2015: BEGINNING THE HEALTH JOURNEY, BUT WE DIDN’T KNOW IT YET
This year began just as all the others. We were enjoying being grandparents, loved our jobs, and our children were all successful. It seemed we had the world by the tail.
David began the tradition of filling the Easter eggs and hiding them for the children’s Easter Egg hunt each year.
We went back to Madeira Beach and Disney World per tradition. It was during this trip that you noticed an infection on your stomach. You called it to my attention when we were sitting on the beach. It wasn’t really a rash, but raised skin that appeared to have an infection beneath. We didn’t really think anything of it and hoped that the sun and salt would help clear it.
When we got home, it wasn’t clearing up but it wasn’t getting worse. We agreed to monitor it and continue about our days.
We celebrated Grand-Dad’s 80th birthday on July 20 at the Pendennis Club here in Louisville.
During this time, we got a second opinion from them as we so loved them and respected their opinion. We agreed that you needed to have the doctor take a look, so you went into your primary care in the beginning of August. He referred you to a dermatologist who diagnosed the skin condition as Hidradenitis Suppurativa, prescribed a very intense medication and referred you to a plastic surgeon to have the infected area removed. The thinking was that the infection was centrally located and might be able to be healed by removing the skin. The surgery was scheduled for September 6. We were to check into the hospital on September 3 to allow three days of intense antibiotics to prepare for the surgery and 3 days following surgery to observe and allow for appropriate healing before release to home. Yet, what was to be a 6 day stay at the hospital turned into 31 days.
The Hospitalist assigned to your case prescribed two very strong antibiotics (Zosyn and Vancomycin) together without actually seeing you. By the time that you were alert enough and I was able to see you, the damage was already done. Those two antibiotics together had caused your kidneys to shut down. I was livid! I demanded to see both the CEO and the CMO, not really expecting either to show. When they did, I knew we were really in health trouble now. Yet, the physicians assured us that hospitalist was removed from the case and they could repair your kidneys to where they were before. That never happened, but we wouldn’t find that out until three years later.
Your creatinine numbers did eventually improve to normal function and we were released on October 7. We thought we were out of the woods. Your kidneys were ok, now, and the infection was gone. The rest of the year proceeded as normal.
Olivia began ballet and gymnastics. You were such a Papa, going to practices and events.
