or so it seems.
Before we even left the garage, Nick threw up - yup, in the garage. Lee, bless his gigantic heart, said he'd take care of it so we could be on our way. Nick and I arrived at 8:00 a.m. in the out-patient clinic at Huntsman, shortly followed by arrivals of his fairy godmothers, Denise & Jennie, and his dad. To start things off, Nick had to have a picc line inserted because one of the chemos (vincristine) can't be put directly into his veins. This wasn't a pleasant experience for Nick because his veins are so beat up and he has had a port on each side so it took a few tries to get it in place.
Then there were unexpected complications when both his urine and blood work came back positive for a bacterial infection. He also threw up again, nothing but fluid, which may actually be from the ascites; our medical angel, Grace, said it is hard to say. Fast-forward to 1:00 p.m. and the 3-chemo variation began. His spirits picked up as the afternoon wore on. He showed EVERYONE his bright red pants worn to support his Univ of Utah season-opening home football game vs. Pittsburgh tonight, topped off with his U of U cap. He showed off his memory skills to us by quoting various lines from "Dumb & Dumber", cracking us all up.
We were on our way home by 3:30 p.m. with a fun-filled package from Home Health - pumps to keep fluids going through him the next 24 hours and a 12 hour dose of Mesna to protect his internal organs from the chemo. Is it just me or is there some irony here? He also now has scripts for potassium, another diuretic and an antibiotic. We won't know for a day or two if the cultures reveal any particular strain of bacteria.
We will go back tomorrow for a procedure to have his tummy drained - he is pretty uncomfortable. He'll also get his picc line removed and a neulasta shot. He may consider getting another port put in, but he has a few weeks to think about it. Grace was a doll, walking us through all the different situations today, and even gave Nick her cell phone number offering to go with him to have his tummy procedure tomorrow if he needed her.
He will have to postpone his trip to Moab for a day and hopefully he'll feel up to going Saturday morning.
Now we're enjoying the football game, snuggled on the couch. Thanks to all for checking in and for the prayers...more to follow tomorrow.
With love,
Lori
4 comments:
Thinking of you guys and wishing Nick didn't have to go through this again. Sending cyber-hugs ...
Lori,
Thanks for the diligent updates it helps to get info on the blog without constantly bugging you.
Nick,
So glad that the Utes pulled it out for you. I lost my voice screaming at them during the last 5 minutes of regulation play. We are praying!!
Stephanie Thornley
Hope today's procedure is quick & painless. I'm sure you will feel better once you've got rid of some of the fluids. Glad you made it home in time for the game. With you in spirit. Love & light GM Jennie
Hi Nick,
So I come to this post - see the #1,763,297 and wonder - how many years would it take if I visited your blogspot for 1,763,297 days - well, more than you, or your 48 generations would be on this earth - so I need to think of you and pray for you 100 times a day and in 50 years I will have said over 1,763,297 prayers for you. Obviously more than I can accomplish by myself - so I'm going to recruit 99 other praying friends and ask for God to grant you 50 years on this earth. Amen.
Love, aunt Chris
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