This morning our son, Kevin, flew in from New York. He will be staying with us for a few days.
Doug was standing in the doorway awaiting his hug when Kevin drove up. Then they sat together and talked for a good while. Doug is not prone to sit up for this amount of time yet so I reason that his child's care made the difference.
~Carole
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Patient
There really is nothing to report this week other than Doug is still in bed. He gets up to go to the bathroom and to the clinic each morning for platelets or units of whole blood but thus far that uses up all his energy. The following is my candid observation.
Doug is a patient with patience for if he were impatient he might become an inpatient.
Patient—(noun) somebody who receives medical treatment.
Patience—the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties.
Impatient—annoyed at being kept waiting or by being delayed.
Inpatient—somebody receiving medical treatment that requires a hospital stay.
~Encarta Dictionary (online)
~Carole
Doug is a patient with patience for if he were impatient he might become an inpatient.
Patient—(noun) somebody who receives medical treatment.
Patience—the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties.
Impatient—annoyed at being kept waiting or by being delayed.
Inpatient—somebody receiving medical treatment that requires a hospital stay.
~Encarta Dictionary (online)
~Carole
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Back to the Clinic
He is out of the hospital as of a few minutes ago and I'm cooking up a storm! Too bad his stomach shrunk and mine hasn't!!!!
~Carole
~Carole
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Soft Food
Today marks the 12th day of hospitalization for Doug. The rocket has not taken off yet.
Doug did ask the doctor if he could switch from a liquid diet and have soft food today. That is progress!
The doctor changed the order this morning but the noon tray was the same-o-same-o-liquid "diet". The gal from the kitchen said they'd check the order and bring up another tray.
I had to come home to do some laundry. When I returned I found there had been no second tray. As part of my job description as his caregiver I made sure the nursing staff understood his desire for soft food this evening!!!
Tonight they brought in his dinner tray: a breaded pork chop, mashed sweet potato, rings of yellow squash, a white roll and chocolate cake. Sooooooooo I marched back to make another point. When he was admitted to the hospital they asked if he had any dietary needs. At that time he noted he was a vegetarian and alergic to peanuts.
They apologized for the oversight and said they'd bring up another tray of soft food as soon as the rest of the trays were distributed.
The next tray had a soup bowl size portion of white rice, a baked potato, a side dish of cottage cheese and oh, yes, a "health shake".
I can't wait to get him back home to feed him colorful soft food!
~Carole
Doug did ask the doctor if he could switch from a liquid diet and have soft food today. That is progress!
The doctor changed the order this morning but the noon tray was the same-o-same-o-liquid "diet". The gal from the kitchen said they'd check the order and bring up another tray.
I had to come home to do some laundry. When I returned I found there had been no second tray. As part of my job description as his caregiver I made sure the nursing staff understood his desire for soft food this evening!!!
Tonight they brought in his dinner tray: a breaded pork chop, mashed sweet potato, rings of yellow squash, a white roll and chocolate cake. Sooooooooo I marched back to make another point. When he was admitted to the hospital they asked if he had any dietary needs. At that time he noted he was a vegetarian and alergic to peanuts.
They apologized for the oversight and said they'd bring up another tray of soft food as soon as the rest of the trays were distributed.
The next tray had a soup bowl size portion of white rice, a baked potato, a side dish of cottage cheese and oh, yes, a "health shake".
I can't wait to get him back home to feed him colorful soft food!
~Carole
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Hospital Update
Today I received 3 telephone calls and if I recall correctly 6 e-mail messages asking how we are doing. I guess that means it is time to take a break and blog for a minute or two with you. I haven't written because 1) the past seven days Doug has been in the hospital where one day blends into another and 2) I've been tired by the time I get home and leave as soon as I can in the morning.
When I asked Doug what he wanted me to share with you he told me to tell you that he is amazed at the body's ability to take a hit (in this case from toxic chemo) and over time renew itself. He said to tell you he's glad to be bubbling up from rock bottom. While he hasn't surfaced just yet, he is bobbing up, which is the correct direction. The counts have turned around and are increasing each day. Either tomorrow or the next the doctors predict that his blood counts will "sky rocket" and Doug will be able to tell the doctors himself that he felt the change within.
Doug's courage has always been good throughout this ordeal. He gives credit to the Lord for His power and strength getting him to where he is today. He is appreciative of everything I do for him and wants to make sure I'm taking care of myself. He wanted me to be sure to thank you for your continued prayers, concern and support for both of us.
The medical team is amazing. They give us confidence that everything is as they expect it Although rate of increase in Doug's white counts might be a bit slower than they'd like them to be it is not uncommon and is seen by them as "normal". I don't know what that word means but we like the sound of normal!
Currently there are 8 other stem cell transplant patients at various stages on this specialized ward. This part of the hospital also caters to those individuals that come just for a series of chemo treatments to treat their blood cancers. The interesting thing to me is that I never bump into another family member. Isolation is just that.
This has definitely been the most intense time for us in the past 9 months. It is probably a good thing that when Doug was feeling so good one of the team would say, "Now don't be surprised if you have to go into the hospital at some point" rather than saying to us "Plan on going to the hospital before this is over"!! They would also tell us that everybody reacts differently to the after effects of the "sledge hammer" chemo. We know for sure he is where he needs to be.
The food tray looks the same morning, noon and night as he is on a liquid diet. It is the subconscious things we take for granted everyday that I hope we never forget from this experience. No bodily function is small at all.
If you can swallow right now you are a person most blessed.
~Carole
When I asked Doug what he wanted me to share with you he told me to tell you that he is amazed at the body's ability to take a hit (in this case from toxic chemo) and over time renew itself. He said to tell you he's glad to be bubbling up from rock bottom. While he hasn't surfaced just yet, he is bobbing up, which is the correct direction. The counts have turned around and are increasing each day. Either tomorrow or the next the doctors predict that his blood counts will "sky rocket" and Doug will be able to tell the doctors himself that he felt the change within.
Doug's courage has always been good throughout this ordeal. He gives credit to the Lord for His power and strength getting him to where he is today. He is appreciative of everything I do for him and wants to make sure I'm taking care of myself. He wanted me to be sure to thank you for your continued prayers, concern and support for both of us.
The medical team is amazing. They give us confidence that everything is as they expect it Although rate of increase in Doug's white counts might be a bit slower than they'd like them to be it is not uncommon and is seen by them as "normal". I don't know what that word means but we like the sound of normal!
Currently there are 8 other stem cell transplant patients at various stages on this specialized ward. This part of the hospital also caters to those individuals that come just for a series of chemo treatments to treat their blood cancers. The interesting thing to me is that I never bump into another family member. Isolation is just that.
This has definitely been the most intense time for us in the past 9 months. It is probably a good thing that when Doug was feeling so good one of the team would say, "Now don't be surprised if you have to go into the hospital at some point" rather than saying to us "Plan on going to the hospital before this is over"!! They would also tell us that everybody reacts differently to the after effects of the "sledge hammer" chemo. We know for sure he is where he needs to be.
The food tray looks the same morning, noon and night as he is on a liquid diet. It is the subconscious things we take for granted everyday that I hope we never forget from this experience. No bodily function is small at all.
If you can swallow right now you are a person most blessed.
~Carole
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
June 4
We tried to beat the odds but didn't quite make it. I had to leave Doug in the hospital tonight. It's a good thing because they will be able to manage pain in his esophagus better than I can. His counts are at their lowest and he was finding it more and more difficult to swallow his medications in tablet form. He also wasn't eating.
We had been warned that this might happen as it is "normal". The good cells were killed off with the cancer cells and are not able to regenerate until the white counts come up. The next couple of days it will be best for the team to treat him 24 hours/day to keep him as comfortable as possible rather than the 4 hours/day we've been in the clinic. Then the counts will jump back up and those tissues will heal rapidly--or so they say. Since everything else they've told us has come true I believe them on this one also.
~Carole
We had been warned that this might happen as it is "normal". The good cells were killed off with the cancer cells and are not able to regenerate until the white counts come up. The next couple of days it will be best for the team to treat him 24 hours/day to keep him as comfortable as possible rather than the 4 hours/day we've been in the clinic. Then the counts will jump back up and those tissues will heal rapidly--or so they say. Since everything else they've told us has come true I believe them on this one also.
~Carole
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
May 30-June 3
The last few days have been both good and not so good for Doug. We have been told it would be this way as his system adjusts/reacts to all it is being given to beat the cancer and engraft the stem cells.
On the good days Doug has been sure he would beat the odds and not have any more nausea. Not so. It comes in waves. We do have medication to keep it in check but sometimes it requires more fluids which we get in our daily clinic visits.
Yesterday was Doug's birthday. I gave him a card with a roller coaster on the front--and a pill case with S M T W TH F S on it for laughs. He received Happy Birthday baloons from his administrative assistants and recieved bags of sodium chloride, ondansetron and dexamethazone through his central line from the clinic!!!!
We have been asked if the stem cells were treated to know that no tumor cells were in the two bags Doug received. The PA we spoke to about this said that the cells go through the FLOW process at the blood bank and he thinks they are radiated as well. It is a question we have asked before but we want to ask the doctor whom we have not seen since the infusion. Physician's Assistants (PA) and chemo nurses are who we deal with daily.
To date Doug has remained an out-patient and we are very thankful for that. They warn us that the next couple of days could still be Doug's low points as indicated in his daily blood panel where the numbers are still "too high" to say he has hit bottom. I don't think they like to say exactly what he can expect because every body reacts differently.
The main thing that would send him to the hospital will be a fever. There is probably less bacteria to be concerned about out of the hospital than in it! What they do tell us might occur often does come true. We are amazed at the science behind all of this.
I was talking with a post doc man who is doing a neuroscience fellowship at the medical center here. His interest is in stem cells as it impacts Parkinson's disease. He told me that they are now using skin cells (at the follicle level) and multiplying them into stem cells in the laboratory (like they do umbilical cord stem cells) to make a fluid they can inject into the skull to the area impacted. The stem cells then regenerate the area that has been affected. He is Chinese and returning to China to partner with people doing this in his home country. (Now there is room for more information in this area to be sure as we had a very limited cross-cultural communication on the subject but that is what I took away from it.)
On Sunday I was discussing this with the PA who affirmed the fact and told me that there is also someone in the hospital right now undergoing a stem cell transplant procedure they are using to combat her multiple sclerosis. Perhaps it is the "learner" in me but I want to read up more on these new treatments. The teacher/student in me wishes I could tour some of the labs and see for myself. On the other hand there are probably plenty of mice and rats I'd have to overlook.
Perhaps you saw the television piece when the three powerful evening news anchors from ABC,NBC, CBS came together. They were promoting something that will take place around the world and on each network September 5th. You can go to the website http://www.standup2cancer.org/to see for yourself.
The point they were making in their broadcast is that we need to find better ways for those doing research in a particular cancer to collaborate, funds to do so being one of many limiting factors. The goal is to eliminate this horrific disease that is no respecter of age, gender, or culture. Because Doug's future, as so many others, now depends on additional research I, for one, will take more interest. If you, a reader, struggles with another terminal disease I do not wish to diminish that fact. I'm just sharing what is on my heart and wish for the day that will end all suffering.
~Carole
On the good days Doug has been sure he would beat the odds and not have any more nausea. Not so. It comes in waves. We do have medication to keep it in check but sometimes it requires more fluids which we get in our daily clinic visits.
Yesterday was Doug's birthday. I gave him a card with a roller coaster on the front--and a pill case with S M T W TH F S on it for laughs. He received Happy Birthday baloons from his administrative assistants and recieved bags of sodium chloride, ondansetron and dexamethazone through his central line from the clinic!!!!
We have been asked if the stem cells were treated to know that no tumor cells were in the two bags Doug received. The PA we spoke to about this said that the cells go through the FLOW process at the blood bank and he thinks they are radiated as well. It is a question we have asked before but we want to ask the doctor whom we have not seen since the infusion. Physician's Assistants (PA) and chemo nurses are who we deal with daily.
To date Doug has remained an out-patient and we are very thankful for that. They warn us that the next couple of days could still be Doug's low points as indicated in his daily blood panel where the numbers are still "too high" to say he has hit bottom. I don't think they like to say exactly what he can expect because every body reacts differently.
The main thing that would send him to the hospital will be a fever. There is probably less bacteria to be concerned about out of the hospital than in it! What they do tell us might occur often does come true. We are amazed at the science behind all of this.
I was talking with a post doc man who is doing a neuroscience fellowship at the medical center here. His interest is in stem cells as it impacts Parkinson's disease. He told me that they are now using skin cells (at the follicle level) and multiplying them into stem cells in the laboratory (like they do umbilical cord stem cells) to make a fluid they can inject into the skull to the area impacted. The stem cells then regenerate the area that has been affected. He is Chinese and returning to China to partner with people doing this in his home country. (Now there is room for more information in this area to be sure as we had a very limited cross-cultural communication on the subject but that is what I took away from it.)
On Sunday I was discussing this with the PA who affirmed the fact and told me that there is also someone in the hospital right now undergoing a stem cell transplant procedure they are using to combat her multiple sclerosis. Perhaps it is the "learner" in me but I want to read up more on these new treatments. The teacher/student in me wishes I could tour some of the labs and see for myself. On the other hand there are probably plenty of mice and rats I'd have to overlook.
Perhaps you saw the television piece when the three powerful evening news anchors from ABC,NBC, CBS came together. They were promoting something that will take place around the world and on each network September 5th. You can go to the website http://www.standup2cancer.org/to see for yourself.
The point they were making in their broadcast is that we need to find better ways for those doing research in a particular cancer to collaborate, funds to do so being one of many limiting factors. The goal is to eliminate this horrific disease that is no respecter of age, gender, or culture. Because Doug's future, as so many others, now depends on additional research I, for one, will take more interest. If you, a reader, struggles with another terminal disease I do not wish to diminish that fact. I'm just sharing what is on my heart and wish for the day that will end all suffering.
~Carole
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