Medical Update: Thursday/Friday

  Its 12:13 am

     Chilly night here in SE Michigan...just when we dare to think about spring,winter reaches out and says "Not so fast my friend" and then throws another round of snow at us. Tomorrow night we are expecting to get 1-2 inches of sloppy snow,just enough to annoy folks but not enough to get excited about.

  Today was a long one....had to get up early to give Lori her vankomyacin at 5 am. The team has doubled her dose and switched her over to a liquid version of this drug as she threw it in its capsule form. Vanko tastes pretty wicked but one of the RNs at the hospital came up with a novel way to get it down...you chase it with Coke. So I pour 5 ml of vanko,add coke and then Lori drinks it. She then takes a gulp of Coke to help clear her mouth. Its been working wonders so far.



 Later we had lunch,Lori drank an entire bottle of Boost down and then I microwaved a couple of cans of chicken noodle soup and drained the broth into a cup which she then drank. Small steps forward to say the least but still overjoyed at seeing this.
  Still having a hard time getting her to drink any water,her urine levels are pretty crappy to say the least.
While I was trying to figure out this bump,the visiting nurse called to say she was coming over...15 minutes later we met Amy,she works as a visiting nurse for the U of Michigan health system. She was a nice but very firm nurse who you sensed really loves her job.
  While she talked to Lori,she had me set up the medical supplies on the table,the antibiotic had to stay cold so we keep it in the fridge and take it out 60 minutes before the injection to allow it to warm to room temp.
She watched as we assembled the four syringes that the treatment comes in...this means we put a fresh needle on each part,charge the tube to take out any air bubbles,check the dates on the medicines and open a box of alcohol wipes.



Once assembled,we then get our clock ready....and lay out the syringes. Amy said to remember the order,think of the term "S.A.S.H",which stands for saline,antibiotic,saline,heprin. We then use our wipes to clean the pic line Lori has connected to her chemo port. You wipe the line after every injection,every single time. Then we injection the first saline and put the needle in a large sharps/biohazard bottle. We wipe the line and then slowly in a 3-5 minute segment,push the antibiotic,repeat,then saline and finally the heprin which reduces the chance of a blood clot.


We have to do this on a daily basis for 14 days. Plus all the other meds we have to keep track of and the times we are supposed to take them.

Its now Friday
 7:31 pm


Rough day,Lori has been pretty quiet. She started to clear our her jewelry boxes and wanted me to take them to a local resale place. I sort of did laundry while making sure she took all of her meds. We carefully walked downstairs where I set the tray for the S.A.S.H. My legs are sore as I have to keep climbing up the stairs over and over. I got her on the couch and relaxed while we waited for Amy.

   I told what happened at my job the day before yesterday. We were in our breakroom and talking about seeing the Tigers play,a couple of folks are going to Opening Day against the Yankees. One woman asked if we were going to go and I commented that "No,we are going to wait until June when its warmer. My wife can't handle the cold weather now". The woman commented "Cold weather? You need to get a new wife!" A couple of my co-workers held their breaths,I just walked out to compose myself. After a couple a moments I went in and privately told her what was going on...she started crying that she didn't know. Well of course not,how could she,right? But I know and it hurts very much hearing something like that being said. I don't want a new wife,why can't I have the one I have now for another 40 years??
  I think I did pretty well in holding it together and not letting my emotions get away from me...

Amy came by and we quickly did the treatment,she said we were like a well oiled machine,funny how after 19 months of fighting this monster,you either are a well oiled and smooth machine or you're probably divorced.
  After Amy left,I went and did some errands at Sam's Club,bought 3 cases of soup,a couple of cartons of half and half,a flat of water and a huge 45 rolls of toilet paper. Got to the checkout door only to find the cashier had forgotten to charge me for my water. Sheesh....
  Then I bounced over to the Dollar Tree for some trash bags,this will be a duo downsizing,I'll need to cull a lot of my stuff as well...so no more books for me! *L*.
Came back to find the psychical therapist with Lori,seems like her BP was too high for him to work with her so he called Dr. J and told her. Then in turn had me take Lori to a local Urgent Care to get a set of vitals. Her heart is a little fast so I'm thinking I'll be taking her in for another set of vitals in the morning,if its still high,I'll take her back to Ann Arbor.

   She is really touched at the cards she has been getting,Renee and Christa...wow,those were some beautiful cards and words and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Theresa,the wonderful lady who hired me at Farmer Jack those many years ago..just beyond sweet,so very grateful for showing up such compassion...

Speaking of compassion,I need to run another videoblog from activist and actress Elaine Hendrix.
And you know we have to run one more since I have fallen behind a bit....

I know,I know.....she loves dogs more then cats but hey,no one is perfect other then my Lori.

Sunday will see her Deb come over to visit while I have to work. I think being home and having company will be a real boost to spirits!


Thanks for reading!

You can find me on Twitter at @Jinzo_2400

Feel free to share this blog with anyone who you think it will help....

Home at Last

Its 8:03 pm

   Just a quick entry.....Lori is home at last after 12 very days at the hospital. Very happy she is home to say the least. She is sleeping on the living room couch for now while I type this out. Tomorrow will see a R.N come to the house and show me how to inject a med into her port. I just returned from CVS where I picked up 6 new meds and refilled two others.Our little bag where we keep Lori's meds is going to need a serious upgrade...."you're going to need a bigger bag".
I don't know how often I'll be able to write,depends on how well she is feeling to tell you the truth...

But for now,all is good here at our house.

Still in Ann Arbor...

Its 10:47 pm

    So what was supposed to be a somewhat joyous day has turned into a long day of uncertainty. I was supposed to be able to bring my Lori today. I called her and she said she was ready to go...but she had yet to see the medical team to get the official thumbs up for a discharge.
  I had to call off from work because we don't have anyone else whom I feel comfortable placing her with as far as picking her up. I have people I trust,but with her medical issues,I wouldn't want to put them in that position in case something went wrong...I got there at 2 pm and asked how she felt,if she had eaten anything. She said she had been drinking a warm cup of Ensure,she had eaten tomato soup last night and had thrown it up. I started getting a sinking feeling in my stomach,this was not good news. That and the fact she hadn't dressed sort of tipped me off I would be driving home alone tonight.
   We talked about eating,Lori is now scared to eat,scared to throw up....scared of having the neogastric tube put in place. I do understand that,I just know unless she can eat something and hold it,she isn't going to be able to come home. She agreed to let me order some tomato soup again...seems like the doctors were waiting on how well she would do with some food before possibly discharging her.
 The team came in and talked with us,they showed the IV equipment that would have to go with me today. We talked meds and dosages and introducing a new med called Tamoxifen which in theory is supposed to help block any new growth of her tumor. In reading about it,I commented to Lori that it has a nasty side effect,it can cause cancer. We both laughed gently at this...anyways,the team said they wanted to hold Lori one more night. After they left,she threw up a small patch of bile and said her stomach was hurting.
I feel extremely defeated as I write this...I know now I waited too long before get her into the E.R.,but what the hell was I going to do...I was trying to follow the doctors orders in getting her to drink/eat before taking her meds. I had no way knowing that she was getting a partial bowel obstruction...I know if I had waited another day or so,I may have killed her...which is something that is gnawing on my heart right now.
  I tried getting her to take a walk with me but she wasn't feeling up to it....so she slept while I packed up the medical supplies and excess stuff that she now had and took it to the car. I came back and just watched her sleep,my heart is breaking into so many pieces right now...I'm really trying to hold on to my self,to stay strong but its so sad watching this to a great person like Lori....its so not right,words that have spoken by so many families who have lost loved ones to this monster.
  Finally it was time for me to go,I gave her a kiss goodnight and came home to a empty house once again.
I unloaded the car,put the medicine in the fridge,ate a bowl of sloppy joes that my neighbor made for me and then did a load of laundry...I also called the hospital and left a message for Dr. Schenk to call me,I want her to tell Lori that its okay to push a little harder as far as eating goes.
  Talked for an hour with my brother Philip,he really is hurting along with me. He loves Lori and told me he looks for the same sweet spirit in a woman that Lori has...of course that made me cry...
We talked about a lot of things,he told me again if I needed him just to call and he would be here but I am going to have to keep that in reserve because the hard work has yet to be crossed.

 Seems like a local journalist who we like quite a bit found himself in some hot water this past weekend. Fox 2 reporter Charlie LeDuff,who specialty is exposing city government screw ups found himself drunk during a St. Patrick's Day parade in Corktown,the Irish section of Detroit. He was spotted taking a public piss in the street,a local group who was having a party,got him off the street and invited Charlie and his brother to relax with him. Charlie then said some crude things to three women who happen to be policewomen. When the host tried to calm Charlie down,a big fight broke out in which a security guard was bitten by Charlie.



  Now we are waiting to see how Channel 2 handles this,especially since another local station decided to report on it,thus turning up the heat on the GM of Fox 2. Charlie admitted he most likely had too much to drink and caused some sort of ruckus. Sort of interesting that another local station is airing out this kind of story about another reporter,thought there would be sort of a unspoken rule about not doing this....but then again,what do I know?

  Alright then.....I'm heading to sleep now. My emotional gas tank is at zero....please continue to pray for us.

Thanks for reading!


Debbie T. - Thank you for reading every entry.

Medical Update plus Kwame,Justin Verlander and some more Love and Compassion

Its 10:53 pm

    Its been a rainy day here in SE Michigan. Yesterday felt like spring and then this....with possible snow showers to follow. Only in Michigan....
  The big news is ex Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was found guilty today in his federal corruption case along with his boyhood pal Bobby Ferguson and his pops,Bernard. Kwame was guilty on 24 of the 29 counts against him,Bobby got nailed for 9 of the 11 counts while Bernard Kilpatrick got hit with a single guilty conviction. The judge then had Kwame and Bobby taken into custody because she considered them flight risks....wise move indeed. The feds know they have hidden the cash somewhere and they could see those two running out of the country. Its going to be another 3-4 months until they learn their fate but early rumblings are saying 10 years without parole in a Federal prison. That is a long pull for anyone but then again,they brought it upon themselves. Kwame,to this day,still wants to act he is above the law...but he found out the hard way how much it will cost him for violating the public's trust and faith in him. But even when he gets out,we'll find he didn't learn a damn thing and will continue to find himself in trouble. Its just in his nature.
The fallout of this trail will now force everyone to look at Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and his corrupt office which seen its fair share of small underlings all being convicted. You know the full weight of the Feds will be turned on him and I'm willing to say that Kwame and Bobby will have a new cell mate soon enough....stay tuned!

The medical update:
 
      So far,so good. Lori is doing well and I think I'll be able to bring her home tomorrow...I say this but not with the confidence I should be feeling. While she is doing better,she had two small vomiting incidents but we think its tied to taking her vankomyacin and chasing it with fruit punch. We decided to back off the next step of cream soup and go back to chicken broth but her stomach was still feeling iffy. They gave her Adavan with is supposed to still her nausea but when I left she was still not 100%.
  Seems like we are both going to learn how to administer a IV from a nurse who will be coming by the house. Lori will still need to have a IV to help chase away her E Coli infection that she picked up. I believe we'll have to do the IV bag 3-4 times a day until the 20th. This will include cleaning the IV tube she has in her chemo port. The other big news is the diet,there will be no more solid food for quite a while for her. The diet team came by and gave Lori a detailed list of what she and cannot and must not eat. Its a pretty weird list to say the least. Everything has to be a soup or pureed in a blender. And while I thought they would not want too much sugar in her diet,its actually quite the opposite,they are encouraging to eat ice cream and as much yogurt as she likes.
  I think this will be a good thing,we're going to have to learn to eat even better then before. I know I could benefit from this as for the past 12 days I have been eating like crap. Stress eating is not how a responsible caretaker should be doing,I need to be a much better husband in that regard.
  Lori now finally understands how close we really came...when the doctors came to see her at 4 pm. She was puzzled by that because until two ago they were seeing her at 5:15 am. When we asked the nurse about this,she explained the team visits the sickest patients first...and 5:15 am is pretty damn early!
  The house in still in decent shape from the cleaning her brother and his wife did for us. I only had to do some laundry,change the cat litter and wash a few dishes. Everything else is pretty clean of which I'm very happy about!

  Pretty scary moment today....I was listening to the Tigers game while driving to Ann Arbor today. They were playing the Mets and had Justin Verlander on the hill. The Tigers were down 3-0 and had a man on base in the 5th inning. The Mets batter attempted a bunt and as he squared up,Verlander nailed him in the chest with a 95 mph fastball. You could hear the fear in the voice of Dan Dickerson,the voice of the Tigers.
Verlander has a fastball that could kill a player if he got hit in the head with it. But he isn't the best pitcher in the majors for nothing,he has pinpoint control and this was truly a accident. The Met's player got up after about 6-7 minutes and managed to walk to first base before being taken out. Tigers manager Jim Leyland also took out Justin as well...the Mets ended up winning 11-0.

Before I close shop for the night.....I'm posting two more entries of actress and activist Elaine Hendrix's videoblog about raising awareness for animals. I like to say thank you again for reading this blog...it means a lot knowing that its starting to reach some folks....

And one more for good measure.....

I see Elaine has my same problem,she must live close to a Dollar Tree based on all the books she on her shelf....


Thanks for reading!

Medical Update: Great News!

Its 9:54 pm

    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.

Seems like I have fallen waaaaaay behind of posting animal activist Elaine Hendrix's videoblog....so here are a couple of entries for you to look at.

Please note how important this one is too me....the plight of feral cats is sad beyond belief. How hard or expensive is it to spay or neuter one's kitty?

Thanks for reading and feel free to join the blog,follow me on Twitter (@Jinzo_2400) or drop a comment.

Medical Update: Drum roll please.....

Its 7:32 am


    Lori has made it through 12 hours with her tube clamped with no vomiting reported.....this is just great news. Hopefully she can make it through another 12.....if so,they'll tube out whats in her tummy,remove the NG tube and start her on clear liquids,then move her to REAL food. I am thinking a Thursday or even sooner release date!

Update in detail tonight....

Medical Update: Day 7 in Ann Arbor.

Its 12:31 am

    Sitting in the quiet house again....writing this update.
  I wish I had great news to report about Lori coming home or at the very least being able to eat something but I can't. But we are still plugging away,her bile output is still continuing to slow but needs to be slower still. She is still discharging about 400 to 600cc of matter and it has to be under 200cc per a 8 hour shift before they will shut down her tube and then reengage it to see if she can handle any type of food intake.
  They are also attacking the partial obstruction by sending Vancomycin above the colon to help jump start her digestive system. Its a bitch of a treatment as she has to hold in the medicine for a hour before she relax and go the restroom. There has been some movement but not enough and not very fast. But we know its working,its just painful. I had to really encourage her to do the treatment today,it leaves her bottom sore.
But its one of the last things they can try....so we have to grit our teeth and plow through it.
  We did pass on the last one tonight because Lori actually fell asleep and she had said she wanted to skip it. I tended to agree,the nurse we had looked VERY green and sort of unsure of what to do....in fact,I overheard the nurse on duty explain what to evening nurse what she would have to do. One would think on a cancer floor,she would know this.
  So I was okay with skipping the evening session...I just asked her to not miss anymore sessions. She agreed and we'll be charging first thing tomorrow morning back into it.

 Before I headed to Ann Arbor,I had to pick up Lori's PT Cruiser that had been damaged. My neighbor Al said he would drop me off....when I told him last Tuesday about Lori,I told him I knew whose fault this was...he asked who and I blamed ex Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick,Al and I can sit and talk for hours about Detroit. And Kwame is a huge part of the debates....so when I said "It's Kwame's fault",he actually laughed...



So Al dropped me off at Westland Car Care,its the same place we took her car when she was rear ended a couple of years back. They do quality work for a fair price. When I walked in,I recognized Jeremy from the time before. He asked what exactly happened and when I told him how she was hit coming home from getting her chemo meds,he was really touched by that...said "You have a rough road ahead,my own mother is very ill herself". As we chatted along with his dad,I started to write out what we owed him,our insurance paid for the damage but our deductible is still 500.00. The other driver's insurance should pay us back but as of today,they had not. I had to talk to a adjuster today who wanted Lori's statement,had to explain why that would be sort of hard. She said she would see if they could pay based on the police officer's report....which I think will be enough as the driver admitted to being at fault AND getting a ticket.


Anyway,as I was writing the check,he said "I'm taking off a hundred bucks". I said "No,you don't have to do that,we're getting it back and you have always taken good care of us". He said "No,I want to do this,we want to do this for you." So needlessly to say,I got choked up and thanked him very much.It was a very classy and kind thing to do.
   As we walked out to the car,Jeremy was saying how his own wife is at risk for the same cancer Lori has. When I asked him what system she was in and he said "Oakwood",I just about died....I urged him to call Dr. John Armstead,the same doctor who spotted Lori's cancer. I told him I would leave Dr. Armstead's number on his answering machine and I did just that.
  Lori's car looks great and tomorrow I'll get some gas in it for her.

I also called the Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit and made a appointment for next Thursday for Lori to be seen,I'm praying she is well enough to make the trip. Its just beyond frustrating we didn't get more advanced warning about this second tumor,I feel like we are so behind the 8-ball now...I guess the lesson is to be ready but we really weren't. Dr. Shrenk,one of Lori's doctors,admitted they don't a good job at letting folks know about advanced cases. They say they don't tell patients because they want them to keep fighting and I totally agree with that.....but tell the caretaker!! Take us aside and explain the situation so we can process it and start getting things ready in case the outcome isn't a happy one. I rather know the blunt truth then dealing with this,the pressure to hurry is a bit hectic..
  But not complaining,just venting what I am feeling...I know I probably come across as a bit of a whiner and I'm sorry for that....I'm sure we'll get this handled properly.

   So touched by the kindness by folks,both who know us in "real life" and those who have yet met us. Its very helpful to me to get this support,helps me when I'm down here alone thinking of the IVs,tubes and bruising that Lori has endured from her Heprin shots,holy crow,she looks like she has been hit on the arms...but it looks worse then it really is.
  Tomorrow will see me doing some errands,laundry and a Target run to get some cat litter (I know,pretty exciting,isn't it???) before I head back to Ann Arbor. I'll drop another update tomorrow night....

Feel free to share this blog with your friends or with anyone who might being going through the same thing.


Love and Light,


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