The doctor prescribed Levaquin (500 mg 1x/day) for Paul. I couldn't find it in the nursing drug book that Paul's sister gave me, but the Hospice nurse said it's an antibiotic. Yesterday when she was here, she said it sounds like there's more fluid on the right side of his lung. She described it as being more "condensed." She said it doesn't sound like pneumonia, but she suggested that we try to get Paul in to see Dr. Will anyway. He wasn't in yesterday, so I'm going to call today.
I asked her about taking Paul outside since it was a beautiful day again yesterday. She said she didn't see any reason not to take him out. In fact, she said it would probably cause him to breathe deeper, which would be good for his lungs. I was glad to hear that because I had been a little concerned that we took him downtown on Tuesday. We did go for a nice walk on the Old Plank Trail yesterday morning, before the temperature dropped.
On Tuesday night Paul woke up during the night and unscrewed the hinges from the door to the attic. (I have now added the tool chest to the things I lock up in the middle bedroom at night.) The next day he said he wanted to make the door larger, but I convinced him that it's been fine this way for 30 years, and there was no reason to change it now.
Last night he woke up during the night and took the battery out of the alarm that I have hanging on the door. It had gone off several times during the night, probably from the wind. After checking things the first few times, I just ignored it if Paul was still in bed. But I guess he got tired of hearing it. Now that he's figured out how to disable it, I might have to come up with another way to make sure he doesn't go outside at night without me knowing it.
Paul's been very alert this week. He's been playing a lot of solitaire, and his speech has been better than it sometimes is. Last night he wanted to go to choir practice, and every now and then he would sing out on an "ah". He says he feels fine, but he is still running a low grade fever. It was 99.1 this morning.
Continue to: Feb. 13, 1999
Return to: Diary of a Brain Tumor Patient's Wife
Created and maintained by Renette Davis. Send comments to Renette by clicking here.
Created: June 11, 1999
Last updated: July 20, 2010