Larry Nilles

Larry got very sick towards the end of April. He was fatigued, having trouble sleeping, and extremely short of breath. He went to the ER at Sandwich Hospital. The doctors there determined that they were not able to provide the care he needed, so Larry was transferred to Rush-Copley Hospital in Aurora. 

The doctors at Copley initially suspected congestive heart failure. They felt that Larry's elevated white blood count, kidney, and liver numbers stemmed from the congestive heart failure. However, an echocardiogram showed that his heart was functioning well. The next likely culprit was an infection of some sort.

Copley determined that Larry should be transferred to a different hospital. We were able to secure a spot for him at Loyola through the help of Larry's stepson Sean.

Larry was transferred to Loyola on April 26th. Within 24 hours of being admitted to Loyola, Larry's blood pressure dipped very low, and he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit. He remained in the ICU until April 30th, when they were able to keep his blood pressure stable without medication. 

He's been on broad-spectrum heavy duty IV antibiotics for 9 days, and while his white cell and liver numbers have stabilized, they are still very high. If we were dealing with an infection, those numbers would've decreased to their normal levels as a result of the antibiotics. We're grateful that these numbers are no longer rising, but the fact that they are not dropping to their normal ranges means that these problems are not all related to an infection. 

The doctors are stumped. Larry has been seen by the hepatology, hematology, infectious disease, medical ICU, and physical therapy teams. They have run a huge battery of tests, as well as an additional echocardiogram, CT scans, and ultrasounds of the legs and abdomen. The results that have been returned are inconclusive, and some of the results will not be available for weeks. May 2, he agreed to a bone marrow biopsy. They expect results from that around Friday. 

As you can imagine, Larry is not a huge fan of this extended hospital stay. Between the IV meds, his feeling so weak, and the lack of knowing what is happening, I'm afraid he is stuck in the hospital for awhile. For someone so strong and lively, feeling so weak and confined has been difficult. For everyone. We're not used to the idea of Larry being fragile. 

We will use this Caringbridge page to keep friends and loved ones posted. Thank you so much for visiting! We appreciate your support, thoughts, and prayers.