctors; oncologist, hematologists, hospitalists etc. That didn't even include the GI guys/girls. They reviewed Jon's case and we discussed short term goals (stop the bleeding) and long term goals (cure the cancer). The GI specialists came next. They have decided to move forward with a different type of endoscope then had been done at Auburn. With this scope they can look sideways into the pancreas which is one of the main suspects in the bleeding. That should be done this morning and if it is negative they will move to the angiography studies and interventional radiology.

Jon did fairly well last night. He slept good and didn't have any vomiting. They told us this morning that his hematocrit had dropped significantly during the night (at 20, the lowest yet) so they are moving quickly to get these studies going. The nursing staff has been excellent and Jon's nurse today is a very pretty young women so that always cheers him up. It's been interesting this past few weeks that we have had far more female doctors and male nurses. Jon always asks me when women took over the world. I told him it happened a long time ago, he just hasn't been paying attention until he and I started dating!

Jon and I always have a policy that at the end of the day everything has to be funny. Even in this week we have managed to share some humor...He has received 10 pints of blood so far. If you're not aware, that is the entire amount of blood in a guy his size so basically his entire blood supply has been replaced. Last night, Levi, Dan, Nichole, Kelsey, Lori B and I were laughing about the type of blood he received. We decided they have given him female, liberal, democratic blood and he would awake a different person. Can you see him as a peace-loving, philanthropist, flower child?! We told him Christine Gregiore (our Democratic Governor) stopped by and donated a pint for him last night :)

We have a nice room with a beautiful view of Lake Washington and UW marina. I like staying here better than any other hospital because I get a comfy chair that folds out into a bed. I will have to go back to work at some point so I might need to start scheduling shifts with family members so we can all take turns sitting with Jon. Everyone from family, friends, staff and coworkers have been a great help this week and I truly appreciate all of you!