Another Pleurodesis

Sorry, but I guess this post is essentially a re-run. The were able to drain more fluid after moving the chest tube lower on Sunday, and they plan to do another Pleurodesis tomorrow to hopefully fuse the two linings together. In the reading I did, I didn't see that these are sectioned within one lung, but perhaps it's been sectioned by the tumor? Lynn the nurse was good about giving me the facts, but she cannot offer opinions.

The other thing that has me really worried is the fact that she still hasn't eaten much. They started giving her Megace last week to hopefully stimulate her appetite but she's just been very tired and sleeping a lot. She's also pretty disoriented when she awakes and is getting more and more confused. However, I think I would be pretty confused to if I hadn't eaten in 2+ weeks!
I don't really understand the theory here. Are the doctors taking care of the most significant problems, and then letting the things that are up to choice to Mom? Are they presuming that if she's not eating then she's given up? If she's confused now, is it really appropriate to presume that, or do they assume that a person's innate will to survive will override the confusion?

I think I'm going to try to connect with Dr. Hunsicker again tomorrow and pose these questions.

And the hits keep coming!

Mom's brother Bill was also up in the valley today and he called with a clarification to the earlier post..... Apparently they're not going to switch sides just yet. The reason why the fluid hadn't drained from the left side quite right was because the chest tube was inserted too high and needs to be moved to a lower area! Brilliant! Do they think that Mom is some kind of pin cushion? She had to have the tube in for about 9 days, and now it's moving to a different spot, with the promise of removing it and inserting one in the right side in a couple of days! How would you like to have that to look forward to on your list of things to do for the week?

Anyone have any GOOD news?

Well, there's no good news from the Valley today........... The CAT scan showed that there's fluid built up in both lungs. They can't do a chest tube on both sides, so they'll pulled the one out and put in a new one on her right side. The doctor's only hypothesis for Jennifer was that the tumor is causing irritation and instigating the build up. The good news is that Mom is not in constant pain. She is getting regular doses of morphine, so just as she starts to feel uncomfortable, she's able to get more medicine to get past it.


Today being October 7 also means that it's been one year since Dad passed away. We took Nate to the cemetery today to go see "sick papa" and he wondered where he was, and we told him this is where we come to remember him.

So all in all, let's chalk this up to a pretty crappy day!

I just wish Mom could catch a break because being cooped up in the hospital hooked up to all sorts of tubes can't be much fun. Is this what being on all these prayer lists gets you? The "wonder and mystery" of God seems downright cruel to me sometimes.

look at what came down in mary's back yard!

Cat Scan today

I spoke to the nurse at about 1.30p today. She said that Mom had just returned from getting a cat scan and depending on how that turned out, they may take out the chest tube tomorrow. The nurse said that Mom was sitting up in a chair, but she must not have been up for talking on the phone as she didn't answer. Mom's brother Bill is heading up there tomorrow for the day, so hopefully we'll hear more news as to how she's doing overall.

Hunsicker Called

Dr. Hunsicker called. She's not the most talkative, but she did offer quite a bit of information, and none of it was good. She said that Mom has not been progressing and "is not doing very well at all." She continues to have the chest tube in as fluid is still accumulating and likely now has pneumonia. Mom asks for her pain medication regularly, and the doctor said that Mom was quite disoriented this morning. She also said that Mom has not been eating hardly at all.

The doctor said that the "infections" expert is also going to be looking at things to make any recommendations for next steps. She said that she would keep track of my phone number and get in touch with me as necessary.

I did talk to Mom directly and she was a little confused at first, but then did get oriented and confirmed that the chest tube remained. She said that she's been eating somewhat, but that she was very tired and was going to lay back down.

Hunsicker not Huntzinger!

Well, I made some progress on my lunch hour (15 minutes?) today. I did some Yellow Pages searching and figured out how to correctly spell Dr. Hunsicker's name so that I have a phone number now, and left a message for her to call. Evidently I'm not on the HIPPA form, so she may not be able to tell me much, but hopefully I can at least share my concerns, and perhaps it may have some impact. I signed the release in the hospital, so maybe if she calls me from there, she can tell me something.

Update from Stella

Bill (Mom's brother) called last night concerned that he couldn't get ahold of Mom. I called to talk to the nurse's station, as I'm officially, "on the list" now and can get current status. They stop short of answering "opinion" questions, so I'm pretty good at asking questions they're willing to answer.

The short of it is that the chest tube was not removed as of 9p last night. Mom was very uncomfortable from the Pleurodesis on Wednesday and didn't have a good day at all. She was very tired on Thursday and likely was sleeping or had turned off the ringer. Stella (nurse on shift) also answered my questions on eating and confirmed that she hadn't eaten much, and I asked when the doctors would step in and take more aggressive action, and she said that they would when they felt it was necessary. Mom has been getting a lot of IV fluids, so there's no risk of dehydration, but at some point she's going to need to get a more steady flow of nutrition.

Hopefully she'll get the chest tube removed today, and then they can consider whatever's next in the process. I'm guessing at some point we should hear if there are any results back from whatever testing they did on the fluid that was removed over last weekend.

I had put a message into Dr. Razia last week, but she never responded, so I think I may try to pin down Dr. Huntsinger's number (GP) to see what information I can get from her.

Pleurodesis

There's your 5 dollar word for the day!

Here's some more info on it from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleurodesis. I realize this isn't the most authoritative resource on the Web, but the information I've found there is generally the type that helps me understand the basics. Anyway.................

Dr. Jezioro explained Saturday that this is what was planned, and it was done today. The chest tube is still in to drain whatever fluid remains, but they're hoping that the Pleurodesis will prevent any additional fluid from accumulating.

I asked if she's eaten anything, and she said not much, but they did give her a drug that would hopefully increase her appetite. Lynn said she has consumed some type of fortified milkshake, and will hopefully eat more tomorrow.

I asked about a feeding tube, or when it would be critical to do something more, and she said that while that's an option, there's a lot more they can do in the meantime. She said there's even some type of nutrition they can introduce through the IV, so one way or another they'll make sure she gets some nourishment.

Chest Tube Remains........

Talked to mom tonight. The chest tube remains in place as there was still more drainage. The doctor said that hopefully tomorrow it will come out.

I asked her about eating, and she said that she's been trying some type of nutrition drink today and that's been working out better. She's going to ask if it's available in the grocery store. I'm guessing it must be Ensure or something similar. Anything at this point is better than nothing at all.

I did manage to get her to laugh tonight. I went out with Nate for a little while in the car, and forgot to bring his pacifier. (I know he's too old, but we pick our battles......) Anyway our name for it is the "paci," so when he asked for it tonight, I told him that I didn't have one. He said, "Daddy go home and get me a paci or you're fired!" And once I didn't turn around he just said, "Daddy, you're fired!" I'm not sure where he got that from, but it was pretty comical, and he was lots of entertainment for people in line at the post office...........

Back in Michigan

We've made it back to Michigan. We did stop by the hospital before we left today, and Mom was more alert, but concerned because she had been awake since 4.30a this morning. I mentioned to her that she slept most of yesterday, but evidently didn't realize it. The nurse heard me mention this, and she said that the combination of morphine and flexorall was likely what was making her dozy. She hadn't taken the flexorall all week, but asked her General Practitioner for it on Saturday. It must have taken a little while to kick in, and by Sunday it had her quite relaxed.

I told her I'd call in a couple of days to see how she was doing, and she said that she'd call me first if she got out of the hospital. I think she's going to have to come a long way before getting out of the hospital. She's been so tired, and her system just isn't reacting right, but if she works to build up her strength this week, she might possibly have a chance of getting out by week's end. I think it's more likely that she'll end up with a stint at a rehab facility to help her build up the strength to get home. We've seen this before with my Dad, and Gail's Grandma, and they were really able to make a big difference. In the hospital, they're really trying to treat the biggest problems, but they don't really focus on getting people ready to go home. This is all rampant speculation on my part, but we'll see how it goes.

Sunday Update

Well, today wasn't a great day. She didn't have a lot of issues with pain, as I didn't hear her ask for morphine at all, but today's main issue was nausea. She didn't feel right all day, and didn't eat anything either. She was able to get a lot of sleep today, so hopefully that will make a difference. There was an additionl liter of fluid in her chest tube output, and it was clamped for the day, so hopefully that will come out tomorrow and they'll be able to use the drug that Dr. Jezorio mentioned that will seal off the lung's protective covering.

We didn't end up seeing Jennifer today as she was still dealing with the after effects of the bug or whatever she's dealing with. She discovered today that there is some leak under the bathroom so she's put a call in with the local handy man to hopefully get this fixed in the near future.

We plan to head back to Michigan tomorrow, but we'll be stopping in at the hospital before we leave.

I just hope she's able to eat something soon. Gail said that she was down to 107 upon entering the hospital, and I'm sure she's lost more weight this week. I guess we'll just have to wait and see and hope for the best.

Saturday Update

Long day at the hospital, but we did get to talk to a couple of doctors today. Mom's brother Bob made it into the valley late last night on his way back to CT from Reading, PA. (just a minor detour......... ;-) )

Mom's general practitioner made the first stop about 9.30a, and she seemed to think that while this was a bit of a set back, that mom will likely rebound pretty well and be able to continue her chemo treatments and return home relatively soon. She wasn't too sure about the chest tube, but another doctor stopped by later and had the drain continue, and there was a total of more than 2 liters of fluid by the time we left. We talked to her pulminary specialist, and she felt that the chest tube would remain in until Monday, and then they were going to try a drug that will coat the lining that protects the lung, and hopefully prevent further fluid from building up.

She's still having quite a bit of pain, and looks for the morphine every two hours on the dot, but the biggest pain right now is the chest tube, so once that's out, she'll hopefully have much less pain.

Another new thing for mom was a nebulized breathing treatment. They must have heard a little crackle in her lungs, and want to prevent pneumonia, so they started that tonight. She also has a "lung exerciser" which she needs to use to do deep breathing exercises and that should help to cough up the extra fluid.

One really good sign was that she asked for a fishamajig sandwich from Friendly's. She hasn't eaten a whole lot this week, but she seemed really interested in this, so we went out to dinner there and brought it back. She hadn't started it by the time we left, but I'm hoping she'll eat at least half of it.

I guess Jennifer has caught some kind of bug, as she's not been feeling well, and now Conrad has the same symptoms. (No need for a big description, let's just say "stomach problems.") He drank out of one of her glasses, so hopefully she didn't transfer the bug to Mom, but needless to say, we'll likely not be connecting with them tomorrow.

We'll probably head up there a little later tomorrow, and try to get Mom out of bed, and at least into the chair next to it. She's likely not going to be able to go far with the chest tube in, but she's got to move around somewhat.

More news tomorrow.................

Reporting Live from Happy Valley!

Gail, Nate and I arrived in the valley tonight, and we saw Mom for an hour and a half or so. They did install the chest tube today, and drained off what looked to be more than 1 liter of fluid. The doctor had clamped it earlier in the day, but left it installed, so I'm not sure what that means, but it's likely that she'll have to try to sleep with it in all night. Mom's brother, Bob, will be arriving late tonight and plans to go up to the hospital with me tomorrow morning. We're hoping to talk to Dr. Razia who is the oncologist that Mom has been seeing since last year. More news tomorrow.............

Fluid Removal Delayed

Well, they were going to draw off the fluid in her lungs yesterday, but her cumadin level was too high, and remained high today. I talked to her an hour or so ago, and she sounded like she was doing pretty well. She's still taking morphine regularly to control the pain, but she was coherent and responsive. We talked about some TV shows that were on this week, and about us visiting Pauline over the weekend. We'll be heading to the valley tomorrow, so I'll have a first hand report at some point this weekend. I'm hoping that we might get to talk to the doctor Saturday morning to ask about where things stand and what the future holds.