Late in the day on Saturday Marshall developed what he called a strange feeling, kind of dizzy, and he had diarrhea for hours, as well as nausea. This went on for a few hours and then he said he felt numb in his groin area and he hadn't urinated in a long time.
So I called the radiation oncologist on duty and he said to bring Marshall to the University Hospital's emergency room, which I did. The diarrhea continued and the nausea continued until you wonder how he could possibly have anything left in him.
They did an MRI and an x-ray and lab work. Then he was finally admitted around 4:30AM. By the time we got settled in the room it was around 5:30AM so we went right to sleep.
Sunday morning they said that the MRI did not show anything unusual. And neither did the x-ray. All lab work was within normal ranges. It is possible that the radiation caused a bit of swelling which could have caused the numbness. So they gave him steroids to try to calm that down. The diarrhea finally calmed down and so did the nausea. They say Marshall should be on anti-nausea medication twice a day now.
They also speculated that the diarrhea may have been caused by the assortment of stool softeners he'd been put on, so we are going to adjust that.
Well, from my perspective things are going along pretty good. The MRI didn't show anything and neither did the x-rays. They are thinking that there was perhaps some swelling that may or may not have been caused by the radiation that pressed against some nerves that caused the numbness in the groin and they gave him steroids for that. That appears to be getting a little bit better.
And he doesn't have much pain at the moment (although they have decided to keep him on a morphine schedule for now).
But, he has fallen into a worse depression than I've ever seen. It breaks my heart and throws me into a depression.
They are not sure if they will release him tomorrow or not, but if they don't release him, they will be sure he gets his second radiation treatment.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Saturday, November 8, 2014
A comfortable Saturday
Outside of waking up for medications every hour or so, we both slept till 10:30 this morning. It felt so good.
I went out and bought snacks for the hotel room so we don't have to pay the hotel's exorbitant rates for food. And now we are spending the rest of the day relaxing.
Marshall hasn't taken any morphine pills yet today so he is definitely feeling better.
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I went out and bought snacks for the hotel room so we don't have to pay the hotel's exorbitant rates for food. And now we are spending the rest of the day relaxing.
Marshall hasn't taken any morphine pills yet today so he is definitely feeling better.
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Friday, November 7, 2014
Oxygen
We had an appointment on Thursday with the primary care physician, Dr. Bliss, to get a prescription for portable oxygen. But when the nurse checked the oxygen level it was 95 and she tested it a bunch of times -- even had Marshall walk around the office twice -- and the oxygen level was still within the normal range.
So that was puzzling. When we are at home his levels go down to 77. So it appears that altitude has something to do with it. Our house is at 8300 feet and the doctor's office in Canon City, Colorado, is at about 4800 feet. So they would not approve portable oxygen for us..
However, he obviously is going to need oxygen at home and it would be nice to have portable canisters rather than this long tube running through the house. So when we get home we need to go to the clinic in Westcliffe and get them to do an oxygen reading and, assuming it will also be very low just like the tester we use at home, they should write a prescription for portable oxygen that we can get filled.
And, of course, I am also hoping that once Marshall can get off of the morphine his respiration will improve and oxygen won't be needed at all.
Marshall was still in extreme pain all day yesterday, even with the full doses of morphine and Dilaudid.
Today he woke up with huge pain again. He also had some pretty bad nausea this morning. But we had to hit the road for Denver so I gave him the morphine and Dilaudid and we got going.
It was a miserable 4-hour trip. Every little bump and turn caused him pain and I felt like I was personally torturing him. I was a wreck by the time we got here.
We checked into the hotel and Marshall got a little nap and then we went over to the radiation oncologist's office. The first treatment is now behind us. The oncologist said that it is possible to experience pain relief after one treatment but it is more likely that he won't notice any relief until up to 4 to 6 weeks after the last treatment. He said that if Marshall doesn't feel a relief in his pain level after 6 weeks, then the radiation didn't work. But he said that he truly feels the radiation will work.
Marshall thought he felt better today. We came back to the hotel and he went to bed. He still hasn't really eaten anything for several days but he has had a few bottles of Boost so hopefully he's getting a little nutrition.
We discussed the nausea situation with the oncologist and he said that instead of one anti-nausea pill a day, Marshall should start taking two. So he took an anti-nausea pill before he went to bed. I'll wake him up at 10:00 to take the rest of his daily medications and to get his 10:00 morphine pills.
Tomorrow and Sunday are going to be rest days.
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So that was puzzling. When we are at home his levels go down to 77. So it appears that altitude has something to do with it. Our house is at 8300 feet and the doctor's office in Canon City, Colorado, is at about 4800 feet. So they would not approve portable oxygen for us..
However, he obviously is going to need oxygen at home and it would be nice to have portable canisters rather than this long tube running through the house. So when we get home we need to go to the clinic in Westcliffe and get them to do an oxygen reading and, assuming it will also be very low just like the tester we use at home, they should write a prescription for portable oxygen that we can get filled.
And, of course, I am also hoping that once Marshall can get off of the morphine his respiration will improve and oxygen won't be needed at all.
Marshall was still in extreme pain all day yesterday, even with the full doses of morphine and Dilaudid.
Today he woke up with huge pain again. He also had some pretty bad nausea this morning. But we had to hit the road for Denver so I gave him the morphine and Dilaudid and we got going.
It was a miserable 4-hour trip. Every little bump and turn caused him pain and I felt like I was personally torturing him. I was a wreck by the time we got here.
We checked into the hotel and Marshall got a little nap and then we went over to the radiation oncologist's office. The first treatment is now behind us. The oncologist said that it is possible to experience pain relief after one treatment but it is more likely that he won't notice any relief until up to 4 to 6 weeks after the last treatment. He said that if Marshall doesn't feel a relief in his pain level after 6 weeks, then the radiation didn't work. But he said that he truly feels the radiation will work.
Marshall thought he felt better today. We came back to the hotel and he went to bed. He still hasn't really eaten anything for several days but he has had a few bottles of Boost so hopefully he's getting a little nutrition.
We discussed the nausea situation with the oncologist and he said that instead of one anti-nausea pill a day, Marshall should start taking two. So he took an anti-nausea pill before he went to bed. I'll wake him up at 10:00 to take the rest of his daily medications and to get his 10:00 morphine pills.
Tomorrow and Sunday are going to be rest days.
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Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Radiation will start on Friday
We went to the radiation oncologist's office on Tuesday and they "mapped" Marshall for his radiation. They said he will have five treatments starting this Friday (then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). So I reserved a room at the Springhill Suites for those nights. Our housesitter will be able to be here for those 7 days.
The morphine was really holding the pain at bay but yesterday was a bad day for Marshall so when he finally went to sleep I didn't want to disturb him and I skipped his 10PM morphine pills. Today he slept until about 4:00. I woke him up four times for his scheduled medications and he went right back to sleep. When he did get up he was in really bad pain again. I think that's my fault for missing last night's dose. So we won't miss any more.
He also had some nausea this evening. He tried to eat a sandwich but couldn't. So he hasn't had hardly anything to eat in three or four days. They tell you to have good nutrition (and drink a lot of water) in advance of the radiation treatments. Supposedly it makes things go easier. So we did fairly good on the water, but not on the nutrition part. It's so hard to do everything we are supposed to do.
He went back to bed around 10:00 right after his 10:00 morphine pills. The radiation oncologist sent me an email saying that Marshall should also be on an anti-inflammatory so along with the morphine I gave him some Aleve. Tomorrow we will be picking up the anti-inflammatory that the doctor prescribed (something called Salsalate).
Tomorrow also we will see Marshall's primary care doctor to get the oxygen thing set up. He needs portable oxygen for these trips to Denver. When we went to the hospital on Tuesday, the only thing we had was those great big oxygen bottles and when we got to the hospital they didn't have any of the wheelchairs available that had a slot for the oxygen tank so we had to carry it. We looked very odd with me pushing him in the wheelchair and him carrying a big oxygen tank in his lap. This time when we go to Denver we are going to lug the big oxygen generator along with us, too. Might as well be prepared for the oxygen needed for his CPAP machine.
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The morphine was really holding the pain at bay but yesterday was a bad day for Marshall so when he finally went to sleep I didn't want to disturb him and I skipped his 10PM morphine pills. Today he slept until about 4:00. I woke him up four times for his scheduled medications and he went right back to sleep. When he did get up he was in really bad pain again. I think that's my fault for missing last night's dose. So we won't miss any more.
He also had some nausea this evening. He tried to eat a sandwich but couldn't. So he hasn't had hardly anything to eat in three or four days. They tell you to have good nutrition (and drink a lot of water) in advance of the radiation treatments. Supposedly it makes things go easier. So we did fairly good on the water, but not on the nutrition part. It's so hard to do everything we are supposed to do.
He went back to bed around 10:00 right after his 10:00 morphine pills. The radiation oncologist sent me an email saying that Marshall should also be on an anti-inflammatory so along with the morphine I gave him some Aleve. Tomorrow we will be picking up the anti-inflammatory that the doctor prescribed (something called Salsalate).
Tomorrow also we will see Marshall's primary care doctor to get the oxygen thing set up. He needs portable oxygen for these trips to Denver. When we went to the hospital on Tuesday, the only thing we had was those great big oxygen bottles and when we got to the hospital they didn't have any of the wheelchairs available that had a slot for the oxygen tank so we had to carry it. We looked very odd with me pushing him in the wheelchair and him carrying a big oxygen tank in his lap. This time when we go to Denver we are going to lug the big oxygen generator along with us, too. Might as well be prepared for the oxygen needed for his CPAP machine.
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Sunday, November 2, 2014
We are home, but.....
We left the hospital around 1:30 and went to Walgreens to fill a bunch of prescriptions. The prescription for Dilaudid couldn't be filled because it is evidently such a heavy duty drug that we have to go through several layers of approval in order to get it. So I will take the necessary paperwork to Walgreens tomorrow to try to get that in the works.
Marshall was fine all the way home. We got home and he was getting all settled to watch a football game when all of a sudden he had trouble breathing. He has oxygen here (he uses oxygen at night) so we got the oxygen out and hooked him up.
I left the room for a few minutes and when I came back, he was face down on the floor. He says he fainted. I was going to call 911 and he wouldn't let me. He says he is not going back to the hospital and delay that radiation any longer.
Somehow he was able to get into bed with the oxygen and he fell asleep leaving me in a total panic.
Since his only oxygen problem here at the house was due to his sleep apnea and he uses a CPAP machine with oxygen at night because of that, and he's never had problems during the day before, I am inclined to think that this evening's episode was brought on by anxiety. I gave him an Ativan a little while ago to calm him. But he is still sleeping with the CPAP mask on.
So now tomorrow I need to get over to the oxygen place and see if we can get him set up for our trip to Denver on Tuesday and if it turns out we need to spend a week or so in Denver, we're going to need to be ready with oxygen. I told him tonight that it is time to start looking for nursing help. After he went to sleep I tried to get a plan together for taking the MANY MANY pills he has to take every day and I was completely and totally overwhelmed.
He needs morphine at 6AM, 2PM and 10PM. If he has any breakthrough pain between those times he gets to take a Dilaudid "as needed." He needs Zofran at 7:30A. He needs chemo at 8:00A. He needs prednisone at 9:00 and 5:00. He needs Prilosec in the morning and at bedtime. He needs Spiriva in the morning whenever he gets up. He needs sleeping pills at bedtime, as well as an antidepressant. He has allergy pills that need to be given twice a day and also "as needed" if there is any coughing.
Then there's the over-the-counter stuff: fish oil, vitamin B, vitamin D3.
Then there's the insulin injection before bed, one blood pressure pill in the morning and a different blood pressure pill at night. And then I need to be sure prescriptions get renewed before they run out (keeping in mind that with things like sleeping pills or antidepressants or tranquilizers you can't renew them too far in advance -- they have to be almost gone before a renewal will be allowed which cuts it very close). When you add the possible need for oxygen on top of that, I'm so afraid that he will have serious health problems because I screwed up on the meds.
But for now, we will limp through this whole radiation thing. At least once we get up there we will be just a block away from the University Hospital. I've sent a message to the radiation oncologist to see if he can tell me now what the radiation schedule will be so I will know whether to pack for one day or two weeks. And also we have to give our house-sitter a little idea of how long we need her.
Let's hope that tomorrow I have little or nothing to report in this blog.
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Marshall was fine all the way home. We got home and he was getting all settled to watch a football game when all of a sudden he had trouble breathing. He has oxygen here (he uses oxygen at night) so we got the oxygen out and hooked him up.
I left the room for a few minutes and when I came back, he was face down on the floor. He says he fainted. I was going to call 911 and he wouldn't let me. He says he is not going back to the hospital and delay that radiation any longer.
Somehow he was able to get into bed with the oxygen and he fell asleep leaving me in a total panic.
Since his only oxygen problem here at the house was due to his sleep apnea and he uses a CPAP machine with oxygen at night because of that, and he's never had problems during the day before, I am inclined to think that this evening's episode was brought on by anxiety. I gave him an Ativan a little while ago to calm him. But he is still sleeping with the CPAP mask on.
So now tomorrow I need to get over to the oxygen place and see if we can get him set up for our trip to Denver on Tuesday and if it turns out we need to spend a week or so in Denver, we're going to need to be ready with oxygen. I told him tonight that it is time to start looking for nursing help. After he went to sleep I tried to get a plan together for taking the MANY MANY pills he has to take every day and I was completely and totally overwhelmed.
He needs morphine at 6AM, 2PM and 10PM. If he has any breakthrough pain between those times he gets to take a Dilaudid "as needed." He needs Zofran at 7:30A. He needs chemo at 8:00A. He needs prednisone at 9:00 and 5:00. He needs Prilosec in the morning and at bedtime. He needs Spiriva in the morning whenever he gets up. He needs sleeping pills at bedtime, as well as an antidepressant. He has allergy pills that need to be given twice a day and also "as needed" if there is any coughing.
Then there's the over-the-counter stuff: fish oil, vitamin B, vitamin D3.
Then there's the insulin injection before bed, one blood pressure pill in the morning and a different blood pressure pill at night. And then I need to be sure prescriptions get renewed before they run out (keeping in mind that with things like sleeping pills or antidepressants or tranquilizers you can't renew them too far in advance -- they have to be almost gone before a renewal will be allowed which cuts it very close). When you add the possible need for oxygen on top of that, I'm so afraid that he will have serious health problems because I screwed up on the meds.
But for now, we will limp through this whole radiation thing. At least once we get up there we will be just a block away from the University Hospital. I've sent a message to the radiation oncologist to see if he can tell me now what the radiation schedule will be so I will know whether to pack for one day or two weeks. And also we have to give our house-sitter a little idea of how long we need her.
Let's hope that tomorrow I have little or nothing to report in this blog.
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Going home
We are in discharge mode. Should be leaving in an hour and need to get prescriptions filled. May be home by 3:30 or 4:00.
I will update later.
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I will update later.
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Saturday, November 1, 2014
May go home tomorrow
I'm losing my ability to keep up with everything that is going on.
But today they decided to start him on an 8-hour extended release morphine tablet. They gave him one dose this morning and when they give him the second 8-hour dose they will disconnect the pump to see if he can stay comfortable with just that morphine pill regimen.
Marshall says we are leaving the hospital tomorrow whether they want to release him or not. So if we leave and the pain is not under control, life is going to suck. Driving home, hitting bumps that cause him pain, then driving all the way to Denver on Tuesday, causing him more pain, etc...... So I have my fingers crossed that this works.
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But today they decided to start him on an 8-hour extended release morphine tablet. They gave him one dose this morning and when they give him the second 8-hour dose they will disconnect the pump to see if he can stay comfortable with just that morphine pill regimen.
Marshall says we are leaving the hospital tomorrow whether they want to release him or not. So if we leave and the pain is not under control, life is going to suck. Driving home, hitting bumps that cause him pain, then driving all the way to Denver on Tuesday, causing him more pain, etc...... So I have my fingers crossed that this works.
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