Lazy Days of Summer

After a busy morning, I have not been able to get motivated. Just sittin' around enjoying the summer breeze through the open window! It sounds picturesque, but doesn't tell the whole story!

Tuesday's chemo appointment went well. Bryan weighed in at 110, just a pound shy of his weight prior to the week in ICU! We discussed his chemo drugs with Dr. Cunningham and have determined to eliminate the CPT-11 since it was causing severe diarrhea and extremely low white counts. He attributes this to the reason for the hospitalization. As a result, we continue with the Erbitux, 5FU and Leukavorin. This makes the infusion day much shorter!

The staph infection in his arm is still improving, doctor wants to continue another seven days of oral antibiotics to insure complete healing.

Last night, Bryan was feeling well enough to attend prayer meeting. Off we went with two IV infusions--5FU and TPN. Following our prayer time, we tested his blood sugar which is required two hours after start of the TPN. We were shocked to see a 342 reading! He was cold while praying and we assumed it was due to not allowing the TPN to get to room temperature before hooking him up. We went straight home to call the infusion nurse for instructions with a high blood sugar reading. She asked us to test again and then Bryan's blood sugar was 377. She asked if he had any signs of infection--I told her about him being cold earlier so I took his temperature and no surprise to her it was 102.9! She suggested we call the doctor. Dr. Cunningham assumed Bryan had an infection of his central line which the TPN uses. He had us discontinue TPN for the evening, give Bryan tylenol and come into the office first thing this morning!

We arrived at the Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center at 7:45AM today. As always, Bryan was weighed and vitals taken. His weight--drum roll please--113! We haven't seen that in quite some time!! His blood pressure was another story--78/45. Dr. Cunningham said it would have put him back in ICU if we went to the hospital. He pulled the central line and sent it to the lab to culture for infection. As a result, Bryan will only have TPN five days a week since it is not compatible with the 5FU and his only access now is the power port. If he keeps packing on the weight, we will be able to discontinue the TPN since he is able to eat on his own now. Yesterday, he consumed about 1500 calories. We need to get that to a consistent 2000 a day in order to discontinue, but it shouldn't be that difficult. The VitaMix has been such a blessing--it purees everything to a consistency which is compatible with his stent.

Another loop on the roller coaster, but we are still on the track! Two things to add to your prayer list, hiccups and possibly, jaundice. He developed a case of hiccups yesterday afternoon and they kept him awake most of the night. They still continue today. He finds gargling with ice water stops them for a short time, but then they return. The children and I think Bryan looks a bit yellow, but the doctors don't think so. This could be from the TPN, it is hard on the kidneys and liver or this could be from tumor growth in the liver. He had a CEA drawn on Tuesday and today we were told it was 16--significantly up since the 6.8 in May. There are many possible explanations--no chemo for two weeks, multiple hospitalizations and drugs, the infection developing in the central line, the staph infection, tumor growth or tumor necrosis. Bryan is not concerned and is glad we are not in the hospital and we are still moving forward today, resting in the goodness of God!

Thus, I am resting in the goodness of God, just sittin' around enjoying the summer breeze!