So we finally got some great news today..Lori is now eating! Its been 15 days since she was last able to eat and keep her food down. This has been the worst thing that cancer has tossed at her and yet she is still kicking its ass. Dr. J and her team are still trying to figure the best way to stop her c-diff and to hopefully try and unblock her bowel. This is the next hurdle....
But as for the food,it has been a long 24 hours. The medical team said that Lori's bile output was slowing but not enough to remove the NG tube or give her food. For that to happen the output had to be less then 200CC in a 8 hour shift...and yesterday was our day. I was getting very worried because when I took her for a walk,Lori said she was very weak in the legs...but she amazed me and walked 2 full laps on her floor before I guided her back....and that was including pulling her IV stand.
We knew we had a very small window before they would put in a feeding tube and that was not a good thing,the doctors had said it was a "last resort".
But her output continued to slow and at 4 pm yesterday evening,it was 210 CCs,close enough to make a run at clamping off her NG and see if she could go 24 hours without throwing up,they would drain her stomach of any residual bile and if that was under 50CCs,she could start a clear diet.
I got to the hospital at 2:50 pm,Lori was in bed....her c-diff is still incredibly nasty and she has to go to the restroom 4-6 times a hour,her legs and stomach are sore from just sitting on the toilet .We have our routine down pat,when she has to go....I unplug her IV machine and coil the cord around the pole,she then sits up in the bed and she grabs my hands and I guide her up. I walk backwards into the bathroom guiding her and the IV stand,she then slides by me and uses the toilet while I wait outside. Then we reverse the process.
After we did this today at 3 pm,we waited....we had to wait til 4 pm before they would see how much bile was in her stomach....turned out it was 10CCs and we had our miracle! 20 minutes later we placed a order and 20 minutes later we had dinner together...
It was only chicken broth and a cherry popsicle but it was the best damn dinner I have ever had...
The next hurdle is the c-diff,its still pretty awful but we're hoping the increase in food while strengthen Lori's immune system and as she gets stronger,her body will respond and help fight it off. We're hoping if things go well,she will be able to come home this Thursday. But what we face ahead....I am putting together a travel bag with extra clothes,meds and Clorox wipes for when we go out. Its already going to be hard enough with what is going on inside without wondering how funky or dangerous a public bathroom could be. I know some of you are saying "TMI!"!! I would tend to agree but that is what happens when c-diff happens to a cancer patient.
The support from the staff here at the hospital has been outstanding....Carly,Michelle,Andrew,Marlena,Lauren and Dana have been the very best. I can't say enough nice things about them,especially Carly and Michelle. These two have been so compassionate while our tech Andrew has added some much needed humor to the situation..
Between this and the very nice cards that have started to trickle in,it sure has raised our spirits a lot. Was really touched by the card Renee in Tennessee,thank you so much for such a lovely card...I know despite all of your rightish posturing and rabble rousing,you are a good egg!
I see that I have gained two new followers here....now that is really exciting! Getting the word out is pretty hard,maybe reading about cancer scares off people....maybe hearing from the caretaker/husband of a cancer patient touches a dark scary spot,I dunno...I just know that all I'm doing is trying to share what we are going through and just like Amy Neilson did,perhaps help a few people....
Next week is St. Patrick's Day......and a happy one I hope everyone does. Just make sure you don't drink and drive.
Thanks for reading and feel free to join the blog,follow me on Twitter (@Jinzo_2400) or drop a comment.
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