Yet again, we are back in the hospital.
If you've been reading along, you know that Emmah has been experiencing some discomfort. You should also know that we were up in Wisconsin having a "relaxing" tree cutting weekend. You should also know that they wanted to start chemo on Emmah on the 20th. You should also know that we declined and wanted to defer until after the holiday and tree cutting.
Okay... ? Okay.
How did we get here? Just lucky I guess...
So our intention was to leave Wisconsin Monday and come in Tuesday to start a round chemo. Then we had this idea that given that her level of discomfort was increasing we leave earlier Monday and see if we could get in on Monday. Fate must've been listening because it intervened yet again.
Oh we got in on Monday all right... just not exactly as we planned.
Seems that the discomfort had blown up into full blown pain. It's funny how things like that never crop up when you're awake and coherent... it happens @ 4am and you're forced to fight through the stupor and make a decision.
Emmah had been "managing" her pain with Tylenol, but when "it" struck... Tylenol wasn't doing it, so she took some dilaudid. Dilaudid wasn't doing it. Now what? We're about an hour and a half from U. of C. and while we were not in the middle of nowhere, we certainly weren't in a large metropolis either.
In the end we decided to call 911 and have her taken to the nearest facility. So first an officer showed up carrying a little bag. I'm not sure if he was EMT or not, but it wasn't long before an ambulance was rolling down the street out of which an elderlyish gentleman came out carrying a bag. Then another flashing light vehicle rolled down. Then finally the real deal ambulance came. Julie and I "joked" (to ourselves) that we could've gotten her to the hospital (up there) faster than us sitting there waiting for everyone to show up. Problem was we weren't sure where to go. I'm not complaining about the care she got from them, just that is seemed to take a while to finally get her on her way to somewhere.
We pretty much got everyone up and out the door and left everything behind.
We got to the hospital and we were nervous to allow them to access her port. For as much as we have it... "luck" was with is in that the nurse that we had in the ER used to work as an oncology nurse in Chicago... BUT that was over 10 years ago. We told her what size huber and how the ones who've had success in accessing her port do it. A Huber is what they call the needle that they stick into the port. She got it first attempt, so that was a good thing.
Huge actually.
So they administered some dilaudid through the port and that seemed to take the edge off a bit. Emmah's pain rating was a 10 out of 10 and this brought it down to a 7 (ish) she said. One small problem... when administering dilaudid via IV she has to be monitored for a bit to make sure there's no adverse reaction with the administered dose. Emmah's dose was kind of on the higher side, so by the time they felt comfortable allowing her to go, the benefit of the drug was waning a bit and the pain was climbing back up. A true catch 22 if there was ever one.
We finally got going when the going was as good as it was going to get and made a dash to Chicago... and THAT brings us back to the top.
So now that we're here, they've got her on a PCA pump and we are doing the chemo in hopes of again arresting any growth whilst we look at our options going forward. We have some options, but unfortunately there isn't one that is jumping up and down shouting, "PICK ME!"
They wanted to do a CT to see what was going on... I hate CT's... they expose her to too much radiation for our liking, but "they" say that a CT is the best method to peek inside. Anyway they wanted a CT. Problem was/is it hurts too much to be in a prone position and they can't scan her in any other position than being prone. Well they couldn't scan her in the position that was most comfortable to her and that was sitting up Indian style and folded in half. So sedation was in order. They got'er done.
The results of the CT show a measurable increase in one, and measurable decrease in two others. The changes in all instances were small, but measurable nonetheless. It also showed a small new growth too. It also showed (as the report stated) stable hydronephrosis of her left kidney... a know condition already... due to the tumor impinging on the ureter.
I asked if resection was an option... we were told no. So it's time to grab her records and send them off for a second opinion. Sending them off to Dr. Laquaglia @ Sloan Kettering... the same surgeon that did her first resection. So we will see if sending to him will make a difference since he's the guy that people go to when they (the people) are told by their doctors that it can't be done.
Right now, there's some concern of water retention as she's not voiding (peeing) like she should. What's going in isn't jiving with what's coming out. It's entirely possible that it's due to the continual morphine she's getting for the pain. It effects (among other things) the muscles of the bladder. She's looking a little puffy and has put on some (water) weight since Monday as she really hasn't eaten anything of significance. Plus she has the sensation or the wanting to go, but it's a hugely major production (not to mention many many minutes of sitting) to get it... ummm... flowing. The plan is to try lasix (a diuretic) to see if we can get all that water weight to go down the drain. If that doesn't allow things to get moving, then it's time for a Foley catheter.
We will see what tomorrow brings.
KEIYTAP
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