Karl update

Thank you for all of your prayers and good thoughts.

Karl came home Sunday early in the afternoon - and was so relieved...and tired. His first order of business was to take a shower; for even though he had a private room with a really nice bathroom (including shower), he still could not bring himself to use it. It has been this way for most of his life. Luckily, the forces of nature override in many situations, and while I could not get him to shower, he did use the privy in another way. ;)

The Cardiologist was concerned over the EEG/EKG from Sunday morning, which showed a huge arrhythmia around 7:30 that morning. The cause was scrutinized, and the effects on his heart were discussed in a very serious manner. He was instructed to be very aware of his heart and how it feels - most particularly if/when it ever fluttered or felt as though it was missing a beat; if he ever felt light-headed or week. All of his chest discomfort and discussion and concern over his heart has given him an eye-opening scare.

He is currently on Colchicine, a gout medication they have found works wonders in eliminating the fluid in the sac around the heart. Karl's problem is that the sac itself was also infected, as was the muscle under this sac (around the heart), and that the heart also was injured with the viral infection he had had just 2 days before this all began.

The subsequent pain and pressure, and difficulty breathing was a normal condition of Mio-pericarditis. The doctors were very curious, and concerned, that a boy of 21 would have something so serious without a family history of early onset heart conditions. They are still curious - and at a loss - about it. So, Karl is a curiosity and on a watch.

The Colchicine should make it tough for this to happen again, versus the routine treatment of steroids and antibiotics. They have recently found the Colchicine treatment wards off recurrence of the problem down the road.

The one huge side effect of the med is the subsequent diarrhea, and the time lost in letting that abate and then restarting the med at a lower dose to find a good level of treatment. He will be on the Colchicine for 2 months.

So there you have it, Karl's ailment in a nutshell. Thanks, again, for your love and prayers - they meant the world to us both.