I did take the opportunity to photograph this the other day. It was very overcast, so the colors look richer than they really are.
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I never have give the results of Roger's stress test and echocardiogram. The bottom line is that he has two valves that don't close good, but the doctor chooses to leave them alone right now since it doesn't seem to bother him. He also has a blockage that he wants to keep an eye on. But right now things are okay.
BUT, a while back he had taken Roger off one of his blood pressure meds because his potassium levels were elevated. After being off them, the level went down. But I was worried about his BP. So we put him back on them and had Roger get labs again today after being on the medication for a week.
Late this afternoon, we got a call for me to get him back down there for more labs cause his potassium levels were high again. So now we wait to hear about that. I am really hoping that it was something to do with drawing the blood this morn. I found a list of reasons his potassium would be high...I found the following reason:
Sometimes, lab reports that show high blood potassium are inaccurate. If blood cells rupture while the technician is taking the blood sample or after he or she has obtained it, potassium can leak into the sample and cause a high reading. People with no other symptoms of high potassium should take a second blood test to ensure they are not treated for hyperkalemia if they do not have it.
This sounds possible because the technician had trouble finding a vein. And she could not even get it this afternoon. She had to call in another lady to draw the blood. The second lady got it first thing.
I so hope that is all it is...the first time the labs said it was high, not a week before the Nurse Practitioner had had labs done and it was fine. So it just never made any sense for it to be high. His potassium level has always ran a bit low for the most part.
So keep us in your prayers....
