Dr. Leon's Visit

   Some of these Dr's at St. Joseph's are incredibly hard workers...Dr. Leon, Kim's vascular surgeon, is one of those non-stop type of guys.  After putting in a 14 hour day, he stopped in to see Kim around 9 tonight.  He took a look at her legs and said 'wow...can you walk on those?'.  He told us that sometimes, the IVC, the vent designed to protect the heart from blood clots, can be counter productive, causing blockage below it.  He believes the solution is sugery, similiar to what he did to fix Kim's arm.  He will install two balloons at the top and bottom of the affected artery and then go in with a 30mm long piece of wire, a 'trellis', that makes a drilling motion as he enters the artery, clearing out the clots.  Although he makes this sound as simple as washing your car and has done the operation successfully dozens of times, he said that this same thing could reoccur, as Kim's body seems to be rejecting all forms of blood thinner.  Largely, this is the nature of the cancer she has, to develop clots.  She had the clots when she was admitted back on 10/19 for gall bladder surgery.
   The question is:  how soon can Dr. Leon perform his magic?  He said he would speak to Dr. Taetle tonight to formulate a plan and may operate as soon as Thursday morning...so, please pray for the 'plan' to be a good one for Kim and that, whatever it may be, it helps her be able to walk again.  We'll find out in the morning what is going to happen next.
   Grammie and Grandpa Jim brought the bambinis down for a visit after feeding them and making sure they got their homework done.  They enjoyed time with their mom.  They will be sad to see Grammie and Grandpa Jim leave tomorrow, but know they will be back soon.  What a big help they were to all of us and they worked tirelessly (and endlessly) on keeping the house looking great!  Cody, Tonio and I ran the 130 steps to the basement for sodas at the cafeteria and then, all the way back up.  Cody does this with ease.  Tonio carried me the last 20 steps.  Our friend, Kim, who is an RN on Kim's floor, had arrived for her shift and brought me a BMT Subway sub for dinner.  She keeps a good eye on Kim for us and is a great nurse.
     Before I left, I cleaned her up as well as I could in her chair and put on some new, clean pj's I just bought her - flannel ones decorated with owls - I got Autumn a matching pair (she LOVES owls, and has quite a collection).  Kim is happy Dr. Leon was able to see her and feels confident he can help.  He said she can go home shortly after the procedure and she was thrilled at that thought.  She is using up the energy all of you are sending her and keeping confident thanks to your prayers.
     Thank you,
                     Love,
                                  Dave