Apparently, Advil on an empty stomach leads to major trouble for Rudy. He dealt with unceasing nausea from 2am to around 9am. At CTCA, they gave him an IV mix that dealt with pain, nausea and fluid loss and now he is almost back to normal. He's a little nervous about eating yet, but hopefully, he'll be back on track as the day goes on. His sister, Nancy, baked him a chocolate cake with her famous homemade icing. Surely he'll be able to sample that sometime later today. It's one of his favorites.
We're home now and both of us are wiped out. We'll be turning off the phones and chillin' out for a while.
GOOD NEWS - they did his lab work while at CTCA today and he's on for chemo!!!! I had the word definitely in that sentence, then took it out. It seemed like pushing our luck. We've learned that things can change fast. One minute we're up. The next we're down. I never did care for roller coasters. There's a movie I see listed often, called The Magic of Ordinary Days. That title grabbed my attention and I can't hardly stop thinking about it. We really miss ordinary days. I know I'm rambling, but I'm so tired that I'm not even going to go back and edit.
CTCA took great care of us, as usual. Tiffany was our nurse today. This is our third time with her and she feels like family. We also had a physicians assistant named Brandy, who was fabulous. We're becoming close to so many people there. Daniel, one of the valets, is a real sweetheart. He took care of us today, too. Brooke, from Dr. Thompson's office, spotted us near the cafeteria and bolted over to check on how Rudy was doing. She let us know what all they were doing from Dr. Thompson's office. Everyone coordinates so well from department to department. We know full well how rare this is.
My point is, our path is not smooth. Our journey is not easy. But having so many wonderful people giving us such love and support along the way makes it bearable.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some details, but it's all I can write for now. Rudy is already asleep.
Everyone - thank you for your prayers and love! Hopefully, the rest of his birthday will be nice.
Showing posts with label Fluids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fluids. Show all posts
Monday, March 2, 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
Back to CTCA
Early this morning, we went back over to CTCA. Rudy wasn't throwing up as often, but was still nauseous and feeling like he might throw up at any moment. Also, his stomach was hurting from the last few days of being sick. He looked pretty bad.
Today, we had a wonderful doctor who took things a little further. Fluids for dehydration and Zofran for anti-nausea are what most start with. What comes after those two varies. Dr. Blake gave Rudy several things that addressed the torn up stomach.
Dr. Blake is a professor at Morehouse. He must be one heck of a professor. He explained the stomach issues better than anyone I've ever heard. Best of all, he gave Rudy meds that, so far, have helped more than anything anyone has done for him during these bouts with nausea.
Two different times, we mentioned how much we liked Dr. Blake. Both times, with two different nurses, they lit up and agreed and then remarked with great expression that he was also incredibly smart. He's the best kind of smart. He can explain things in simple terms and we could tell that he truly cared.
Dr. Blake was very attentive, too. We saw him so many times that I completely lost count. He checked on Rudy often and discussed every single action taken.
One more surprising thing - Rudy had lab work done both Saturday and again today. The platelets were up in the 40's on Saturday and they were 68 today. Hurrah! Despite being sick, his blood is recovering!
I sure hope that's all the excitement we'll have for this week. Rudy is sound asleep right now and I think I'm going to crash soon myself. I'm so tired that I feel a bit goofy. If there are typos and errors throughout this post, I hope you'll pardon me. :-D
PS - Linda and Nancy were with us most of today. They come to as many meetings as they can. Today, they also picked up prescriptions and made a stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things that Rudy will be able to handle once he's ready for solid foods. I'll never be able to thank them enough for all they have done. ♥
Today, we had a wonderful doctor who took things a little further. Fluids for dehydration and Zofran for anti-nausea are what most start with. What comes after those two varies. Dr. Blake gave Rudy several things that addressed the torn up stomach.
Dr. Blake is a professor at Morehouse. He must be one heck of a professor. He explained the stomach issues better than anyone I've ever heard. Best of all, he gave Rudy meds that, so far, have helped more than anything anyone has done for him during these bouts with nausea.
Two different times, we mentioned how much we liked Dr. Blake. Both times, with two different nurses, they lit up and agreed and then remarked with great expression that he was also incredibly smart. He's the best kind of smart. He can explain things in simple terms and we could tell that he truly cared.
Dr. Blake was very attentive, too. We saw him so many times that I completely lost count. He checked on Rudy often and discussed every single action taken.
One more surprising thing - Rudy had lab work done both Saturday and again today. The platelets were up in the 40's on Saturday and they were 68 today. Hurrah! Despite being sick, his blood is recovering!
I sure hope that's all the excitement we'll have for this week. Rudy is sound asleep right now and I think I'm going to crash soon myself. I'm so tired that I feel a bit goofy. If there are typos and errors throughout this post, I hope you'll pardon me. :-D
PS - Linda and Nancy were with us most of today. They come to as many meetings as they can. Today, they also picked up prescriptions and made a stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things that Rudy will be able to handle once he's ready for solid foods. I'll never be able to thank them enough for all they have done. ♥
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
More Fluids
Vomiting continues this morning. Diarrhea, too.
Rudy is pumped full of fluids again - 3rd day in a row.
We still haven't seen a doctor - just nurses. When we went in, we were hoping he'd be admitted to the hospital. Surely, the over-the-top side effects are about over.
He was nauseous all day but is beginning to eat just a tad – things like jello.
We're really hopeful that tomorrow we won't need a trip to the ER for fluids and that we can stay home and sleep. That would be something to be truly thankful for!
We'll really miss spending the day with our family, but we know we'll see them all soon. Meanwhile, everyone have a fabulous Thanksgiving and take the time to truly appreciate how many wonderful people you have in your life.
Rudy is pumped full of fluids again - 3rd day in a row.
We still haven't seen a doctor - just nurses. When we went in, we were hoping he'd be admitted to the hospital. Surely, the over-the-top side effects are about over.
He was nauseous all day but is beginning to eat just a tad – things like jello.
We're really hopeful that tomorrow we won't need a trip to the ER for fluids and that we can stay home and sleep. That would be something to be truly thankful for!
We'll really miss spending the day with our family, but we know we'll see them all soon. Meanwhile, everyone have a fabulous Thanksgiving and take the time to truly appreciate how many wonderful people you have in your life.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Fluids Day 1
Rudy slept for a while overnight, but as soon as he got up around 4am, he felt nauseous. He took a nausea pill and soon after had a horrible bout of vomiting. We're going to get fluids this morning. I'm hoping they will give him anti-nausea stuff thru the IV as well. He feels terrible.
4:45am - He's still getting sick and now having diarrhea as well. He feels terrible. Said he feels like he’s running a fever but doesn't want a thermometer in his mouth
7am - I called the on-call service again. I asked if we could just be at the office when they opened at 8. She said no - we have to call at 8 and make an appointment. ^%$#@! Hopefully, they'll see him fast. I'm ready to go.
I thought about just taking him to emergency, but that process would likely take ages. In the end it may be faster and more efficient to call the office.
We really feel left to fend for ourselves. My advice to anyone having chemo for the first time - do it towards the beginning of the week so if trouble hits, you'll be able to get help from the office without waiting over a weekend.
The on-call PA was nice this morning. I don't want to make her out to be cold and heartless. She said they would likely make a number of adjustments in chemo 2 and that chemo side effects should not be this bad.
7:30am – try another Zofran – it dissolves in mouth – easier to do than swallowing a pill with water, which would likely bring on another attack of vomiting
After 8 - Went to Dr’s office this am. Had IV fluids and Phenergen and Attavan thru IV. He vomited again around noon while getting fluids.
Came home with 2 new Rx for nausea – Prometh/PLO wrist gel and Transderm-Scop ear patch.
He's a tiny bit better after the fluids. I think his color is better, but he still says he feels awful and he's weak as can be. He got fluids, nausea meds thru IV and now has two additional nausea meds that are not oral. One is a patch. The other a cream. We started those around 1pm. They said each of the drugs approaches nausea from a different angle. Hopefully, we have all the angles covered now.
Went 9+ hours without getting sick but sometime in the evening vomiting started again
ALSO - if anyone needs to talk to me over the next few days, text, message or email me and I WILL CALL YOU soon. I'd like to limit incoming phone calls if possible to give Rudy a chance to rest undisturbed. He's exhausted.
4:45am - He's still getting sick and now having diarrhea as well. He feels terrible. Said he feels like he’s running a fever but doesn't want a thermometer in his mouth
7am - I called the on-call service again. I asked if we could just be at the office when they opened at 8. She said no - we have to call at 8 and make an appointment. ^%$#@! Hopefully, they'll see him fast. I'm ready to go.
I thought about just taking him to emergency, but that process would likely take ages. In the end it may be faster and more efficient to call the office.
We really feel left to fend for ourselves. My advice to anyone having chemo for the first time - do it towards the beginning of the week so if trouble hits, you'll be able to get help from the office without waiting over a weekend.
The on-call PA was nice this morning. I don't want to make her out to be cold and heartless. She said they would likely make a number of adjustments in chemo 2 and that chemo side effects should not be this bad.
7:30am – try another Zofran – it dissolves in mouth – easier to do than swallowing a pill with water, which would likely bring on another attack of vomiting
After 8 - Went to Dr’s office this am. Had IV fluids and Phenergen and Attavan thru IV. He vomited again around noon while getting fluids.
Came home with 2 new Rx for nausea – Prometh/PLO wrist gel and Transderm-Scop ear patch.
He's a tiny bit better after the fluids. I think his color is better, but he still says he feels awful and he's weak as can be. He got fluids, nausea meds thru IV and now has two additional nausea meds that are not oral. One is a patch. The other a cream. We started those around 1pm. They said each of the drugs approaches nausea from a different angle. Hopefully, we have all the angles covered now.
Went 9+ hours without getting sick but sometime in the evening vomiting started again
ALSO - if anyone needs to talk to me over the next few days, text, message or email me and I WILL CALL YOU soon. I'd like to limit incoming phone calls if possible to give Rudy a chance to rest undisturbed. He's exhausted.
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