3 weeks ago tonight, you might remember, i was trying to figure out
whether to let john come over since he was sick and we were afraid he'd
get snowed in at his house. well, he is still here and still very sick.
you may also recall he went into the hospital and they diagnosed him as
having clostridium difficile. turns out that was the wrong diagnosis.
FINALLY, he had another cat scan yesterday that showed bigtime
inflammatory bowel disease--his ulcerative colitis/crohns is out of
remission--and bloodwork that showed an infection, probably in the
colon/intestine but they need to do blood cultures to find out exactly
what. it's been very very stressful. he can get up to use the bathroom
(repeatedly!) but otherwise just lies in bed sleeping or reading.
liquid diet. in the past 21 days, he's lost 21 pounds. he is now on
asacol, levaquin (antibiotic) and entocort (steroid that just works in
the intestine). if he's not improving by monday, it will be back to the
hospital, so please say some prayers.

i am doing remarkably well with all of this, but work is piling up that
i don't have time to get to and that makes me very anxious. i'm doing
my best to take care of me, and he's a grateful patient, but i do have
moments where i want to tear my hair out. our friggin' health care
system is getting to me, too, but i won't go there because thinking
about it makes me un-calm.

i am not sure if two self-employed people with auto-immune diseases
make the best and most financially secure couple.  :-)

thanks for listening,

diane