No hospital Today... (originally posted 4/8/2009)

Last night was not a good night.

First, Granny called me before I got off work to tell me that Mom wasn't eating anything, wasn't drinking anything, barely talking. I do realize that my grandmather has a tendency to be WAY more panicky than I do, and overreacts more than I do in this situation, because it's her daughter. However, having talked to Mom earlier in the day, I knew she was in tremendous pain, and took her at her word. Dad was out of town on a business trip, which had already been rescheduled three or four times, and really couldn't be rescheduled again.

So I called her oncologist. Can I just mention how thankful I am that she has a terrific oncologist? And one of her nurses has been a friend of mom's for many, many years. I think they were on PTA together when I was in elementary school. The nurse called me back about 6:15, and I talked with her about what was going on. She told me that I needed to get some fluids into Mom, and if she needed to go to the ER, to just go. And moved her appt for 3:30 today up to 8:30 am.

I spent the evening with Mom, and forced her to drink some vanilla Ensure that I had blended with ice to make a slushy. She kept it down, which was good, but said it felt like a rock iin her stomach. What was really concerning to me was that she was taking Dilaudid (one of the strongest pain meds, used frequently with patients who have had amputations and have "phantom pain") every 2 hours. I felt bad for my grandparents, becuase I know they were exhausted and worried, but have been staying with Mom while Dad was gone. So I had Pete bring over our good air mattress for them to sleep on, so that if she needed to go to the ER during the night, they would be able to hear her.

Thankfully, I didn't get a phone call saying they were going to the ER last night after I left. They took her to the Dr this morning, who placed an IV and gave her about a liter or so of Saline with some dextrose in it, to help perk her up. We had a mercifully slow day at work, and the office manager let me off about lunchtime to go help take care of mom. Even when you're a doctor, if you work for someone else, you have to get permission to leave early just like everyone else.

The oncologist dismissed her about 3 this afternoon, and I brought Mom home. But not before she requested to stop at Sonic for a Strawberry limeade slush. She loves those things! We got her changed back into pajamas, and she's sleeping now. Has been off and on for a couple of hours.

The oncologist changed her meds. She is not to take her chemo until we get her back to being stable. We might look at going the IV route, as opposed to the oral route, if she can't get any good days. Quality of life is very important, as everyone who has supported someone through cancer knows! He changed her blood pressure meds, and changed her to a pain patch as opposed to the pills. This will give her more continual relief, we just have to change the patch every 3 days.

She was in some pain after we got back home and she laid down, but I noticed it was when she laid flat on her back. I suggested that we prop her up, and now she is sleeping comfortably. I think (and this and 50 cents will buy you a coke) that when she lays flat, the gas in her stomach can't escape, so it feels very bloated and painful. But if she is propped up, the gas is able to move, so she is able to be comfortable. Anyway , it makes sense to me.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We have made the decision to postpone Easter lunch for now. Eric will be home in a couple of weeks, so we will have a joint late Easter/Eric's home celebration. She's just not up to having it right now, and it really upsets her to miss family stuff.