Plan for the Future

It has now been over 2 weeks and B and I are still posting up here on 5 south. This week we faced many hard decisions. Following our shocking news on Saturday, B and I had to play a long game of hurry up and wait. It is a fact that not much happens in the hospital over the weekend so we had many questions that we wanted answered, but we had to wait for Monday, when everyone came back to work.

So first things first, we met with Dr. # 4 and he again explained to us that the cancer had spread quite a bit in the spine. He reported that a large amount of the spread is in the lumbar spine, but that many other areas of the spine are also affected. Dr. # 4 presented many scenarios, leaving us with a tough decision. He explained that with B having severe pain, he could recommend radiation to the most problematic spots. The problem is there are too many spots in the spine to radiate them all. So we could pick and choose which ones to radiate and go from there. Dr. # 4 said that radiation is simply for pain management and will not help in treating/controlling/preventing the cancer from spreading. Radiation is not cancer preventing but is strictly used for pain management. Dr. # 4 also presented scenario number 2, where we would start chemo this week. The chemo we hope will work in treating the cancer, preventing further spread, and effectively shrink the tumors (providing some relief). However Dr. # 4 said that there is no guarantee that B is going to feel better in terms of his pain and that the chemo may make him feel worse. And then there is scenario numbero 3, where we start chemo, and return to radiation later, or maybe somewhere in between chemo treatments. We simply can't do both at the same time....to risky for B's health.

This obliviously is the hardest decision we've had to make, and there are pros and cons to all 3 situations. After much deliberation with Dr.'s and family, we decided to move forward with the chemo. The new chemo will be a chemo directed at treating upper GI cancer and B starts treatment here in the hospital tomorrow. Chemo is going to run every week and will continue for 2 months, at which point they will rescan B and figure out if we are on the right track. Dr. # 4 feels this is a good decision, and like he said B can always revisit radiation later, so fingers crossed that this chemo works.

In addition B is feeling much better and has seemed to shake the C Diff. The antiobiotics seemed to have done their job and we hope to never, and I mean never, meet Mr. C Diff again. Dr. # 12 and 15 continue to work together to dial in the right mix of pain meds, and at this time they have adjusted the rate and amount of meds in his catheter 3 times. Dr. # 15 wants to be sure we are taking things slow since the prialt aka snail poison can have major hallucinogen effects. We have to make sure that B is not hearing voices and that he is accepting this amount of prialt appropriately. So far so good.

As for getting the hell out of here, not sure. We asked Dr. # 4 his feelings on getting B home and he said that right now B is too unstable to leave the hospital. He feels that B needs to be monitored closely and he feels that if we head home, we will most likely end up right back here on 5 south. So if you need us you know where to find us.

Lastly, the staff is working hard to get B more mobile. He pretty much has been in bed for the past 2 weeks and as a result he has developed 2 bed sores. They are stage 1, but still very very painful. The RN's are keeping a close eye on things and are trying hard to move him around every few hours. It is our goal to get B out of bed 3 times a day. We don't need any more problems at this point, that is for sure.

I promise to update as we learn more. Thanks again for the support and prayers.