Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Surprise!

Because we are still here in the heat (it's now about 110 every day), we have witnessed something totally unexpected. While some of the saguaro cactus are still blooming their last white blooms, the early bloomers from late April are into another phase. First I thought some bougainvillea blooms had blown onto the saguaro tips, but upon closer inspection we decided they were seed pods that had burst open!

Ron helped me carry the ladder down the street and even climbed up farther than I would to get this picture. We chased away several birds which were feasting on the seeds.


Here's one of the pods that had fallen to the ground. I think I see one little black seed still inside. Isn't that a fantastic color?


Oh, and good news! Ron will be finished with his vancomycin on Friday! His finger is still red, but looks pretty good. Hopefully the red will fade in time. We plan to stay a couple more weeks to be sure it doesn't swell up again and he actually has an appointment with an infectious disease doctor at the end of June. I'm not sure what he's going to add, but it's just a precaution.

For the non-squeamish, here's a picture of him with his PIC line and IV ball. The ball is pressurized and automatically dispenses the medicine at the proper rate. He can lay it down or even put it in his pocket which is good since it takes 1 1/2 hours.

As you can see, he has two ports. We use the blue one for the medicine and the nurse uses the red one to draw blood once a week to check the medicine level in his blood. They had to adjust the amount three times during the five weeks he was on it.

9 comments:

  1. That is a wonderful surprise!! that Pink is awesome--I really loved the saguaro's they seem so strong!!!
    I like your new page format..I was able to get a wider page and that is Great!! Means we can post large photos now if we wish too...
    That finger has been something else!! Hope the end is in sight with that--My friend who lives in Mesa is also fighting the battle of the heat--here its been awful just take the same heat and add humidity--melt down!!!

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  2. Ted and Joey had the same "pump" after their shoulder surgeries. Theirs contained pain meds and took 2 days to deplete. I like the two port idea. Saves the patient from additional discomfort. I'm glad Ron's getting better!

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  3. Hi. I just stumbled on your blog. (I hit the "next blog" button at the top of another blog and you popped up). What a fun thing you guys are doing... traveling around in an RV. Sounds great as I sit here tethered to the house with three little ones. Time for me to do more laundry and dream about that French toast. Wow. Yum-mmm-my!

    Enjoy your day!!

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  4. Well, I guess the desert is beautiful at all times of the year. Thanks for sharing what most of us never see.
    Glad to hear this is the last week of the medicine.

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  5. Wow, that is good news indeed. Can't wait to see you back on the road. And the saguaros are really neat!

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  6. Glad to hear that Ron will be tube and needle free soon, and hope that you guys can get to someplace cooler soon.

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  7. And we thought it was hot in AR. Oh, but yours is a dry heat...LOL. Glad things are finally progressing with the finger hopefully towards a conclusion. The new page format surprised me..nice.

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  8. love your new blog page. And the flowering cactus is awesome. You really know how to capture the essence of lovely flowers. Glad Ron is better. and yes that redness will go away, but it might leave a light scar to remind him of his ordeal. I'm going to AR in 3 weeks. I guess I'll have heat and humidity there. Up here in NO.CALIF. it's lovely.

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  9. Glad to hear the finger is finally on the mend. It's been fun following you two while sitting stationary but...I'm really looking forward to your next adventure! Thanks for keeping up on the blog in the meantime.

    ps. You are one of my favorite blogs to follow. ;)
    Cheers! Merri

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