Casey- Liver Biopsy

Start:	Aug 10, '12 08:00a
Location:	Hospital

Liver biopsy - Results

• Overview
• Risks
• Results
• All Information

Alternative Names

Biopsy - liver; Percutaneous biopsy

Normal Values:

The liver tissue is normal.

What abnormal results mean:

The biopsy may reveal a number of liver diseases.
[These include] cirrhosis, hepatitis, or infections such as tuberculosis.

It may also indicate cancer.

This test also may be performed for:

• Alcoholic liver disease (fatty liver, hepatitis, or cirrhosis)
• Amebic liver abscess
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Biliary atresia
• Chronic active hepatitis
• Chronic persistent hepatitis
• Disseminated coccidioidomycosis
• Hemochromatosis
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Hepatitis D
• Hepatocellular carcinoma
• Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Primary biliary cirrhosis
• Pyogenic liver abscess
• Reye syndrome
• Sclerosing cholangitis
• Wilson's disease

Liver biopsy

• 
  Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington, School of Medicine; George F. Longstreth, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, San Diego, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Lomas DJ. The liver. In: Adam A, Dixon AK, eds. Grainger & Allison's Diagnostic Radiology: A Textbook of Medical Imaging. 5th ed. New York, NY: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:chap 35.

Liver. Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger & Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:section IX.

Related Articles:

• Liver disease
• Cirrhosis
• Hepatitis
• Pulmonary tuberculosis
• Alcoholic liver disease
• Amebic liver abscess
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Biliary atresia
• Delta agent (Hepatitis D)
• Hemochromatosis
• Hepatitis C
• Hepatocellular carcinoma
• Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Primary biliary cirrhosis
• Pyogenic liver abscess
• Reye syndrome
• Sclerosing cholangitis
• Wilson's disease

Read more: 
http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/003895res.htm#ixzz2393aV3L4

For The Love of Sam! (And Casey's Blood Transfusions).

Happy Sunday!
Here I go again! A Morton salt day for blogging! hehehe

As you know, Papa Chuck and our young Sam have moved back to Green Bay!
We met at the mall in Ashwaubenon as soon as was possible for all of us to get together. (3 or 4 days after they got here)

     

Sam, Charles, and I-                             Charles and CaseyFace

Oh what joy this brings to me...


Too much fun!

And what a very happy and well-behaved young man too! I am impressed!



Smilin' Sam!
Grandma had a few pennies in her pocket- to add to his own...




"Hey Grandma, you watchin?"   But of course. hehehe
(I wouldn't miss a minute)!




Sam, coming down the slide! He even stopped, mid-slide, so I could take the picture!



Chuck shows off his "Samuel" tattoo!



"Still watchin' Grandma?"
Oh you bet I was!



When it was time to go, and even though he had not made the mess, Daddy asked him to please pick up the books and put them away.
This he did with no complaining whatsoever- And a wee bit of help from Auntie Casey!

Speaking of Casey...

With her blood once again being so dangerously low, the doctor sent her to the hospital to have 2 transfusions.



Poor nurse--- as she goes in search of a vein that won't roll or collapse...



Yeah OK, that'll do it.
But it's going the wrong way! (As if she has any to spare)!?



After everything got rolling, she got to order lunch! 
*** St Mary's Hospital has a Chocolate Cake that she would order for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if she could!



Greg and I, looking at the cutest 24 year old we know!

A few minutes later, Greg's sister Kim stopped up to see how everything was going!
Another sweetheart!





And just in case you missed the similarities, here is brother and sister!
No denying that strong DNA!  So cute they are!


Greg and Kim!

I left before it was over- as they run the blood very slowly-
At the rate it was going it would have been 7pm before she was done.
I was really surprised when the phone rang around 4:30 and they were on their way home already!

Now...
With Casey's blood dropping, even as I type, she will need to return to Minneapolis once more.
They will do some minor surgery to find out where she is losing blood from.
She has no occult blood in her stool, so they are thinking that perhaps it has something to do with one of the surgeries bleeding into her abdomen.
Her appointment is for next Tuesday, the 20th.
Merry Christmas Casey- if they decide they need her to stay there.
At least if they do, it will be to fix her -  again.
I will keep y'all informed.

Please keep her in your prayers?  Sam and Charles too- it is hard to start all over again- But oh!, so worth it!

XOXO
Me

Now if only I could get new pics of all my grandbabies.

~~"Hint-Hint" to William, and Jenné, Katie, and Kristin, and...
hehehe

Casey. 911. A Long Evening.

Full Moon- with an angel around it.

Good Morning All;
Kelli called, waking me up- or I would still be asleep. (Thank you Miss Kelli).
See. she wanted to know what happened after the rescue squad took Casey away last night...


Still in the yard- Trying to find a vein. (Yeah right). hehehe  Poor guy.

Casey and I had just actually sat down about 5 minutes before.
She was telling me that her arm hurt as she thought maybe she had a blood clot in it.
Remembering how they had measured Randy's leg when he had his stroke, I used a tape measure from my sewing box to measure the blood clot on her left arm.
There was little difference between arms, though I could easily 'feel' what she was talking about. A vertical lump flowing 'up' her arm toward the shoulder.
All the while I'm thinking she has never even had a PICC Line in this arm.

I gave her an aspirin. We agreed that she would go in and see her physician today-
Neither of us having any energy, we settled to watch some silly show about fishing- ?
This had been her choice.
She had said, "Oh I saw this once and it was pretty good."
(Yes, it was a very odd choice, for her, but we watched it anyway)...

Of a sudden, Casey leaned forward in the Lazy-boy and started stammering and mumbling her words.
Punk was just immediately standing in front of her-
Thank God for Punk-  Casey was petting, holding on to her, tight. Had the dog not been there, I do think that Casey would have toppled right off the chair.

What I actually heard while this happened was very little-
What I *knew* was that this was NOT going to wait 'til tomorrow.
She needed to go to the hospital. Now.
No way was I messing with someone who might be having a stroke- getting her out to the car (how?), and driving her in.
I couldn't even have carried her, lest I drop her, with respect to my back...

She was flush- sputtering nonsense, and holding onto the dog (who stood very strong in front of her).
All that had happened in just a matter of a few seconds...

I called 911.

The rescue squad was here within about 4 minutes, though of course it seemed longer.
(I'd been told by the 911 gal to remove Punk from Casey and lock the pup in the bathroom).
I got Casey removed to the couch.

Long story short(er), she is ok.  Casey, not Punk.
(Well, Punk is ok too, having survived being shut in the can). hehehe
I asked the 911 girl, Lisa, to call Randy and tell him what was going on. (He was still on duty)- She said she would do so immediately.

The poor guys in the rescue squad never were able to get that line started-
Once at the hospital, they ordered a bunch of tests- Along with a doppler U/S; some heart tests, and a head CT Scan-
Many blood tests too that won't be back for 72 hours- It will seem like a long wait for those to come back.

Mr. Greg got there as she was taken to the CT Dept. (Thank you "I guess" hehehe).

As I stated earlier, Punk is OK too.
I had called Kelli almost immediately when the squad had left the yard. (And holy crap!, the sheriff dept had even blocked off the road so the ambulance could be on its way).

Kelli had been on her way home- on her cell- and with a bad connection too.  I'd asked Kelli to come over and let Punk out as I was only going to throw her some food and leave. 
So I did.
Feed, and leave.

Kelli told me they had come down here, Punk had played and played- running around full speed ahead as dogs will do at times- (Kelli thought Punk was maybe looking for me).
At one point, Punk had even hid behind the willow tree- peeking out at Kelli- Literally begging a walk/run to the woods-
Kelli had no energy after a long day at work, so that was not going to happen; especially in the dark! hehehe

She came inside then, filling the water dish for the animals.
Then, unbeknownst to me, she gave Punk a little more food- She'd felt so bad for Punk.

When I got back here, Punk was all over me; and running to Casey's side of the car-
(I had tried to tell her that Casey was not in there). It didn't work, so she'd squealed a bit, I opened the car and let her see for herself.
Satisfied that Casey was not there, she ran over by Casey's car-
Then we could come back inside...

Feeling sorry for my little waif, I fed her again, knowing that upset causes hunger- (At least it does for me).
Punk was so happy about this that she actually took her time, savoring each little bite...
Weird that- She is quite the voracious eater. (I would hate to see her flunk that hand test they do on Animal Planet).

And so it was that when Kelli called this morning I learned that the old girl (Punk, not Kelli), had been fed her supper 3 times last night!
No damn wonder she hadn't waken me at 5 to demand her breakfast!  hehehe

So now it is time for my shower- Casey has another appointment at 11:30 and I will be bringing her there.

Have a 'wunnaful' Friday- As always, I shall keep you all posted.
My love to all.

XOXO
Me

sorry about that...

Good Night Everyone;
As I'd written to my Sweet Becca last night...

I spent yesterday at the hospital... (I could barely move from all the pain- and had swollen up like a water balloon).   Casey brought me in-

They gave me 3 different kinds of things in my IV to try to counteract the damned boo~boo my doctor had made last Thursday.-
Truth be told I could not even concentrate well enough to read-
I told Becca I would come back again tomorrow (today). I promised.
And told her that if I didn't, she had my permission to drive up here and steal my new set of wheels...

... My guess is that she is probably heading north already!

I also received a very very cool letter from Doug. I had taken more than a few minutes to write a response when my desktop decided to crash...
I lost the whole damned letter!!!

I also have a friend from Y!-360 days- She has written to me and I owe her a letter...
I also owe Polly (my ex-next-door-neighbor) a letter AND a thank you card too- She'd sent me some yummy chocolate mints for Valentines Day.
Mmmmmmmm!

But for me~ my back and 'more' ~it only gets worse -and worse etc.  Apparently with my "computersaurus'" too, (but my laptop is my savior again).

Yesterday my back.  One would think that with all those shots they gave me, that I would have dropped off to 'LaLa Land ' very quickly after Casey drove me home.
Yeah right. I was up until after 4AM.

I was woken at 9AM by a very obnoxiously hungry dog, with a very cold wet nose... 
... And I woke too, with a terrible migraine.
My back being as bad as it is I didn't make it to the toidy before I barfed. Darn good thing the garbage in the kitchen had just been brought out the night before.
(Special thanks to Casey for that- and oh, for so very much more too).

I will now try to move my head and my back (and other various parts should they might choose to follow)... 
I shall (hopefully) get a few Zzzz's  in the lazy-boy. This now, so Punk won't have to wake me up late tomorrow just so I can feed her that darn breakfast 4 hours late.

Nighty-Night for now.
I promise to make no promises about tomorrow.    hehehe

Sweet dreams!
My love to all.

XOXO
Me

EGD- Pictures of Innards. (You have been warned).

         hehehe
Not MY wreath-
(Taken at Kelli and Tims place).

Good Morning All;
My apologies for visiting and not replying to your many entries. I am just not feeling the greatest.
Must have caught a lil bug while at the hospital for Casey.

Casey will be needing more surgery.
She had her EGD, (esophagogastroduodenoscopy).
Her anastamotic ulcers are still there. The surgeon here in town has upped her meds, changing one to a liquid as perhaps that may work for her pain a bit better.

These types of ulcers are directly caused by surgery- (The other, more common ulcer is caused by a bacteria, h~pylori).

re456q45y


The amount of pain that this young lady has learned to live with on a daily basis, for the past 6+ years just moves me.
Still, she has more chutzpah than most of her peers- or any other group. Not in a rude or impertinent sort of way, just with her ability to look at everything and still say, "so what?"
Makes a mama real proud.

My son in law William called on Thursday- All is well in Alabama, save for the fact that the poor guy has been freezing half to death. (I chuckle at that always).
Lawrence is quite well, although with the heart thing, he is limited to non-contact sports. So, much like Casey, he has dealt with that too. He is on the swim team and is loving every minute of that. He will be 11 this coming February- and is already almost 5' tall. That physique means he can swim like a fish!

When the phone rang again last night, and it was William, I got a bit panicked- Two days in a row is almost unheard of unless something is happening.
He stated that he and Lawrence were just leaving the hospital. His oldest son, Blaine, is now in the hospital, -with pancreatitis.
Lordy, I didn't even know of this until Casey's problems started. Then I didn't know anyone else with it. Then Uncle Chum had one attack a few years back. Now Blaine. Now I know 3 people.
Odd, isn't it?
Blaine is 21. He will be hospitalized until this bout passes. 
They have also found a growth on the outside of his small intestine. Not yet sure exactly what it is attached to, but that will have to be dealt with too.
I wish him the very best of diagnosis and prognosis.
William did tell me that where the growth is, is very very rare that this sort of thing would be malignant. That is good to know. Still hard for these kids to be in such pain.

   ... If it's not one thing...

I sewed until about 3AM then stole a few hours of sleep.
Some things are coming together. Some, not so much.  Oh well.   hehehe

Punk must surely hate me for being so busy without her.

She lays on the foot pedal...




Or, Worse, ...


~ She lays on my nicely ironed ready to use patches...
(Casey had to iron more than a few, again, the other day).

And I save almost everything.   3 shots of patches too small to use.


Too small?   Wanna bet?

These are NOT my quilts, so I can post these pictures. hehehe










I only wish I had more thread and fabric...

I'd better close and get on with my day.
Casey and Greg will be here shortly-  Brian called yesterday and her car is ready to be picked up. YAY!  Happy it is done.

I hope all is well with everyone!  That you are enjoying these last two weeks of the year!

Must fly for now- My love to all.

XOXO
Me

Focal Points and I~Oh~Dots...

CaseyFace, 10/21/09- Ready to leave the hospital...
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Good Morning All;
And to thank you for your kind words from the last few days... I'm alright today.

As you know, Casey was twice to the hospital on Monday. 
Plus, once last weekend too. She has a hard spot that seemingly comes and goes where her pancreas pain once was.  It gives her much pain and nausea.

Suffice to say that there aren't too many doctors around here that even want to guess at this point.

This note I had sent to Kelli yesterday pretty much tells all about Casey and I...

Dearest Sick Kelli;
Should you be at work?
Or are you just getting everyone there to feel as lousy as you do?

Since I had been up since 12:30 the day before I came home as they wheeled her back to have her Cat Scan.  I slept til almost 11:30, after having gone to sleep at 2:30. Too wired from the day at hand...

Casey called a little after 1 AM- Greg and her were once again heading home.

Dr Sutherland's assistant emailed me earlier- Casey will go to Minnesota next week. Will have to keep an eye on the forecast too.

About the soup. (Tim is weird. I didn't like it at all).
I dropped some off at Randy's too. As I set it on the sidewalk, I jumped about 5 feet in the air when he came out of the garage! (He was supposed to get it when he woke up, being so sick and all).
But I stayed about 10 feet away. hehehe

*** If I get sick from anywhere, its going to be from these damned hospitals and clinics!
And I am scared;  ~not of being sick, but of fracturing any more of my spine from coughing. They (PM) told me that coughing and sneezing can be responsible for my fractures...

If I am ok come Friday then I'll be good to go from yesterday. (Incubation period being 1-4 days).

Let's see... Where was I? hehehe

A week ago, Casey had this rude ("know-it-all"), ER doctor.
You already know the kind; ~with NO bedside manners at all 

She'd asked Casey, "Do you want something to be wrong?"
Now what the hell kind of question is THAT?
(No, you idiot, she wants only to know what IS wrong)!
no I did not say it- (I should have). It will be onr of the regrets I hold when I meet my Maker.

When we went in on Monday (the 1st time), it was a long wait to see anyone. They were 40 patients behind at 4AM, but were only 10 behind when we got there.
Needless to say, even waiting an hour was good work on their part.

The PA (Physician Assistant), came in. A very, very, nice gal. To ask what Casey was normally given and at the very least to order something for Casey's pain and nausea.
She listened closely, asking and answering- She was also very straightforward about their ignorance of the procedures Casey has been through. Very kind. Very honest.  Very rare, unfortunately.
Casey even told her that she was much nicer than how she had been treated that previous weekend.

Casey's bloodwork came back OK.  She was given more zofran for her nausea and we got back here a little after 4.

An hour later, she was vomiting all over again...

Knowing that Minneapolis has always been more than helpful, I told Casey to try to call there.
She did, between bouts of nausea, and spoke to the transplant surgeon on call.
He ordered Casey to go right back to the hospital for more appropriate treatment of her pain and nausea.   -He also called to St. Mary's In Green Bay and ordered a Cat Scan for her. (They were unwilling to do this earlier; not sure of it is costs, or out of any medical concern for Casey).

When we returned, as luck would have it, she got the same raunchy doctor that she'd had a week ago.   The Dr. (and I use the term lightly), came in.

The first thing Dr. Zero wanted to know was what Casey had said about her earlier.  Hmm...  How's that for treating an obviously sick patient?

When no answer was forthcoming, she went on to say that she had heard from Minnesota, but wanted us to know that "all the doctors in the world could call, but it wasn't going to change her own course of treatment." 
(I promise this condescending bitch will be reported)!  ..."Grrrr" ...

She ordered Toradol (which is one or two steps up from ibuprofen, Advil).  Yeah, like that's going to help...
After Caseys bloodwork came back, Dr. Z. very begrudgingly ordered a Cat Scan.

My email to Dr. Sutherland was answered yesterday- Casey will be seeing him next week. Seems like a long wait, but he will only be in Mpls that one day...

We will be taking the reports from the hospital, the scans and the xray to Minnesota- Also the copies of her visits to the clinic.

So how would YOU treat this young lady with the brave face?
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Lord only knows she's seen her share of clinic ceilings with their random focal points.
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She has peed in too many cups...
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And still, she braves it out as she waits for answers...
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.Wanting to entertain her, I told her that Punk was wondering why Casey's seat was empty for so long?
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.
.But I didn't offer toradol... hehehe
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I told her it was warm~ish outside; and to get better so she could go out and enjoy it!
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I set the camera down while I blew up a medical glove....
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Then I huffed and I puffed, and I blew it up even bigger!.
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Didn't make her better, so I did the Macarena for her....
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OK, so I can't do the Macarena anymore.
But I would have if I could have.
And it's suppose to be the thought that counts anyway-.

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Still didn't work...

The other doctor came in and even joked around about me getting a new camera, (which is not true by the way)...
I am not that ugly..
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Nor was he-

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Even Greg was there to add levity and love..
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"Smile, Honey!"
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But the real smiles came when it was time to go home.
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I'd better close for now-

Trash day today. I have decided that my entire house will have to go. Getting it to fit into the dumpster is the problem.   hehehe    

Love to all.

XOXO
Me

Casey, Sneakin' Around

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Casey, yesterday morning-

Looking SO innocent...
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Good Morning All;
I tried to post last night and messed up my entry- So here I am, trying again.

The top picture is Casey Thursday morning, as I'd walked in- (After yet another good night sleep)!

And the reason she'd felt so good?
We snuck out of the hospital Wednesday afternoon. hehehe

A few breaths of fresh air is good for the spirit- right along with the sunshine.
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Nobody said a word to either of us.

-Save for one man who told her "No running in the halls."
hehehe
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And so, she just didn't run...
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Wednesday evening was boring for Punk.
First she tried to rest. (On my bed no less).

Then I caught her dreaming about chasing squirrels.
One of the toys she got for her birthday was a tennis ball with fur attached.

When it is thrown it really looks alive!
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So she stares at it... thinking...
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Down to the desk to find out if any floors were empty.
Yes. Half of the 6th. (Thank you Amy)!
There are no places to play outside unless one wishes to run the risk of being hit by a car. Nothing doing. And some days, walking just doesn't do it.

So we were off to the 6th floor...

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First you HAVE to make sure it's yours!
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Sniff. Sniff.

And she brings it to me.

I throw it...

~but~
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"WAIT Punkie, WAIT" ...
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"GO!"
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Over

and over

and over

and over again...

(Did I mention that it was over and over and over and over again)?!
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Back to the room after she returned he fake squirrel to me and just laid down.
That's her signal for "enough". 

Finally!

There was lots of noise and commotion out my window- Too much-
And I saw it was time to grab the camera once more.

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This little guy was just saying Grace before dinner
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He spied the one he wanted and was gone.
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After he left, it was time to rest, (which brings me back to the topmost picture).

Yesterday (Thursday), brought a very pleasant surprise. Even though when he had called, I had told him to go to the wrong side of campus, my brother John made it up to see Casey!
Nice that.

And even though he complained after seeing the picture that the camera added at least 40 pounds, he was still laughing.
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Camera weight or not we were just happy to see him again!
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As my Xanax was wearing off, it was time for me to go-

I had still to pick up a few things for Casey and to get them to her.

They walked me to the elevator-

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Uncle John and Casey
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I came back here to fetch her things,

grabbed The Punk,

and we were off to WalMart.

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Then back to the hospital where she met us down at the door.
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Sneaky little thing that she is!
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She called here later, after she had asked the nurse if there was any way she could go outside?
The nurse said "absolutely!"

I hear that Fairview is one of the few hospitals that actually believes in sunshine and fresh air.

No wonder no one had stopped us earlier... - Jokes on us.
And we thought we were being so sneaky!

Sheesh, at St Marys in Green Bay you cannot even leave whatever stuffy floor you are on!
(Too many doctors have a LOT to learn about healing, and attitude, and back to nature, and just the plain old basics)...

I'd better close for now- I still have to take Punk out, and get in the shower.

Casey called about an hour ago- Said she was up on and off last night too. But she still sounds real good.
The hospital has a mass at 2:30 this afternoon. If I time my little pill just right, we can make that service.

And so begins this holy and joyous weekend.

Love to all.

XOXO
Me

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Posted to my Y! 360, Friday April 10, 2009 - 09:50am (CDT)