A resident medical doctor came in and checked the EKG and checked Ron over.  Heart rate was still 160.  He called Dr. Dibenedetti, Ron's cardiologist, who happened to be on call here tonight.  She said to give him a Cardizem drip IV to bring down his heart rate, and she will come see him in the morning.  They collected sputum, urine, and more blood to check for any infections.  They started the drip at about 7:00.  His heart rate is still 164.  His hemoglobin is up to 8.4 this evening.  Temp is 100.4*.
 
He did manage to eat some supper through all this... not much, but a tiny bit of turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, and about 1/3 c of sliced peaches.  She had stopped his tube food at about 4:30 to let him have some room to put his supper.  I hope they can get him off the tube food during the days, so he can have more room to eat regular food.  She said sometimes they run it just at night, but she has to get a Dr. order to do that.
 
Love,
EJ