In the hospital again!

Paul has not been feeling right since his biopsy.  He was having pain off and on in his abdomen.  Sunday it started to get even worse.  I noticed he was not eating very much (not that he does anyway).  By Monday (yesterday), I knew that he needed medical attention.  He was trying to be strong and tell me he would be fine.  Of course, I didn’t listen and called the oncologist nurse.  She contacted a nurse in the Acute Care Clinic at Huntsman who immediately called me back.    She told me to bring Paul right away.

Paul did not argue with me.  He just got in the car and I drove us to Huntsman.  He was in pain the whole way.  He felt every bump!  He started to dry heave a lot.  I knew that he was getting worse.  By the time we got there he was in severe pain!

Paul got out of the car as quickly as he could and headed for the bathroom.  Mind you, he wasn’t moving super fast because he was walking very hunched over.  As I was waiting for him outside the men’s restroom, I could hear him dry heaving.  I really started to get worried for him and my tears started to flow.  I started to sob right there in the hallway!  Finally a male doctor walked by and I asked him to go in and check on Paul.  This cute elderly couple walked by at the same time and started to hug and console me.  The doctor came out and said he his fine. He is just dry heaving.  Well, that didn’t seem fine to me!  I knew he was in severe pain!

Paul managed to come out a few minutes later.  We went up to the second floor and checked in.  They got him back in a room in about 10 minutes.  The doctor who met with us was very nice.  The nurse accessed his port and attempted to get some pain meds him in.  It took awhile, but they finally got the right dosage and he started to relax.  At that point, I started to relax….it is so incredibly difficult to watch someone you love suffer so much!   I even went into the bathroom and called a friend who recently lost her husband to cancer.  I asked her if she ever had meltdowns while they were at Huntsman.  She said that she did on a regular basis.  It somehow made me feel better knowing that I am not alone in having an emotional breakdown!

I was grateful when our three oldest children arrived at the hospital.  We were able to be strong for each other.  We even managed to laugh together.    It seemed easier to cope with what was going on.

After a CT scan, it was determined that Paul has a small bowel obstruction.  They do not know if it is caused by a tumor or a stricture (they can’t tell).  Anyway, they admitted him to Huntsman Hospital to treat him with IV fluids, pain meds and complete bowel rest.  Evidently, 80% of all obstruction resolve on there own.

I need to interject here that Paul had some good pain meds…he was very “loopy”.  He had us all laughing with some of the comments he was making!  The doctors even found him to be rather amusing…

It was nice to finally get Paul settled in a hospital room.  I was so exhausted!  I felt like I had run a marathon!  It is amazing what stress can do to a body.  I went home last night, got our younger daughters from our friends house and basically crashed!

I arrived at the hospital this morning to find a much improved husband.  He had not had any pain meds since last night.  He said he felt good…the pain was gone.  When the doctors came in they were very surprised to see how well he was doing.  They decided to put him on a clear liquid diet today and then if he does well try him on regular food tomorrow. 

He did quite well today with the clear liquid diet.  I hope tomorrow goes as well!  They are planning on keeping Paul for a couple of days to make sure he can eat before he leaves…I am just praying that it all works out.

The surgical team met with us today and told us that they will not operate on Paul unless it is a “do or die” situation because he is considered very high risk because of his cancer.  They said the complications could be very bad…

I see TPN (form of intravenous feeding-used for patients who cannot or should not get their nutrition through eating) in our near future again.  I just think it is too hard on Paul’s bowels to have to digest the food without a stomach.  He has to eat constantly and therefore he is in constant pain (obviously, the bowel obstruction was worse than his normal pain).

Once again we are being blessed with help from others!  Thank you all for everything you have done and are doing for us.  You are truly our angels!

I am so tired…I am heading to bed!