Jim's home

Hi Everyone:

Jim's home. Could be that the hydration made the kidney numbers come down, but they are a bit down, and he's home until....???? I have no idea. They just didn't have anything more they could do with him inpatient, so I'm glad he's home.

Walked in the door, and the NIH called. They want us back down there next week. Still not sure about the lungs, but he tested positive for aspergillis....BLACK MOLD. I guess they were very serious about not coming home to our house if we have mold. We did what we could do. I almost had a nervous breakdown trying to get our walls and floor clean and painted. We couldn't afford to have it done professionally, so we did the best we could. So while it looks better, it still stinks in our basement, and, well...it is what it is.

Aspergillosis may affect patients whose immune system may be compromised - including those with leukemia, chemotherapy patients or those on steroids, transplant patients, cystic fibrosis, HIV or AIDS, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), severe asthma with fungal sensitivity (SAFS) and many others.

Risk factors?

Sources of increased risk include - dirty air conditioning units, and damp or flood- damaged housing, all of which can yield higher numbers of aspergillus spores. But immune suppression of an individual is the most important factor.


Pulmonary aspergillosis - invasive type -- is a serious infection with pneumonia that can spread to other parts of the body. This infection occurs almost exclusively in people with weakened immune systems due to cancer, AIDS, leukemia, organ transplantation, chemotherapy, or other conditions or medications that lower the number of normal white blood cells or weaken the immune system.

They may want Jim to become involved in a treatment protocol. We have no idea what that means. If it doesn't involve them buying us a new house, well, forget it. What's the use. Maybe it's time to move to Arizona. But I can't see us driving to the NIH every 2 weeks from there.

I'm glad that Jim doesn't read the blog. He doesn't even know what aspergillosis is. And I think I will keep it that way. I hate the internet.

I'm going to see Karate Kid with my brats...er I mean with my nephews. It will be fun to do something non-medical. Maybe it will take me out of the fowl mood I'm all of a sudden in again.