Matt is home!

Matt got home at 11:30 today.  He went right to their living room couch.  Matt ate some lunch and started to nap when the RN's from Rainbow Hospice came to introduce themselves.  Matt had a hard time staying awake to talk to the Nurse's.  He didn't get very much sleep at the hospital. 

Matt's IV Medications were delivered to his house at 4:00.  The hospice nurse's came back and started Matt's IV in his Picc Line.  He is on a pump and getting his medication at a slow drip for 24 hours.  The nurse will come every day at 2:00 to hook up the new bag.  This will go on until October 9.  Then the medications for this blood infection will be done and hopefully we will not have to worry about that infection anymore!!

Then he should get the picc line out.  After this we pray that he will be able to eat and gain some weight.  He is down to 118.  They were going to weigh him before we left and never got a chance.

Tonight he is going to stay home with his wife, Casey  and relax and sleep!!

Thank you for all your continue thoughts and prayers!

Shower

Matt is showering, changing his clothes because he is going home!!!

Rainbow Hospice will meet with Matt this afternoon to give him his next rounds of
medications.

Matt is so excited to be finally going home!!

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!!

Going Home!

Matt is going home today!!  Just waiting to see if he has to have his 2:00 antibiotic.  If he doesn't we are heading home this morning.  If he needs his antibiotics then we won't be leaving until 3:00.

Matt has it set up with Rainbow hospice to help out for awhile.  Matt has a picc line in to continue his antibiotic at home.

Just waiting for the doctor to come in and discharge him.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Picc Line

Matt is getting his picc line put in right now.  His goal to get his antibiotic asap so he can get out of here.  The Infectious disease doctor said tomorrow but Matt may be able to twist his arm depending on the lab results.

Matt got two bags of blood the other night and that has helped to make him feel better.
Matt needs to get home and get some sleep and eat.  Matt's weight is down to 119.7.  This new medication took away his appetite and taste.

Matt needs to get home and sleep and eat and be with Casey!  This is all he wants!!

Thank you for all your continue thoughts and prayers!!

Possible Home Thursday or Friday

Dr. Striker came in and said things were looking good. As long as thngs keeep going well Matt will get a pic line in tomorrow.  Dr. Striker said he will have to infuse his antiboitic twice a day at home for about 2 weeks. Some of the antiboitic Matt is taking is Colistin, Fosto, Cefepine and Fostomycin. One or all of these seemed to have done the trick and helped Matt.

So Matt is so looking forward to getting out of here!  Sitting around and not being able to get comfortable is hard for him.

He is looking forward to going home and getting hooked up and watching movie at home or going to the movie house to watch some of the new movies!!

Thank you for all your prayers!!  They are working!!

Doctors Rounds

The regular doctors were in and did Matt's assessment.  They were happy to see that Matt has not had a fever for 24 hours!  Yeah!!!  They said if the Blood Cultures they took on the 24th of September are still negative by Thursday and still no fever by Thursday then they will put in a pic line and send Matt home!!  He will have to continue antiobics at home for awhile to make sure to get rid of that darn infection in his blood!!

Matt and a computer friend got Matt's new game working on his computer.  Matt is happy to finally get to play his game. Of coarse he is constantly intereuped every 15 to 30 minutes by DR's, RN's, CNA, cleaning people, laundry people and kitchen help! and so on and so on!!!  He can't wait to get home and be comfortable!!!

Matt's tempeture was 98.9 this am. I pray he temp stays down and the cultures stay negative so Matt can get his pic line and go home!!

Thank you for all your prayers!  They are working.

CT-Scan

Matt's CT-Scan results are in.  They did not find any blockages that would be causing
the bloating in Matt's abdomen.  They said one stint was working good and the other one was working okay.  They said that as long as one stint is working good that is all you need. The only bad news was they found two more cancer nodules in Matt's lung that was pea size or smaller.  These are new from the scan on September 12.

They were very happy that they didn't find anything else that would cause a fever.  Matt had a tad of a fever at 9:50 this morning. It was 100.5.  He has had 2 more temperatures taken and they were all normal at 98.7 and 98.9.  Hopefully this will continue and he will not have any more temperatures!  Then he can blow this popcorn stand!"  He still has to stay this week because we are waiting for the infection that is sitting in the petri dish to still show negative.  They said even after 48 hours it might turn positive.  They said usually after 96 hours it probably won't change anymore.  So it is a waiting game.

They also said that Matt's white count was low and needed some blood.  So today he got a pint of blood.

Hard waiting game for Matt.  He just wants to get home and be comfortable.

Thank You to everyone for your calls and well wishes!

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers!

Labs

Dr. Striker the infectious control Doctor was just in and said the petri dishes of Matt's infection still shows negative!!  Although he is not ready to say that he thinks it is gone yet.  He still thinks we need to wait a few days to see how Matt is doing and he wants to see the CT-Scan results are before he changes his medication or drop them all together!

So Matt continues to sit and eat, watch TV and play video games on his computer.
They did weigh Matt and he has gain 7 pounds so far!  He now weighs 127.3 yesterday.
He does have a swollen abdomen so hopefully it is all the food he ate.  He is having a little trouble moving his bowel.  We are working on getting that under control so he can
do it daily and not have to push so hard to get his bowel out.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!  They are working! Please keep them coming!!

Sept 27

Matt did have a little bit of a fever last night at 9:35 it was 101.6.  We were hoping with this new antibiotic he would not have anymore fevers.  Matt  had a hard time sleeping so at 2:00 am they gave him something to help him sleep.

This afternoon Matt will have a CT-Scan.  We will see what that has to bring.  Matt infectious control Doctor will be in about 10:00 today to talk with Matt.

Thank you so much for all your continued prayers for Matt!

New Antibiotic

Dr. Stricker was concerned because Matt spiked a couple temperatures yesterday. He explained to Matt what he thought was going on.  He feels that the one antibiotic he was holding off on Matt he should now take .  He said it is hard to figure out timing on some of these antibiotics.  Hopefully this one will help.

It is hard waiting.  All these blood tests take 3,4 and 5 days someti mes for the answers.  It is a hard waiting game.  Bret brought Matt a new computer game, Command & Conquer "The First Decade".  Matt is hoping this will keep him busy while he waits for these antibiotic to work.  He has had some swelling in his abodmen.
Tomorrow they are planning on a CT=Scan tomorrow.

Here is Matt playing his computer game.

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers.



Big Scare!

Matt & Casey were scared this morning with some scary news.  The nurse came in and told him he had Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and there is nothing they can do.  She really scared Matt & Casey! Then Dr.. Robert Striker came in and really explained what was going on.

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa is an infection in the blood.  The normal antibiotics are unable to get rid of the infection.  The Doctor has the infectious control people working on coming up with an antibiotic that will hopefully work on Matt.  They are putting some of Matt's blood in a petri dish and trying different kinds antibiotics to see what will work!  There is an antibiotic that they doctor can try but it doesn't have good side effects.  So the Doctor does not want to try that until we have exhausted all other possibilities.  One of the new medication he is trying is Monurol.  Hopefully that will help.  Matt is also having some constipation due to the medications he is taking.  They gave him some Milk of Magnesiaa and stool softener to help him with that!

Matt did go down and they did another procedure and took out Matt's power port.
They feel that the the infection hangs on forgein bodies and his power port is a place to hide for infections.  They took the port out.  Matt's left shoulder and arm are a little sore.

They just took his temperature and it is up again. 103.2.  They gave him some Tylenol to help with the temperature. If they can figure out what antibiotic will work to get rid of this infection in his blood  then they said they can put in a pic line and Matt can take his drugs at home and get out of the hospital!

Thank you for all your continue thoughts and prayers!  Please pray that Matt's body is strong enough to get rid of this nasty infection in his blood so he can get better and go home!!

Infection

The Doctor told Matt & Casey that he defintely a bacterial infection and he needs to stay in the hospital until they get rid of it.  They are giving him antibotics.  He is feeling pretty good. He is up walking all over the hospital and eating anything he wants. 

His white count is up really high, 29,000.  They just gave Matt a blood transfusion.  Hopefully this will all help Matt feel well and get rid of the infection. They told Matt he would for sure be at the hospital until Monday sometime.  It takes a good 48 hours for them to know the antibotics are working.   They are still checking to see if it was from the stint or from his power port.

Matt is still a little grouchy because he is in the hospital.  He can't wait to get home.  He is so tired of hospitals.
Thank you for all your continued prayers!

Recovery

Dr.Burkard came in last night and explained that Matt has a bacterial infection in his blood.  The test results came back from Johnson Creek and the lab results from UW-Madison ER that he has a bacterial infection in his blood.  The Doctor thinks it is possibly from the plastic stint not working properly or it is from his power port.  They are going to watch him closely and see if he continues to spike a temperature.  If he does continue to spike a temp then he is thinking it is his power port and that brings new problems for Matt.

Hopefully Matt is feeling better and he hasn't had any temperature.  Then it means his 2 new metal stints are working and it isn't his power port.  Last night before I left he had a 98.1 temperature and a 99.2 temperature.  I hope it doesn't fluctuate anymore than that!!
It he doesn't have a temperature than it might be possible to come home later today.  If he continues to have a temp he will be in the hospital all weekend.

I pray to the Lord that he takes care of Matt and his new stints are working so Matt gets to go home and feel better!!  Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Out of the Procedure!

Dr. Gopal was just in here and said Matt did real well.  He said that the tumor on his liver was pressing against the plastic stint and squeezing it so nothing could get through.  He had to put two metal stints in but he said the fluid was flowing really good when he was done.  He said all Matt's numbers from his liver and kidney should come down and his biliruben should come down.  He did say however Matt will be in more pain that the procedure he did last week.

The doctor said they will have to increase his pain medication for 48 hours and he should feel better after that.  Matt is in recovery sleeping.  In about an hour we will go
up to his room.  He made me promise to have apple juice, applesauce waiting for him.
He wants to wake up and be on a liquid diet right away!!!  Oh Matt!!!

I promised to see what I could do.  I am guessing he will go home tomorrow hopefully.  He does not want to spend his weekend in the hospital.  He already missed seeing Casey's performance with the alumni at the half time of Watertown homecoming game with her dance routine.

Thank you for your prayers and helping Matt get through this difficult time. God Bless all of our dear friends and family!!

ER Visit

Matt wasn't feeling well and call Johnson Creek Cancer Center.  They told him to go directly to Watertown ER.  Dr. Holen called ahead and told the ER Doctor what was up.  When we got there we learned they were unable to do the ERCP procedure here.
Matt decided not to stay at Watertown and head right to UW-Madison Hospital. 

UW Hospital put the temporary stint in and Dr. Holen felt Matt needs a permanent stint.
Dr. Holen feel that the plastic one might not be doing the job it needs to do.  The permanent one is made of metal.  Matt spiked a temperature of 103.8. They feel he has
an infection going on in side of him and his body is not liking the plastic stint.

Matt than had to wait in UW's ER for a while.  They didn't have a room for him on the floor.  Then he was told he wasn't going to have the procedure until Friday.  He told the ER doctor then that he wants to eat.  He was very hungry by now after not eating all day.  Matt got up to his room and ordered a grill ham and cheese sandwich, french fries, strawberries, apple pie, chocolate cake, apple juice, milk and chocolate chip cookie. Matt eat half of what he ordered.  So Casey and I had to help. They have very good chocolate cake here!!  Later that night Matt also some fruit and a chocolate shake.
He said the shake was really good.

Today Matt was informed that he would have his procedure at 12:15.  If he feels good afterwards they might think about letting him go home.  Well, we have been down in the surgery waiting area and it is 3:00 and Matt is still waiting to have his permenant stint put in.  They had an Emergency ahead of him.  Matt is not very happy.  He would really
like to get home tonight!  Matt would be alright if he really had to wait till morning.  He does NOT want to spend the whole weekend in the hospital!!

So please help me pray that they are able to put the metal stint in and that it does the job and Matt starts to feel better.  Matt's beliruben was up and his other counts on his liver and kidneys were all up.  I hope this stint is the answer!

Thank you for all your prayers!

Doctor Appt at Johnson Creek

Matt saw Dr. Holen today. They decided right now we have to get Matt's liver working at 100%.  Next week Matt will have another procedure done to put in a permanent stint.  Then he will wait a week and see Dr. Holen again and hopefully the stint will give Matt
no problems.  Matt's skin is still yellow some but getting better.

Matt also had labs done today and we will see what his bilirubin number is tomorrow.  Hopefully it has continued to go down.  The steroid Matt is taking is helping him to have an appetite.  The bad side of taking the steroid is it keeps you awake at nights.
Dr. Holen said to continue to take the steroid in the morning and not to take the night
one so he can sleep better.  Hopefully this will help Matt to sleep!!

A week after Matt's procedure we will meet with Dr. Holen and make decisions on what the next steps will be.  Matt needs to put on weight so he can feel better!  Today Matt was feeling pretty good and not having any pain!

Thank you for ALL your continued prayers.  I believe God is listening!

Matt feeling a little better

Yesterday Matt said he had a morning nap that was the best sleep he has had in a long time.  Today he is feeling a little better.  He is not ready for work yet but decided to
clean the house and surprise Casey.  He is trying to eat a lot of little meals to gain back
some weight and get strong again. 

Tomorrow we have an afternoon appointment with Dr. Holen.

Here is a really nice prayer I received from a friend:

"Dear Lord Jesus, Lamb of god, Holy Might One, in our heartfelt prayer we place
our dear one Mathew Krueger, in the same way as in Your Gospel, as one who once was lowered through the roof by determined friends, and we place him before you with our faith and beg you to restore him fully recovered and to at once walk, love, dance and continue most energetically in Your service here on Earth and may he return to you as man of many years. Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus ...Make our hearts like unto thine. Amen and Thank you."

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prays for Matt.

Not Feeling the best yet!

Thursday, Friday and today Matt has not felt real good yet. He wakes up and doesn't feel good and as the day goes on he feels a little bit better but not good enough to
get out.

Hopefully tomorrow he will feel a little better and able to get out and get some fresh air.

Matt is having some pain in his back and pelvic.  He is eating pudding, applesauce and ice cream.  He has put on a few pounds this week.  We have to try and get him to eat
more so he gains weight and feels better.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Home Again!

Matt came home yeserday.  They said that Matt was handling the liquid diet good so he should continue the diet when he gets home.  Matt got home about supper time.  He curled up on the
couch and rested. 

He wasn't very good at listening to stay on his diet.  He had a peanut butter sandwhich and noodles.

Here is Matt when he got home from the Hospital.



Today he is not feeling real well. I brought him to my house and he is having applesauce, ice cream and lots of juice.  He took a nice warm bath and now he is napping.  Hopefully he feel better tomorrow.
Hopefully he listens to the Doctor and doesn't over do it with food.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for Matt!

New Day

The Doctor came in last night and told us about Matt's CT-Scan.  Matt's cancer continues
to grow.  The cancerous nodules in his lungs, on his liver, on his pelvic bone and on his kidney are all
a little bigger.  The CT-Scan shows that Matt's left kidney is swollen.  They not sure exactly what has caused his left kidney to swell.  The GI Doctor is coming in to talk with Matt today.  The Doctor
also said that Matt can no longer be in the clinical trail. Matt's CEA tumor marker score has gone up to 54.   Right before the trail started on Aug 3 it had gone down to 41. Matt will have to come back in a few weeks to get a premenate stint in his bile duct.  They thought the temporary plastic one seems to be working so he will need the stainless steel one put in some time in the near future.

Matt and Casey have lots to think about.  They are going to decide if Matt wants to check into
another clinical trail or not.  First thing is Matt needs to get strong again.  Matt needs to eat and put on
some weight.

The PA came in this morning and explained that Matt' numbers are all way down.  The feel that
the Pancreatitis is almost gone. The PA explained that Matt's bilirubin is down to 4.  She said as long
as his pain is gone and he can tolerate food she thought he might be able to go home this afternoon.

 So the PA  gave Matt the go ahead for a clear liquid diet.  So Matt ordered breakfast.  He doesn't like oatmeal so he found out he can have Chocolate pudding , yogurt, ice cream.  So Matt ate his chocolate
ice cream and some of his pudding.  He is resting so he can finish his pudding in a little while.
and chocolate ice cream.  Matt took it slow and ate his ice cream and some of his pudding.  He is
resting and then going to finish his pudding.  If Matt handle this food they are talking he might go
home this afternoon. 

God has a journey all decided for Matt and I understand that.  It might not be what we want but God must need a really good Angel.  Please help us and continue to pray that Matt can go home and get stronger and put on some weight and be pain free!  I believe in Our Savior to be there for Matt and Casey and the family.

New Developement

Matt was so excited thinking he was going home today.  Matt has developed Pancreatitis.
He woke up this morning with a real bad pain in his stomach.  They believe that because of
the ERCP procedure that Matt had done yesterday it inflamed his pancreas.  This could be
life threatening if not taken care of.  After the CT Scan Matt can only have liquids and pain
medication.  Hopefully by tomorrow the Pancreas is feeling better and might let Matt eat
more solid food.

Please God I pray that Matt's CT_Scan does not show anything bad. That it is the nodule on
his liver pushing on the bile duct.  I also pray that his pancreas feels better tomorrow!

Doctor Appointment

This morning Matt and Casey and I (Kitty) went to UW-Madison Hospital where Matt has been doing his clinical trial.  Matt had labs done first and then doctor appointment.

As soon as Clinical RN Rosemary saw Matt she new something was wrong.  Since Matt stop taking the two chemo pills has felt worse.  The whites in Matt's eye have gotten yellow and even his skin on his face has gotten yellow.  Matt has been very tired and has been sick to his stomach since last Tuesday.  Casey had taken Matt to their friend who is a PA and said something is going on with Matt's liver.  She thought it would be okay for him to wait another day to see his doctor on Monday.

The labs show that a normal Biliruben test  was high. A normal number is 1.4 and Matt's biliruben was 9.3.  It also showed his ALT and other tests were all high.  They wanted to put Matt in the hospital.
Of coarse Matt has been trying to avoid any hospital but Casey put her foot down and told him he had to
stay and get better! 

Matt's weight has gone steadily down.  He has no desire to eat.  He still tries to push himself to eat something.  His weight has gone done to 121.9. 

His CEA tumor marker test had gone down the last time to 41.0 Today his CEA tumor marker test was 53.1.  This number can flucate due to the liver problem he is having.  Hopefully when we get his liver back in check his tumor marker number will go down again.

Matt was put into the hospital and at 4:15 today he had a ERCP test done,  This is a procedure where they had to put Matt out and put a scope down his throat into his liver to see what could be blocking things.  The bile duct to his liver is being pressed on and making it very small for fluids to flow through.  The doctor put in a temporary stint to hold it open.  Hopefully in a day or two Matt's liver will function normal and his yellow will go away.  Tomorrow Matt will have a CT-Scan and hopefully it will show what is going  on with Matt's liver.   What they suspect is the small nodule of Cancer that is on his liver might have grown and be the culprit pressing on his bile duct and causing all the problems.  If this is the case then in two weeks Matt will come back to UW-Hospital and they will put in a permanent stint.

Matt has gotten some sleep earlier today and I hope he  gets a good night sleep tonight.  He is up two to three times a night to go to the bathroom or he just can't sleep.  Sleep will help Matt a lot if he can get some.

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers. Please say a prayer that the nodule is the problem and nothing else.  I pray that when this gets cleared up Matt will be able to start phase 2 of the clinical trial.  He was supposed to start that today but due to the liver problem that is put on hold. They said it usually take at least two phases to see that it is shrinking the cancerous tumors. 

Matt doing okay

Matt has been taking both of his chemo pills.  He has been getting very tired easily.  Matt does not let that get him down.  He is still going to work most days. He had a
wedding one weekend and he has been to 2 Brewers games.  Matt has also been
keeping busy trying to help Casey get ready for her kindergarten classroom.

Matt still has pelvic pain which he takes around the clock pain medication.  If it gets real bad he has a quick 4 hour pain medication he can take on top of the 12 hour pain medication he takes already.

Matt has a doctor appointment with Dr. Le Conte on  Sept 12 with labs first and appointment second.  This will be day 28 of the clinical trail.  We will find out
how things are progressing.  If the new drugs are shrinking the cancer in Matt or
not.

I believe in the power of prayer!! Thank you so much for your continued prayers!