And You Thought Epidurals Were Only For Pregnant Women

Hi Everyone! Well as some of you have figured out, B is again in the hospital. It has been a very rough 5 days, to say the least. It all started on Friday night and continued on through the entire weekend. My baby sis and the rest of the Courterier Crew came in from the Windy city for a nice long visit and to lend a hand. I knew things were pretty bad when B declined going to the pumpkin patch with the family to stay home and rest on Saturday. Not to mention when I got home on Saturday the State game was on, but B was sleeping. B is such a MSU enthusiast and never misses a game....another red light that things were heading downhill... fast!! B and I managed to make it out to dinner on Saturday night to Rose's in EGR with the Homrich Family, however it was obvious to everyone that something was very wrong. The pain was so bad that it was difficult for B to make it through dinner. He constantly had to change positions and was struggling to stay awake at the table.

So, now it's Sunday and the pain continues to climb. The annual Sunday NFL football watching session was cut short when B had an off the scale pain attack. This attack landed me on the phone with Dr # 12 and resulted in, yup, another increase in his morphine. So the visiting RN had to come to the house 2 times on Sunday. We managed to make it through the Amazing Race before hitting the hay and lights out.....or so we thought.

I was so tired on Sunday that within minutes I was lights out to the point that it was almost difficult getting me up. Unfortunately, the deep sleep was interrupted with an untolerable pain attack. This particular attack resulted in relocating B to our upstairs living room couch. Both he and pooch ended up snuggling together on the couch since the most comfortable position is a seated position.....yes I am serious when I say that B slept sitting up just like the cat and dog.

Turn the page to Monday -- the pain is continuing to climb. I again spend most of the day on the phone with the Dr.'s and they again decide to increase the morphine. With this recent increase in morphine it is now becoming increasingly difficult to carry on a conversation with B, who is now falling asleep mid-sentence. After teaching class - yes, TEACHING CLASS MONDAY NIGHT, B arrives home for some dinner and we make our way to bed. We make it through the night, and awake for Tuesday. Both B and I are exhausted, but B is suffering so much that walking is a freakin' JOKE. I again place calls into all of his Dr.'s and they pretty much order me to bring him into the hospital. This is something that I have to run by B, who does not object at all. That should give you an indication of how crappy he was feeling.

Everything happened pretty fast, but B and I were at 5 South at Butterworth by 4 pm on Tuesday. They were able to arrange a direct admit so we didn't have to go through the ER and they had room 5272 prepped and ready for Team Muttz....that is now our new happy abode (and by happy, I mean frickin place of our attendance for at least the next few days until the pain is subsided enough that B can function like a normal human being!!!)!!!

So, what's been going on since we've been here?!? The main/only goal of the direct admit is to get B's pain under control. The primary source of pain is in his right groin, and right lower back. The right lower back pain is a relatively new source of pain, however it is a real ball buster. So Tuesday night was filled with consults and a lot of team planning. We met with Dr. # 12 who had already consulted with the latest Dr. (Dr. # 14) the anesthesiologist. Both Dr.'s had decided that the best/new approach would be to introduce a epidural into the mix. The goal is to see if the epidural would produce any leg/back relief. It is both their hopes that it will, and in the case it does, they plan to insert a permanent pain pump/nerve blocking pump under the skin. The way the pump works is that it delivers pain meds directly into the spinal cord, having a faster and stronger effect on the brain receptors. The good news is that B gets to get rid of his fanny pack. So no more flash backs to the 80's....sorry ladies and gents. The only way to find out if this is worthwhile is to run a test epidural on B. This was a procedure that required an Operating Room, and was something that was scheduled early this morning. Dr. # 12 also cut back on the morphine because it was his thought that the morphine was actually having an opposite effect on B, so instead of helping it was hurting.

By nights end, Dr. # 12 introduced a new pain drug, Ketamine, and removed the morphine. Ketamine, also known as special K on the street, had a pretty toxic effect on B, and they really had to dial it back early this AM. When B woke up this morning he was complaining that he felt really "f-ed up" and he felt like he was going to blow chunks. And trust me folks, you don't want B to vomit. As I said to the RN, he is like the exorcist when he gets sick, so stand back!! Luckily, they got pain meds dialed back, thanks in large part to a full cup of ice chunks, and B started feeling much better. By this time he was already down stairs on 2 south ready for the epidural procedure to begin. So let me start by saying that B is not pregnant.....haha right?

**Side note** D-Bone and I were looking pretty rough, and I saw just about every Dr. that I work for/with. You could have easily mistaken us for Wal-Mart Wolverines.** Anyways, back to the point of this blog - who would have thought that B would be the first to get the epidural in this family?!? Nonetheless, he was! He beat me to the punch. Right now, B has a temporary epidural in his spine, and the Dr.'s are working dilligently to figure out the right cocktail of meds that are going to work for him. We are hopefully optimistic, as Dr. 14 put it. At this particular time, however, B is not feeling any better!! They told us to plan on being here through the weekend, so our plans for a trip to Chicago this weekend have been canceled...we'll miss you fellas, but we're confident you'll make us proud - Go Green!

We also met with Dr. # 4, who ordered an MRI. B was only able to make it through half of the lumbar/thoracic MRI due to pain, and it looks like they are going to have to hold off in completing the scan since the epidural has metal in it. And metal and an MRI equal a big no no. So Dr. # 4 and Dr. # 14 are going to work out a time in between the removal of the temporary epidural and the pump-install procedure to get the MRI completed. The MRI is to rule out any spread of disease...poo poo.

Well, that's all I have energy to type for now...plus I think I am burning a whole in the keyboard...plus, B is actually still trying to get some work done tonight and create an online lecture for his classes tomorrow!. Both B and I have met some family and friends here in the hospital that happened to be on B's care team, which is comforting. What a small world! We appreciate the prayers and kinds words, and are just hoping for the best so that we can get a bit of B back.

Thank you all for your support, and we'll be in touch with updates as we get them!!

Love,
The Muttz's