Research Material

Here is a picture of Woody's kidney stone as sent to us by the research doctor! Woody had plans of mounting it as a setting in either a ring or a pendant for me (he was just kidding (I hope!), but when the research team came around today they had a great need of it to analyze it and find out just what type of stone it is.

I am posting from Fort Chiswell, VA...just about the half-way point of our trip. It took a while for them to spring him today. He didn't get away from the hospital till around 1pm Eastern time and picked me up at the hotel around 2pm. We ended up deciding that I wouldn't take a taxi back to NIH and join him there. We needed to renew our ID badges, but guess we will just have to go through security the next time and get new ID's at that time. We will fax in the trip voucher forms this time. Woody is feeling ever so much better...the best he has felt in about a month. Kidney stone pain is gone, he is rehydrated, electrolytes are where they should be, etc., etc., etc!

He got a good report from his scans. They are saying that the two tumors that they are watching are the same and no new ones. Woody asked about the melanoma tumor that had been behind his ear and they said that it is no longer there. So very good news to have another tumor completely gone! Woody will go back in four months. We will have to call to get that appointment since we didn't go through the normal clinic channels. He is to make an appointment with our personal care physician to get different blood pressure medicine (part of the cause of his problems) and to have his creatinine levels checked to make sure that they are still going down. The creatinine levels were still going down this morning though still not as low as they should be this morning. They said that about six things had probably caused his high creatinine level... (1)kidney stone, (2)being dehydrated, (3)his blood pressure med, (4)the NSAID that was prescribed during his kidney stone bout, (5)caffeine (from coke...which he only drinks when on trips to keep from being sleepy...so had just had quite a bit of caffeine the day before...he says that he has had his last coke!), and (6)the dye that he had received a week-and-a-half ago for the CT scan done in Tullahoma. And, all those things probably wouldn't have caused a problem if he hadn't had the kidney stone. Then receiving dye when his creatinine level was high put him into a dangerous situation. Well, there is just one thing that we are reminded about by all these "happenings" and is so aptly said in the Bible. "We are fearfully and wonderfully made!"

It's good to be on the way home! Now if the weather just lets us get home. Winter advisories are out between here and home for up to four inches of snow between now and tomorrow evening. We need no more unusual adventures on this trip...just want to get home safe and sound!