I'm so sorry to be late in getting info out to everyone! John was discharged from hospital this past Monday, May 23. I haven't had access to wi-fi since. (I did try to "pirate" one of my mother's neighbor's service but, unfortunately, those wily seniors seem to be wise to the idea of password protection!) So we're at a local Starbucks for John's first post-hospital outing and access to the outside world. Here's what's happened since my last posting...
John did have a bit of a relapse with a high temp of 102. The doctors ran all kinds of tests including an EKG. All checked out fine. What they believe happened was that John got off regular schedule with his pain meds resulting in too much discomfort for him to do his breathing exercises. When the last chest tube was removed on Saturday, it left a space. Without John breathing properly, that space collapsed causing his temp to rise and his white cell count to become elevated. Once his pain was back under control, he was able to do his walking, his breathing exercises and his temp went down. So he was discharged on Monday and we've been with my mother ever since.
We've been on an every-three-hour regimen of pain meds, including overnight. It's like having a new-born baby; I feel like I've done everything in that department except push!
Today is John's first day of something resembling food. After only clear fluids for the last 6 days, he can now have "custard-consistency" foods, limited to 1 cup at a time. His first "breakfast" was a parfait of 4 oz. plain Greek-style honey flavored yogurt and 4 oz. of Mott's cinnamon apple sauce. He continues to be reliant on his daily infusion of "Bag-O-Meal" for nutrients which we start around 6 p.m. every night. We initially had set up the infusion at 85 cc's/hour which would allow for about a 12-13 hour feed. But John broke into a heavy sweat and we were advised to cut the rate back. We did so and he was fine. The drawback is that the infusion takes about 16 hours at the slower rate. So we'll gradually increase the rate and see how it goes. The goal over the next few weeks is to increase John's oral intake and decrease the infusion intake.
All in all I am happy to report that he's doing well. I have made appointments with Drs. Taylor (radiologist) and Nestor (oncologist) for next week in Bellingham. I don't think John will need further radiation as pathology showed the tumor was gone, but he will in all likelihood need post-surgical chemo. Dr. Nestor will decide that after consulting with the team at Virginia Mason. Before we leave Seattle we will be seeing Dr. Koehler, a colleague of Dr. Low's, tomorrow for John's first post-op check. If all goes well, we'll be home sometime late Saturday. YIPPEE!!! (My little Jetta's going to be loaded to the gills with cats and their supplies, John and his supplies, me and my liquor...I mean, supplies.)
I figure we're about 3/4 of the way through this gig. I'm praying that any further treatment will get rid of any residual cancer cells once and for all. We could never have come this far without the love and support of you all. For those who could visit, call, pray, send well wishes...you'll never know how much we appreciate and love you. John and I will be working on some jigsaw puzzles and I'll stay in touch...Nancy
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