Week Ten

Greetings all,

Here we are at Week Ten.  My weight last Friday (August 25th) was 141.4 lbs.  But by this Friday it had dropped to 135.6 lbs.  That is not good.

However, there is a reasonable explanation for the weight loss.  While I was in ICU for four days during Week Nine, the attendants kept a constant saline drip going into me, which got rid of some lingering dehydration issues and surely increased my weight.

I was feeling pretty good at 141.4 lbs, but after a steady decline all week, I got a little panicky and figured I better increase my water intake. Drinking water is a very slow (or else painful) process, so I have started giving myself a syringe or two (60 to 120 ml) of water directly into the stomach peg between feedings.  And last night, every time I woke up, I got out of bed and pushed 120 mls of water through the stomach peg.  I’m going to try to make that a new part of the routine.  More water!

 

The 60 ml syringe for the stomach peg (60 milliliters is the same as 60 cubic centimeters, but the preferred terminology these days for liquid is milliliters, not cubic centimeters…..FYI).

 

 

Also while in ICU, we were so taken with the feeding pump they had for my Osmolite that we ordered one to use at home.  My food intake is eight Osmolite cans a day, broken into four feeding sessions of two cans each. Before getting the machine, Carol would shoot 16 ounces of the protein through my stomach peg with the 60 ml syringe.  And that was getting pretty uncomfortable, so we got the pump.

Brunch on the patio with my new friend

 

This whole cancer business is getting to be a bit of a drag.  I guess I feel a little better, but the energy level is low, and swallowing is still quite uncomfortable for most soft or liquid offerings.  I was able to get down some soup, but it was not friendly.  The easiest thing to eat so far has been cottage cheese, so I had a decent sized bowl of that today.

I do get a massage every week, which helps a lot in relaxing me, and I suppose it keeps the waning muscles slightly lubricated.  I occasionally lift some verrrry light weights while relaxing in my chair and watching the morning Squawk on the Street show on CNBC.  And Carol and I get out for an early morning walk most days.  We walk for 30 to 45 minutes at a moderate pace.  I occasionally have to rein in Carol, as she prefers a more brisk pace.  And, I must say, we see a lot of dog walkers out in the morning, armed with their pet poop bags.

 

The start of our walk route, under a smokey morning sun

 

Early in the week we had a lengthy conversation with the Dignity dietician about the Osmolite formula.  This was in anticipation of constipation problems because of all the morphine I had been taking in ICU and at home over the past two weeks.  The dietician noted that the Osmolite is very low in fiber, while an alternative, Jevity, has much more fiber and might be good product to counteract the morphine.  That sounded like a fine idea, and before we knew it, a huge supply of Jevity was delivered to our front door.

I added the Jevity into my feeding routine with the Osmolite and took some laxative  medicine to offset the effect of the morphine.  Then I started to worry about depending too much on the morphine, and cut back on that.

Almost immediately thereafter, I had my last decent BM.  And for the past week, it’s just been watery poops.  (Sorry for this level of detail, but it’s all darn important!!)  So I’ve gone back to the Osmolite exclusively…no fibrous Jevity intake for a while (and now we’ve got to see if we can swap out some of the Jevity for more Osmolite).

And, of course, in self defense I had to resume my morphine doses to try to get my poops in order.

 

On Monday we had a follow up appointment with the potential gall bladder surgeon.  He poked around my abdomen and declared the gall bladder okay.  No pain.  He said he was not about to take it out, but he did order one more blood workup to see if the chemistry also indicated everything was okay.

 

Andrew and Mel and U-Haul arrive

 

Very late Tuesday our son Andrew and wife Mel showed up with a loaded U-haul trailer!  They had to move out of their shared  apartment in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, and rather than find another place in LA for the short term, they asked if they could move in with us for an interim period. We said that would be great!

Mel and Andrew

They will be ‘re-celebrating’ their May elopement later in September in the Cambria area.  In the meantime, and for some time after, they will be with us, as they figure out the next steps in their life adventure together.  We are very happy for them!

 

On Wednesday we had a visit from a very old (and long-time) friend:  Jim Ringrose and his partner stopped by to check on me on their way home from a sojourn to Bucks Lake.  Very nice to see them.  The next day Carol’s brother John and partner stopped by for an overnight visit before heading up to the Echo Lake cabin.  I fear we will not get up there this year.  As the Dodgers (or maybe it was the Giants) said many, many moons ago, “Wait till next year.”

And then, small world of small worlds, I got a call from Jerry at the Whitehawk Lodge and he said there was somebody there with him who wanted to talk to me.  It was David Prindeville from Marysville, whose sister I took to my high school junior prom many years ago.  Jerry is pretty good about grilling his guests to find out where they’re from.  When he heard this fellow David mention Marysville, Jerry put down his vodka called me right away.  David and I had a nice chat.

So I think that’s about all the excitement for Week Ten.  Next week I have a PET scan, which will show the status of the tumor.  And we have an appointment with the chemo oncologist to discuss the results.  The following week we meet with the surgeon in preparation for surgery the week after that.  So, lots of stuff still ahead.

Have a good Labor Day weekend, everybody.  See you next week.