North Carolina is B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. It’s so green and lush. The roads are windy and not straight like I’m accustomed to, but I really like this area. Too bad it doesn’t appear to have a good healthy job market outside of retail and service industry. Heh.
I think one of the things that I really love is the people. They are so kind and sweet with their southern drawl, but they are extremely friendly and polite. They’ll say hello or ask how you’re doing when you walk by them and they call you baby doll or honey. Oh, and my sister in law kept hearing them say, “Bless his heart.” in the hospital about my lil brother.
My brother is doing much better now that the anti-seizure meds have kicked in. He still has the same amount of swelling on his brain that he had when he got the first MRI so that’s unchanged. They still do not know what has caused the brain infection/swelling, but have been distracted by his new renal (kidney) failure. The doctors believe that some of the antibiotics they were treating him with (in case he had meningitis or encephalitis) messed with his kidneys and his creatinine levels are at 5.1. Normal is usually at a .9-1.5 and 10 requires dialysis. I remember my mom going through the kidney failure stuff last year shortly after her cancer diagnosis so I’m not as too stressed about the kidney issues right now like I was with my mom. I guess because I know this is something that has a variety of fixes, though I’d hate to see him require dialysis.
They’re still kind of considering moving him to a larger University hospital but one of them turned him down since they figured they would be doing the same things this small hospital is doing for him. It’s very frustrating to feel like we’re proceeding slowly and the brain stuff has taken a back seat to the kidney issue.
I think the most frustrating and heartbreaking part is that my brother has not accepted that he is sick (or he’s trying to just ignore it) and wants to drive out home to Illinois from here. The doctor has now stated that he will not clear him for driving like he would’ve a few days ago. My brother is not happy with this and is continuing to state that he’s okay now and wants to drive home. Try telling a grown man over and over that they can’t drive. I try to stay away from the topic. 
As for me, I’m very very tired right now. I’m really hurting for another B12 shot and can’t wait to get home to get another one. I had just gotten to the hospital this afternoon and then had to come back to the hotel to get some sleep. I slept for another 4 hours. I cannot believe how exhausted I am right now and I’m not quite sure if this is normal for me or if it’s from the stress of travel or the time difference.
My new doctor in Phoenix called me today as a follow up on my mammogram/ultrasound I had last week. As the radiologist already told me, I need a biopsy of the lump… I still figure it’s going to be nothing. 4 out of 5 breast biopsies are benign so I’m not too worried. Though the biopsy procedure scares the crap out of me and I hate hospitals. Nothing new there.
I need to try and go to sleep. The Boyfriend is texting me so am going to call him and chat for a bit before I sleep.
