Mary saw the nefrologist today. I don't know why I think of people searching the ancient ruins of Egypt when I see that word, but I do.

Dr. Chertow is the head of the program at Stanford and he was extremely gracious and took his time to explain what was going on. Basically, her electrolytes are fine now and her symptoms from the end of last week are pretty much under control. They have written a new script for her blood pressure medication to eliminate the diuretic component that may interfere with what her system is trying to do. The new script is the same blood pressure component but it includes a different diuretic that is less likely to interfere with her electrolyte system.

As a result, the doc said Mary should continue to lose retained water until she is back to normal body weight.

This morning, Reenie's oldest son, Jacob, arrived from Portland after an 18 hour Amtrak trip and Amtrak delivered Jake approximately on time. That allowed me to meet the three of them at Stanford in advance of the meeting with Dr. Chertow.

Although I went back to work, Reenie, Mary and Jake headed back to the house. When I got home from work, Mary was taking a late nap and Reenie and Jake were out at the grocery store. As we prepared for dinner, Ingrid dropped in to deliver a book for Mary and to meet Jake.

The trip to Stanford and the excitement of Jake's arrival tired Mary out more than is typical. A good night's sleep will do her good.