A quick update.
This is from last night,3 March.
Lori is still in the hospital. Her infection is a very nasty one....she is still unable to keep anything down. We had brief hope that she might be able to come home Monday but there is no way that is happening. When I got there at 3 pm,she had just thrown up again....its stomach bile,the stuff that breaks down your food. Every time anything is dropped in her stomach,its causing it to be thrown up. This is day 7 of this and after holding a pan and watching her throw up a liter of this crap,I got pissed.
I asked our RN to page a doctor right away. While we are waiting and I'm staring at the pan full of vomit,I am getting more then concerned....the doctor came and I basically said "You got to do more here,because this isn't working." The doctor stepped out and 10 minutes later came back in and said "I agree with you"(which really stunned us to say the very least!)
So the new plan is too put a neogastric tube down to her stomach and have the bile sucked out while pushing all of her meds through the same tube. Because her room is so small,I had to step outside for the 20 minutes it would take to insert the tubing.
As I sat outside by the elevator waiting,the nurses were changing shifts and Lori's nurse was heading home. She stopped and said "You did the right thing in pushing for that,sometimes the conservative approach doesn't work."
I said I agreed,sometimes you can conserve someone to death...I thanked her for her tremendous help and went back in to see Lori. In the first 10 minutes of that tube being inserted,it had sucked out another full liter!
She felt much better but was in bad pain because of the tube,they pushed 4 mg of morphine and I held her hand and wiped away her tears. She managed to doze off and soon after I started the 20 mile trek to a empty house.
Its now 11:41
Today was another tough day,I'm very tired now...I just got home from the hospital about 90 minutes ago.
The good news is that the neogastric tube is doing its job,while she did drain another liter,the draining has slowed down a lot and she feels a little stronger. Still no food as of yet but they are talking about maybe some crackers/broth in a couple of days.
Dr. Johnston came by today and sort of deflated our balloon a bit,Lori seems to have a bowl obstruction after all and there isn't they can do other then to drain her belly. The tumor is in a very bad spot that is affecting a lot of organs,while it hasn't grown in size,its like a octopus in that its tendrils are wrapping around those organs. They feel that perhaps the bladder has suffered splits on its sides and may be causing the blood in her urine and fistula. Dr.J says she'll be consulting with a GI doctor and they may attempt to cauterized those cuts which may slow the degrading of the bladder.
While we had hoped for a couple of years,my heart is telling me its going not going to happen. I think its going to happen in a matter of months. When I asked Dr. J when we could go home,she couldn't give us a answer,she is that sick now.
I asked about clinical drugs trails and Dr. J said I should call the Karmanos Center in Detroit and see if we could be accepted,she did warn us that Lori has to be able to eat and drink to be considered.
She keeps apologizing for "getting you in this mess" which causes my heart to break....I wouldn't trade a second of we have done in our lives,I love our life together...my regret was not having a better education so I could have supported her better. I feel like I let her down in that respect,I am ashamed of that.
Just checked in with her....seems like they wanted a clean urine sample and since she is sort of immobile,they had to insert a catheter to try and get that sample. Just one thing after another.
But I see that many people have been reading this blog now.....so here is my one request:
Send her a card. Don't mention the blog or Facebook.....just tell her you care and are rooting for her.
Our address is
Lori Sullivan
45249 Lemont Road
Canton,Michigan
48187
Thank you all for your love and support.
M
You haven't let her down. You're there for her in every way that matters. Don't be ashamed. You are NOT any less a man or a human being and don't ever forget it.
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