Two Weeks Later: That Was Unexpected

Two weeks have passed since Ryan came home from the hospital. I’m happy to tell you that he is healthy. The kidney bacterial infections seem completely eradicated. I say that with (general) confidence because it was one week ago that I gave him the last IV infusion and nothing seems suspicious.

I mostly rely on my gut feeling when it comes to assessing his health. I have good reason to trust myself based on catching his last infection early. In fact, I caught it 36 hours before his white blood cells began responding with elevated levels! They seemed surprised by this at the hospital… I was not.

Now, as amazing as I fashion myself instinctual, I back this up with hard numbers even though they tend to lag a couple/few days behind what I feel. Still, it’s always helpful to pass this information along when the medical community gets involved. Since Ryan can’t tell me — or anyone, for that matter — what’s bothering him then it all comes down to the data… at first. After a few days, the doctors start trusting my instincts too.

Probably because I’m annoyingly persistent.

That, and surprising them with the details. It usually goes something like this:

Doctor: Have you noticed any blood or cloudiness in Ryan’s urine?

Me: Not in appearance. Although, I have his daily urinalysis history, baseline values (complete to 3+/- standard deviation), and trending analysis. 

Doctor: Are you serious? 

The working copy I use daily before typing into a spreadsheet on the Cloud.

Sadly, I am serious. I have no choice but to measure, track, and analyze everything I can possibly think could be useful. To this day I can hardly believe that I weigh my adult son’s bowel movements… and urine volume… and, well, you get the idea.

I’m sorry. Putting this (reality) into words just hit me hard. I must stop writing for the time being to get my emotions together.