When I went in to NIH yesterday I found Jim receiving 2 units of blood again (very pale and hemoglobin at 7.9) and he greeted me with the news that his left hip had dislocated again. He had been trying to get out of bed urgently (remember the diarrhea?) to go to bathroom, the four side rails were up so he "had to sqeeze through a very small space, and I must have moved my leg a strange way, and it went out!" "Jim", I say, "Why didn't you call the nurse?" "Well I didn't want to bother anybody." !!!!!!???????!!!!!! It was not as painful as last week since it was on the edge of the cup part of the prosthesis and they were able to keep him comfortable with drugs overnight. This morning they imported an orthopedic surgeon from Suburban Hospital, took him to the OR around 9:30, put him under and did a closed reduction. He is now pain free, afebrile (no fever), hemoglobin at 9.2, neutrophils at 710 (yesterday they nadired at 40), so things are looking up. The hospital hired a "sitter" for nights (7pm-7am) and we are trying to cover days with family and friends so that he doesn't get out of bed alone (he gets confused when his fever is up). Everyone has been so supportive. YJ took the afternoon off work and stayed with him til 7 pm today and I went home and took a 2 hour nap.
I have the feeling that they might discharge him tomorrow or Friday since his temp never went above 100 degrees today. Thank God for that. Barbara
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Dear Barb,
ReplyDeleteLet me know if Jim gets discharged. I plan on sitting with him whether he is at home on NIH. I certainly hope that he gets to sleep in his own bed soon. Love to you both.
Maureen
Oh Barbara!
ReplyDeleteYou must have been horrified when you arrived and heard that story! Hey Jim- don't worry about calling for help. That's what everyone is there for! Glad it wasn't as bad as last weeks dislocation and that they were able to control the pain overnight. We sure hope that you get to go home today- looks like the blood counts are starting to come up. You are a trooper, Jim- we applaud you. We continue to pray for you and Barb every day and are so looking forward to seeing you! here's to sleeping in your own bed tonight! Sending you tons of hugs and kisses!
Love and prayers,
Jeanne, Frank and Alyssa
[YJ] So I'm with him for 5 hrs. on Wed. 7/8. It was great. We must have chatted for 2 hours, just one on one, then he napped for 2 hours and I was able to read the paper.
ReplyDeleteAfter he woke up I said, "Ya know dad we never just sit and talk one on one, this has been great .... its always a big group and conversations that tend to be short 30 second
blurbs ... headlines instead of the full article. You probably won't remember any of it" -- but that's not really true he was mostly w/ it w/ only the occasional chemo-brain
creeping in. So what did we talk about? ... hmmm ask a guy and its, I don't know ... stuff (Sarah's brother, Phil's seeds, & his rents & Rosanne's rents, hospital beds) a stream.
Pop was still pop though, and maybe its too soon for this, but he knows I'm laughing w/ him ... So he HATES being in the hospital. It was made a little worse
because, he now had a constant spotter. A nurses aid was w/ him all the time to make sure he didn't wiggle his hip out. So this lady was the sweetest woman, knocked before
entering when I was there, is there anything I can get you, collect & empty the wiz bottle, straiten up. While she's there Dad was all, thank you, god bless you. Then she
leaves and a switch is flipped, I can't take any more of this f-in' shit, she's driving me f-in crazy, I f-in can't take this all f-in week.
I guess it can wear you out. He's asleep, [Nurse's aid] does he want dinner. I don't think so. Wakes him up. Have you eaten dinner? No, but yes ate big meal at 3pm. 10min later
[nurse], shots, did you eat dinner? No, but Yes if you count the meal @ 3pm. 5min later [Nutritionist] does he want dinner, no he ate at 3pm. Its good care. Oh they had to jump thru
hoops to get the orthopedist ... they had him under contract, but it had lapsed (but they didn't realize) and he didn't want to renew, so they had to get hopital administrators involved.
Anyway here's to an early release from the hospital, for the sake of the great NIH staff.
-JIM [YJ]
Well, there's always a silver lining and I think that "big Jim" and "YJ" hit it with their visit. Thanks for the blow by blow, YJ. Know that your time with him did more than any hospital appointed spotter, doctor, nurse or nutritionist could do. Nourishment for the soul doesn't come from the dinner cart at NIH. We're all pulling hard for you, Jim. Love,Carol
ReplyDeleteDear Barb and Jim, We had our potluck dinner/support group meeting tonight and we all send our love, prayers, and good thoughts. We miss you very much and can't wait until the last cycle is complete after July 17th.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you both and keep you in His tender care.
Much love, Peggy & Michael
YJ, Thanks for the inside look at your dad. You were really right on..how he can switch from Dr Jeckyl to Mr Hyde so quickly. Give him a kick in thebutt the next time Mr Hyde comes out.
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