And the answer is........UTI

Yesterday morning I got up at 6am, took a shower and got Courtney to her driving class by 8am. From there, I went straight to the hospital and met my brother and Walter (8:15). They stayed with Mike while I left to go to the special mass wherein Courtney was appointed to the first diocesan council. But first I had to leave at 9:30 to pick Courtney up from her driving class, and then we headed back home to pick up my mom and Brandon. At 10:15 we left to go out to Rockville Centre for the mass at St. Agnes Cathedral. The mass was televised on TeleCare and said by Bishop Murphy. It was beautiful. The mass ended around Noon and I took Brandon and my mother back home. I got back to the hospital around 1:00 and relieved my brother and Walter. They went back home. At 2:30 Walter, my mom and Brandon left to pick Courtney back up (she had to stay for lunch and their first meeting). When they got back, Courtney stopped home to change, Brandon was dropped off at his friend's house and then my mom, Walter and Courtney headed back up to the hospital. They got there about 4pm. What a morning............

Mike had been really out of it all weekend, not eating or drinking. I was concerned that after 3 days on an antibiotic, he was not getting better. Then around 3pm, the resident came in and gave me the news. Mike has a urinary track infection (UTI). Apparently, the bacteria he was tested postive for, is not killed by the antibiotic he was on, so last night he got his first dose of the new antiobotic. We hope that he begins to show improvement over the next couple of days. I have a feeling Mike has been suffering from this for the last few weeks. About 3 weeks ago, he had a low grade fever, then he had another one about a week later. The ironic thing about this is that we had mentioned seeing blood in his urine TWICE last week, and each nurse blew if off as something else. It was only after I mentioned it to Mike's primary doctor that he called in a urologist and tested his urine further. It took three days for the cultures to come back, but at least we have an answer.

I hate seeing Mike so out of it. We can get him to laugh a few times a day, but he just wants to sleep. The doctor said this is QUITE common for a UTI, so we'll see what happens after a few days on the new antibiotic.

Before I left, I also noticed a red line running up Mike's calf. Since he's prone to clots, I mentioned it to the nurse. He's already on heparin as a precaution and he has a filter in his groin to prevent any clots from travelling, so there's really nothing they can do. Just something else to watch.

I promised Mike again last night that I would continue to fight for him and be his voice for as long as I can. We knew there was something wrong with him, and as difficult as it was, we ignored the way the doctors and nurses blew us off. I was not giving up until I found out was was wrong. When the resident came in to give me the news, he seemed VERY different, almost humbled. I think he FINALLY got it. We didn't bring Mike into the hospital for nothing. We KNOW him and we knew there was a problem. We were right and they were wrong. It's a hard pill to swallow.

I finally headed back home around 8:30 pm. You would think my day would be done, right? Wrong. ....My lawn desperately needed to be cut, so there I was, at 8:45 pm cutting my lawn. Yes, I got strange looks, as I was still dressed up from Mass that morning, but it was the ONLY time I had. No one else was going to do it for me, and it had to get done. I did leave the backyard for now, maybe I will do that tonight. I was running out of daylight and at least it's hidden behind our fence. :(.