Monday, October 5, 2009

A few steps backward....

Wow! This week has really gone by very fast. It has been pretty eventful for us. Tuesday Danny has his last chemo treatment. During that visit his lab work indicated his red blood cell count was very low so they wanted him to have a blood transfusion on Wednesday.

Our appointment was scheduled for 2:00 on Wednesday. We finally made it to a “cube room” in the Chest Pain Center by about 5:00. You know the hospital is always on time and totally concerned about operating efficiently… yeah right. And NO, he did not have chest pain, they help out when the other units are full or too busy. They were super nice and very attentive. They began the transfusion around 5:30 and finished up the 2nd bag or unit of blood around 11:30 pm. Everything went very well. When we got home we started the TPN feeding and finished it up around lunch time on Thursday. However, Danny started feeling worse through the night and on into Thursday. He began getting sick more often and had some difficulty taking his meds by mouth. This continued on into the night Thursday & Friday.

Saturday morning Summer had a scrimmage tournament in Shallotte. Since I was going to be with her Danny went to his mothers for the day. It was necessary he not be alone because he was continually getting worse. He was so sick we called the doctor on call. Dr. Testori ordered the Home Health Nurse to come and give an IV cocktail in hopes this would get his stomach to settle and allow him to take his meds by mouth. Unfortunately, it took about 4 hours before he actually received the shot from the time the order was placed. By this time he was going backwards pretty badly. The nurse left the same series of shots for me to give Danny in 24 hours if necessary. Well, we didn’t make it that long. We knew he was getting worse and so our only option was the emergency room again.

It is amazing how the Lord makes provisions for us even when we don’t expect it or ask. He totally worked out everything in the ER. We drove up the front desk lady came out with a wheel chair to help him Danny into the building. He then got registered, his temperature taken & a mask on by the time I was able to park and catch up with him. They then took us to a private waiting room where we stayed about 5 minutes before they called him to Triage where they collected our long history and moved us immediately to a room. Wow… we were shocked! We waited about an hour to see the doctor but at least he was able to lay down. The test results showed his white blood count is very low. It is .09 and normal should be around 4-6. The ER nurse freaked out and put masks on both of us and wouldn’t let us leave the room.

The Lord once again worked everything in our favor…... when the ER nurse called to give report to our new nurse on the 10th floor she recognized our name and immediately knew that the room they had assigned to us didn’t have accommodations for me to stay with him. She said she had a room she would have cleaned STAT and then they would be able to move us up to that room. The ER nurse was quite shocked when she didn’t have to give report to the nurse. She was completely aware of our case and didn’t need any new info. That was so nice because after a long night in the ER it was nice to know that everything was going to work out fine. We made it to our room about 12:30 and just as we were settling in Danny got sick again. This time it was as bad as it has ever been. He was sick pretty much all night. He did rest from about 4:45 – 8:00. Of course the vomiting started again. They are doing everything they can to get his stomach under control.

Danny is really doing very well considering. He is such a good patient. I know that if I had been through a fraction of what he has I would be in a very bad state… crying, whining, & creating difficulty for those caring for me. He is so humble and considerate even in the midst of being so sick.

I have to be honest… I am pretty disappointed. I was hoping and honestly, expecting him to be getting better not worse. We know that the chemo stays and works in his body for 30 – 45 days but it has been 14 days since he received the cisplatin which is what is making him so sick. Naturally, we thought with each day he would be feeling better… especially since they told us he would be a new person after the blood transfusion. We didn’t know it would be the turning point for the worse.

Even though we are discouraged now we know that everything is going to be fine… we just have to get through this time… and WE WILL!!!

5 comments:

  1. thinking of you and praying for your family every day!!!

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  2. Hey Danny and family, your GE family is missing you and praying for your healing. If any of us can be of any help, please let us know.

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  3. Thinking of you and sending my prayers for you up to the MASTER himself. Danny needs a healing I asked the Master and he replied in his time, in his time. I really hope the time is now. I pray for a 100 percent healing for you. Its in God We Trust and pray to do the right thing. Prayers go out to your family as well. Love, Jamie MABE Fitzsimmons

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  4. You are constantly in our thoughts and prayers. God is with you and won't leave you. Lean on Him as you grow weary. Let Him meet your needs. Phil. 4:13 (my favorite verse) says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And you can do this, for He is the one who gives us strength!

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