For those who have visited my parent’s place, they have been raising what was originally my cat, Radar. He, of course, is now my Father’s cat. They are two peas in a pod!
Well, Radar is huge, around 24 lbs. He’s also not the nicest cat in the world, unless he wants to be, which isn’t very often. A stray cat recently gave birth to kittens in our back yard, and one fancies Radar’s attention at the front door:
Radar and the cute Tiger Kitten...
The kitten is quite the"meow"er
Today overall went well once we got past this morning. Kevin did well with the chemo and seemed to wake-up/adjust throughout the day. He was also able to take a nap in our bed! This is great, as sleeping on his recliner (as comfy as it is) just isn’t too fun.
We were able to see Dr. O’Connor, our Lancaster Oncologist while in the chemo treatment room. He looked over the CT scan and said that there are pockets of fluid in his abdomen, but they aren’t of concern and should diminish over time. We were so assured to hear this, as it has been one of our main concerns.
Kevin is scheduled for another chemo treatment next Monday and will hopefully continue on this road to recovery!!
Praise God for the blessings of the day.
And PS-if you have coupons for any Welch’s, Tropicana, or Mug/Sierra Mist Drinks, Please mail them to us! Thanks!
Things are definitely “off” for both of us. I’m not adjusting as easily being back at home this time around. I think it’s because the situation is just a bit different. We have new meds, a new routine, and the things involving Kevin’s bleeding and stomach distention just really have me concerned.
Pray for these things in particular, and ESPECIALLY that the transfer from our healthcare to Cobra gets resolved ASAP so it doesn’t hold up any of our bills and/or treatments. Thanks so much.
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
This time home there almost seems to be more of an adjustment than last. Kevin and I are both feeling that his fentanyl patches are too high leaving him loopy and very anxious. We took off the 25 mcg patch today, hoping that his pain will still be covered, but the side effects will be less. Pray that our transitions go smoothly.
Kevin was also unable to sleep in bed last night due to the heavy distension of his belly. We’re not sure why it’s so distended, but it creates nausea and major discomfort for him. This was one of the issues that was never “solved” at the hospital. Hopefully we’ll get some answers on that by talking with our main oncologist, Dr. Thornton today. We’re going to push for another scan to see what’s going on with the tumor and Kevin’s belly.
Kevin will get his chemotherapy today at 2pm, so keep us in mind. Also, with his high dose of fentanyl, it leaves him very thirsty-very much like his former juicy juice “addiction”. So, if you have any turkey hill coupons, please send them our way!
Have a great day!
Well…
WE’RE HOME!
We got the meds under control, and after Kevin got a unit of blood this afternoon, we were finally discharged from LGH! We are just so grateful and relieved to finally be home. It feels good to walk on carpet again and I am positive it will be absolutely euphoric to sleep in our own bed again!
Tomorrow I’ll call first thing in the morning to get an appt time for Kevin’s chemo to be administered tomorrow. The bleeding is under control, and most likely, the bleed is a POSITIVE sign that the tumor is disintigrating. It’s just not a pretty reminder.
I will be making quite a few phone calls tomorrow as the pharmacy couldn’t get our meds approved today at discharge. I had a bit of a “freak out”, but finally was calmed by our great nurse’s aid. Needless to say, they billed the full amount to our hospital bill, and hopefully tomorrow we’ll get some answers about why were weren’t in the system. I imagine it has a lot to do with our insurance turning into Cobra (temporary) status as of 10/6.
Another call will be made to our main oncologist, Dr. Thornton, to see when she wants to scan Kevin again. We would REALLY like to know an official report on what the tumor is doing and where it is breaking down.
I applied officially yesterday for both of us for unemployment. I have no clue if it even has a 1% chance of being approved, but I figured it was worth a shot. I’m also going to be applying for any and all types of government benefits that we can shoot for.
Thanks for all your continued prayers. We hope to not be back at the hospital for a LONG, LONG time. Continue to lift us up, and pray especially that the adjustment goes well, and the logistics of health insurance and benefits gets resolved and answered quickly.
Praise God!
..Kevin is definitely zoned out from TOO much fentanyl. So, once the pain management Doctor visits us this afternoon, hopefully we will be able to get that adjusted. He is still having issues with his bowels, and SOME nausea, so pray that passes soon!
Overall, not a bad day though. His hemo count dropped to 9.6, which wasn’t too unexpected. He’s still draining blood out of his G tube, but not nearly as much as before.
Hoping we can get out of here by tomorrow!
..thoughts and prayers for friends of ours child, Joelle, who just had surgery this morning. Ran into them here in the hospital and she looked great-much love sending your way!
Do you know that life always changes? Plans never hold? Well, I thought I knew that before, but apparently God is assuring me that it will continue to happen 🙂
It looks like we will be here at LGH until late today or sometime tomorrow, or sometime Monday. We just don’t know. Yesterday we finally met with the pain management team who is putting Kev on a variety of medicines to get his pain and nausea under control. As of this morning, he only had to hit the PCA pain pump button two times in over 12 hours!!! Also, he has been having very minimal gagging, which indicates that the nausea medication may actually be working. AWESOME. We are both very excited about this. They’ll put everything that is currently being given via IV into a pill form or other way so that we can head home with it and have no problems adjusting. Wahoo!
Dr. O’Connor decided to hold off on the chemo Friday because of the ongoing bleeding. It looks like he will get his chemo treatment on Monday, so it will not be too delayed.
Our hope is that the pain management Dr. will give the ok this afternoon that we can either head home tonight or tomorrow in seeing that these medications seem to be working. So awesome.
Continue to lift us up in your prayers as we head home and make the necessary medication adjustments. Also continue to pray for Kevin’s heart rate to come down to a “normal” level so the nurses stop pestering-hehe. The higher heart-rate is “normal” for Kevin by the way.
Continue to lift up my issues with my bank and heels as well, as they are both pretty agitated right now. Pray that doors open for a job in the next few weeks as we really need the funds. Also pray that doors open for government assistance through the US as I will begin to apply in the next coming weeks.
Thinking of you all!
Sorry for being so negative right now. After 50 days in the hospital now, I’m just so sick of hospitals and dealing with their idiosynchrosies (sp?). I know they are trying their best, but my patience is very thin right now. Lack of sleep never helps either!
It looks like we’re heading home tomorrow. This is provided that he can get his chemo today here at LGH, and that the Pain Management team gets on board to get the proper medications for Kevin’s pain and nausea.
Pray things are expedited and people can get moving and focus on the current issues, not the ones that have already been “solved”. Thanks so much, and pray for my depression through this. Continue to lift Kevin’s spirits in your prayers and leave some messages for him to read once we’re out. Thanks so much!