Daddy Update

We had to take my daddy to the emergency room on Saturday. Well, my mom did, they wouldn't let me go. His temp went up to 103 Saturday afternoon so we all figured he needed to be seen then and not wait until Tuesday for his regular doctor visit. He felt so bad that he immediately agreed to go. I knew he felt really bad then. He was just so sick of being sick at that point he would have done anything. Saturday was Rachael's prom too. She wanted them to stay long enough to get pictures with her and Nathan before they left. We got a few pictures and my mom left with my dad. They went to UAB which if you know anything about hospitals in our area you know that is the best one. Especially for research and finding out mystery illnesses. (I SO wish we had a Dr. Gregory House here!!) So they finally got in to see a doctor around 9 pm. They started pumping him full of fluids and running a million test. After that they decided to just admit him. They got into a room around 3 am. With all the fluids they were giving him he started to feel a little better. His fever went down and all his test (EKG, CT scan, chest x-ray and blood cultures) came back negative.

At first they thought it was Hemochromotosis, which is an iron disorder. It causes your body to store iron in your organs instead of processing it out. But now they say he has a lot of things that people with the disorder don't have. He has an enlarged liver and spleen, low blood count, low iron count, headaches and a reoccurring fever. Now, they really aren't sure what is wrong. The doc literally said yesterday "I just don't know" Well that is comforting now isn't it! So he has called in the director of the liver dept. at UAB and a rheumatologist. They are now going to start doing all their own testing. His MD said he would keep him at UAB as long as his insurance would let him.

When I was there yesterday morning I could tell he really felt a lot better. They have taken him off of IV fluids and he is eating a lot better. He is ready to go home and even said something about needing to get his garden planted. HA! Right! Like he needs to be doing anything like that right now. But when he feels good he can't just sit around and do nothing.

I hope they can find out what is wrong soon. The not knowing part is the worst. Thanks again to everybody who has been keeping him in their prayers. I know he really appreciates it and so do I. I'll keep updating and maybe next time I will have some real news.