Day 6 in the Hospital Part 1 - Good News

Carroll had the transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) today and the report is good. Dr. Coker said there is no vegetation on the other valve.

Team members look almost TOO happy to be starting this process, don't they?

There's still some infection in the lungs, based on yesterday's tests, so he's still on antibiotics. There's also a yeast infection in his mouth.

He has his cell phone and is able to receive calls on that, although he gets very winded while talking.

The Dawg has had some nice visitors this morning. Danny Seay came by, as did Ruben Grooms. Carroll's son, Vic, was at the hospital before, during and after the TEE. I wasn't in the room when Danny & Ruben stopped in, so I didn't get photos of them. Vic is pictured below.

Pat Gerwig, who works at Summerville Medical Center and who goes to church at St. Luke's, came by shortly after the procedure. Wanda Garris called to check on The Dawg today. She and Carroll worked together at the shipyard a "few" years ago. Wanda was stuck talking to me because Carroll had just been given the medicines to make him groggy for the procedure.

Courtney, his granddaughter, came by last night after I left. He enjoyed her visit also.

Day 5 in the Hospital Part 2

There are absolutely no complaints about personnel at Summerville Medical Center. They have been wonderful!

Below are Lauren, Jennifer, Nancy and Kelly. Ella was back again today also.

Carroll saw three doctors today: Quinn, Kaelin and Coker.

There have been phone calls from Vic, Edie and Chelsey. Unfortunately, Carroll gets too winded doing much talking.

Just as I was leaving to teach a class tonight, Starla Pickens and her daughter, Tora, came by with some beautiful flowers, including yellow roses. Thanks!

Feel free to leave your messages for Carroll under the Comments section beneath this post.

Day 5 in the Hospital Part I

These beautiful flowers were one of the arrangements at St. Luke's yesterday. How nice that Carroll was the recipient of one of the vases!

Carroll has been nauseated today and he had a headache. He finally asked for medicine for both - instead of trying to "grin and bear it." Well, actually, he wasn't doing a whole lot of grinning.

It seems there's a new infection in his mouth because all of the antibiotics they've been giving him have been so strong that they've also killed off the "good" bacteria.

Tuesday morning, The Dawg will have a transesophageal echocardiogram. Here's the info I found on the Internet from the Cleveland Clinic:

During the transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) test, an ultrasound transducer (which produces high frequency sound waves) provides pictures of the heart's valves and chambers and helps the physician evaluate the pumping action of the heart.
The ultrasound transducer is positioned on an endoscope (a long, thin, flexible instrument about 1/2 inch in diameter). The endoscope is placed into your mouth and passed into your esophagus (the "food pipe" leading from your mouth into your stomach) to provide a close look at your heart's valves and chambers without interference from the ribs or lungs.
TEE is often combined with Doppler ultrasound and color Doppler to evaluate blood flow across the heart’s valves. TEE is often used when the results from standard echo studies were not sufficient or when your doctor wants a closer look at your heart.

Dr. Coker says this will take about 15 minutes. It is not for treatment but rather for evaluation purposes. There's a chance there is something wrong with another valve (the aortic valve is the one that he's to have replaced during open heart surgery once he gets well.)