(Originally posted March 18, 2009)

I'm sorry for not updating last night. I got absorbed in some INHP work I was doing and didn't get the time to update the blog.

Anyway, the appointment was awesome. First of all, J.J.'s blood pressure is very well controlled now. It was 126/79 yesterday. We also got numbers from his cholesterol panel that was done shortly before he was released from RHI. I'm a little confused by these, so I will be calling his doctor this morning. Anyway, his total cholesterol was 129 (they want this to be below 200). His LDL was 76 (they want this below 100), his HDL was 29 (this one is very low; they want this to be at least 60. So he's going to be taking some Omega-3 Fatty Acids for this) and his triglycerides were 119 (they want this to be below 150). What confuses me is that this panel was done BEFORE he was put on Zocor to keep his cholesterol under control! What about this panel says that he needs a cholesterol medication? Like I said, I must investigate. His panel is to be repeated on 3/27/09 so we'll see what the changes have been.

The stroke coordinator (who is a nurse practitioner, by the way) was really impressed with J.J.'s neurological exam. She couldn't find any difference in his muscle group strength from one side to the other. He was able to answer all of her questions (including some math problems) and had no trouble drawing a clock for her (all showing that his cognitive abilities have not been significantly impacted). She gave the referral to the rehabilitative driving program with no hesitation (FINALLY this gets accomplished! One more thing I can check off my to do list!) and wants to see him back in two months. After this, she thinks he'll be released from all monitoring at RHI. And he seems to be on track to be back at work sometime in early May.

The next appointment worth noting is tomorrow, when J.J. will be seeing his cardiologist. I'm hoping they'll do the doppler in office to check his ejection fraction so we don't have to go to the lab again. Either way, look for an update tomorrow evening on this.