Hubby Operation Update

Just wanted to let you all know that Hubby had his left lung drained of about a litre of yucky gunk this morning, and had the filter to stop the blood clots inserted. Both procedures went well and he is dozing happily and comfortably as I type.

We don't know yet if the draining has taken care of the palpitation problem (he also had an echo cardiogram this morning that we haven't heard back about yet) but it certainly explained why he was having trouble breathing so it should at least help! I guess we'll find out when he tries to move or get up!

We also heard back from our oncologist this morning on what they found when they compared Hubby's recent CT scan to the previous scans and it was a mixed result - the lesions in the liver had either stayed the same or grown a little bit, which isn't great, but the stomach tumour showed significant reduction, which is better news and we will take any good news we can get!

I'll let you know when we have any more updates.

Laters ... x

Further Hubby Hospital Update

Hello again. If you are wondering how Hubby's little stay at the Good Samaritan Health Spa is going, then this post is for you!!

As you know, we checked in on Thursday and they found that he was very anemic again and wanted to keep him in for another blood transfusion. They also did a CT scan on Friday night and discovered that he has a number of blood clots in his lungs, and an ultrasound on his legs where they found more clots.

The clots, along with the anemia, are most likely the reason that he has been so wiped out that he couldn't move, and also should explain the strains and pains around his heart. Tomorrow he will be having a filter inserted in to his vena cava that will catch any new clots in his legs moving up to his lungs, and he is on a blood thinner that should dissolve any clots currently in his system. He should also hopefully be getting his lungs drained tomorrow, which should ease some of his pain.

All rather horrible, but essential to getting him well enough to bring him home, which if all goes to plan should happen sometime after Wednesday or Thursday *fingers crossed*

Despite this, we still managed to throw him a pretty respectable birthday party yesterday with loads of pressies and cake and champagne - hurrah!! It was quite tiring for him but he made a good effort and he managed to enjoy himself (as much as anyone in hospital can enjoy themselves!!) A huge thank you to everyone who helped make yesterday special - we weren't going to let a little thing like being in hospital stop us from celebrating in style!! ;-)

I guess that's all the news for tonight. I will, of course, let you know how he gets on with his procedures tomorrow.

Laters .... x

Hubby Hospital Update

Hello peoples! Just a quickie to let you know that Hubby is having another wee stay in hospital just now. He has been really wiped out for the last week between his chemo, the insulin adjustments in his IV nutrition and his new meds.

This has left him utterly exhausted and unable to move, and he has had problems with heart palpitations whenever he did try to move. A quick trip to the ER showed that he was very anaemic again so they are keeping him in for another blood transfusion, which they think may fix all the problems, but if not they will hook him up with a cardiologist in the morning and see what else they can find.

As I left he was a quarter of the way into his transfusion and already looking a million times better and was busy telling the nurses how to do their jobs so he is well on the way to recovery!

Well, it has been a long-ass day and I am just home (it's midnight!) and I am settling down to my dinner and a glass (or 3) of bourbon before I turn in for the night.

I really cannot thank the wonderful Miss Garneau enough for hanging around all evening waiting to give me a lift home (and then back to the bloody hospital with something I had forgotten then home again!!) You are a legend and I love you dearly!!

Right, my pizza is nearly done and I am ready to switch off for the night!! I will post again tomorrow when I get back and see how the boy is.

Laters ... x

Weekend Hubby Update

Happy Saturday, people!! Hope you are all having a lovely weekend and doing something fun!!

Thought I would give you a quick update on the pain management appointment yesterday. The nurse and doctor we saw were really nice and really understanding of the pain and problems Hubby is currently going through. They explained that the reason the fentanyl patch hadn't been as effective as we had hoped was because it relies on fatty tissue to absorb and distribute the drug through his system, and as there is not a drop of fat on the Hubby right now the absorption levels had been erratic.

So we now have a shiny new regime of MS Contin (a morphine pill) every 8 hours, with a liquid morphine that he can take as needed for breakthrough pain. The pills are making his head rather fuzzy for the first hour or two, but they seem to dealing with the pain which is great and he has only had to take the top up morphine a couple of times.

Unfortunately this weekend he is also dealing with the after effects of the chemo on Wednesday, and some problems with his blood sugar levels due to the IV nutrition. They have added insulin to the IV bag and we were up for a lot of last night testing his blood and adjusting the insulin levels. I am currently waiting for a call back from the nutrition people so we can discuss how to give him a better night tonight as we would both be very grateful for a better night's sleep!!

Well, I shall get back to descaling my coffee machine now - I have been without means to make coffee for over a week now and I am getting a bit fed up having to haul my sleepy ass down to the coffee shop for my morning fix!

Laters ..... x 

Belated Hubby Update

Greetings friends! How have the last few weeks treated you? We've had a few ups and downs but things seem to be balancing out now. I wont bore you with all the details but here are the highlights:

First up, Hubby has just finished the latest round of chemo and seems to be tolerating it pretty well. We were hoping to get him back on the chemo pills this week (which the oncologist had stopped after his little stay in hospital last month to give him a chance to recover) but that is still on hold. Fingers crossed we can get back on those soon!

Pain management has still been a problem. We have been prescribed some stronger stuff which seems to work some of the time but not consistently so we have an appointment with a pain management specialist tomorrow to see if we can get some better options. We also have an MRI scheduled for Monday to see if we can identify the cause of the pain in the middle of his back which is causing him the most trouble right now. 

He has been receiving the IV nutrition for 3 weeks and it seems to be doing a good job as he has put on a few pounds and is looking noticeably healthier and less pale. His appetite is coming back in fits and starts and he has developed a fondness for chicken nuggets, tater tots and Cool Ranch Doritos! Hey - whatever works!!! :-)

On his good days he has a lot more energy and has managed to be a bit more sociable, even if just for an hour or so, which is wonderful to see! We enjoyed a few good group gatherings as we watched the Red Sox romp to World Series victory and we are now proper baseball fans - we have tshirts and everything!! (Thanks Rachel!! Or technically, thanks Rachel's mom!!)

He has also started making his model air planes again - something he loved to do in the UK but hadn't had the time to pursue since we moved here. Well, he has plenty of time on his hands just now! I am really happy that he has taken up his hobby again as it is keeping both his hands and his mind occupied!

In other news, my driving is progressing - just as well as my test is in two weeks time!! (I had to schedule it before my learner's permit expired this month) I still have a couple of lessons before my test, and I have some very generous (and brave!) friends who have taken me out for some practise session - including a rather scary jaunt down to Santa Cruz and back!! I would say that I am cautiously optimistic that I will be able to pass, but please everyone keep your fingers crossed for me and pray to your God of choice!!

In sadder news, we definitely wont be able to make the Sea Ranch Thanksgiving trip with the gang as the next chemo is scheduled for the day before and the day of Thanksgiving :-( Rather disappointing, but chemo comes first and the priority is to get him fixed so we can enjoy many more Thanksgivings to come!!

Well, that about covers it, I think. I should really go off and do something productive but I am rather sleepy so I shall probably just sit on my ass watch some TV for a bit :-) I will keep you posted on how the upcoming appointments go, and anything else that I think you might like to know. Enjoy the rest of your day!! x

Multiple Hubby Updates

Good afternoon, my friends! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!!

Its been a mixture of highs and lows since I last wrote, but I am pleased to report that we are on a high at the moment! Hurrah!!

On Wednesday evening after chemo Hubby was on astoundingly good form so I suggested we pop round to our friend and neighbour's house to catch the end of the baseball (Go Red Sox!!) thinking that a wee half hour out the house would do him good. Happily, we ended up there for about 3 hours which I think is the longest he has been out of the house for something other than a hospital appointment for a couple of months!! Yay!!

Thursday wasn't a great day as he was very tired and sore at the hydration session at the chemo centre. The afternoon appointment we had with Immigration Services didn't help, but it was only to get our fingerprints taken for our green card application and luckily we were in and out in about 15 mins.

On Thursday evening we had a nurse come round to get us set up with the IV nutrition program I mentioned on Wednesday. It seems all very straight forward and idiot proof - which is fortunate as I will be playing nurse for the next few weeks and changing the IV bag daily!!

Friday was a particularly rough day for Hubby as he didn't sleep much the night before and was very sore and nauseous from the chemo. We spoke to the oncologist and arranged for a prescription of a Fentanyl patch which is a much stronger painkiller, and is worn for 72 hours so we should be able to avoid the pain highs and lows.

It took a wee while to kick in, but by this morning Hubby was feeling a lot better and was a more chatty when I went to check on him. I am really confident that the combination of the patch and the IV nutrition is what is going to put Hubby on the road to recovery!! :-)

Well on that note it is time for me to go prepare his new feed bag, and then there was a rumour that I might be able to get him out of the house again for a little more baseball action (Go Red Sox!)

I'll check back in with you soon! x

Long Overdue Hubby Update

Hello all!! Apologies for the lack of recent information but the last 3 weeks have been mega busy!!

It hasn't all been doom and gloom as we have had some wonderful friends and family come to visit from Scotland, but it has been a particularly rough couple of weeks for poor Hubby.

The new chemo pills have been reacting with the area in Hubby's throat where he had the radiotherapy causing something called radiation recall, which caused Hubby a lot of pain whenever he tried to eat or drink.

This got worse to the point where Hubby was living on boiled eggs and miso soup and, after calling our oncologist for advice, he ended up in hospital for 3 nights last week getting fluids and a blood transfusion :-(

While he was there they also did an endoscopy to make sure the pain in his throat was not being caused by new tumours, and hallelujah! For once we got some good news and they were able to confirm that it was definitely caused by the radiation.

He seemed better when he came out and was managing to eat a little more each day until Monday when his appetite dropped off again and he was in a lot of pain. He has been prescribed an appetite stimulant but that wont kick in for a couple of weeks.

We discussed this with the oncologist when we saw him today and we have been referred to a company that deals with at home IV nutrition to try and build him up as he is incredibly weak right now, but we are not sure if he can eat if he is taking the IV nutrition which seems like it might not really help in the long run so we have a few questions before we agree to this treatment.

Based on his blood counts last week and how weak he was looking today we were unsure if he would get the planned chemo but surprisingly his blood counts were all good today and the oncologist was happy to proceed, but has told Hubby to stay off the additional chemo pills until we see him again in 3 weeks.

Hubby seems to have taken today's treatment quite well and is dosing happily in the chair next to me. Back in tomorrow for more hydration, then fingers crossed we will have a more peaceful cycle this time round!!

I'll keep ya posted!! xxx