Dr. Love (this should say it all)

We were back at Peter Lougheed Hospital this morning where Jack got a second visit with Dr. Love. I believe that with a name like this, it's more comforting to be in a hospital setting.
Well Jack did very well with his test. His body seemed to be more receptive to having evasive equipment down his throat and shooting dye into his duct, located in the liver. After only a short time in surgery it was determined that there were no gall stones or accumulation of bile. This is kind of baffling given the yellow jaundice look and his blood cell count. However, we are very happy to hear that both the pancreas and liver are in good working order.
The next big test is when Jack has to go to the Rockyview Hospital to see a Urologist. This is the only other explanation that a gall stone got into the urinary tract and caused all these problems. Medical science is so mysterious and yet a person just has to go with the system. God has a plan for everyone and we know that we have been truly blessed with so many people offering prayers of hope, recovery etc. for Jack. We thank everyone for helping us get through the past couple of weeks.

Jack - udate

Jack and I have been learning all about the Emergency systems at several hospitals in Calgary and we must say that every medical person has treated us with the most respect, knowledge and care - more than anyone could ask for. We even had the first physician that we saw at the Urgent Care Unit call us on Saturday, to ask why the hospital never admitted Jack...to which all I could say is that they were jam packed with people and no beds. However, Jack saw a liver specialist this morning, but unfortunately his body didn't want to accept the test that he was scheduled for and so we must return on Wed of this week for the same one. If that test is unsuccessful again, then they will put a wire in from the liver to the pancreas and see if they can get the dye to run in that way. And how ironic that the doctor's name is Dr. Love... Then on Friday, Jack will be getting into the Urologist for tests on his kidneys etc. We are grateful that some very fast acting physicians have made some phone calls to make sure that Jack is seen right away. We trust in the many prayers that are being offered for Jack and appreciate everyone calling and praying. I will update this once we have more information.

My Man Jack - Learns the System at ER

What a week it has been here in Calgary for us. Last week Jack hurt his back; we had our booster shots to go on a fabulous Mexican holiday and then it all fell a part. Jack started to show signs of his needle not agreeing with him - fever, chills, nauseau etc. but by Friday he was totally bedridden, fever running 100 - 104 chlls, sweats, sore back and not eating. His last meal was Saturday morning. Of course being a strong man he was adamant that he didn't want to go to any walk in clinic or the hospital..but after a terrible long weekend of sleeping on the couch and being very ill, I finally pursuaded him to go to the South end Emergency Clinic. Very good service and the nurses & doctor realized that Jack was quite sick and needed transfer by ambulance to the Rocky. So there we went and sat with several sets of paramedics while they all changed shifts. But Calgary was experiencing an overflow crisis and couldn't take care of all the walkins along with the left overs from the long weekend. And here we were caught in this. We have a real problem in our health care and folks we need to become more involved and get things changed.
Okay I'm off my soap box and need to report that after staying from Tuesday afternoon till Wednesday 4:00 am and then back to the hospital at 9:30 and staying until 8:30 pm this evening we are both glad to be home. Jack had a fantastic doctor that realized that his jaundice was real; his liver has some issues; his 2 cm kidney stone in his right kidney needs to be looked after and everything needs to be seen immediately by specialists. So Jack is now waiting for the appointments, after meeting with the liver specialist. He is on antibiotics and pain killers plus he is starting to feel hungry again so those are all good signs. Are trip is cancelled for now, but then again God didn't want us to get down to Mexico and have all these issues, now did he? God has been truly remarkable standing by us and carrying us through this ordeal. Just when I thought that he didn't care about us I realized that he did because if we would of gone to Mexico our insurance wouldn't of covered any of our medical expenses then where would we be? Plus, we wouldn't of had such great friends, neighbors and family phoning us to say that they are thinking and praying for us. And to this I add, AMEN - God is Truly Good! Thank you everyone for being there for us. We love all of you!