Sweatin' With the Oldies

Thanks for all the comments yesterday. I’m glad to hear all the folks at the conference in Minneapolis are having a good time. I’m really sorry I missed the Columbian restaurant. I really wanted to treat everyone to the "beef feet soup." Come to think of it, some of the food from the cafeteria here is about as appetizing (and mysterious). When I talked to David this morning, he said he was being me, sitting in my spot, and sleeping. Thanks David! I can use the rest. How was the ball game? Did Ian enjoy $1 hot dog night? I think I saw a story on SportsCenter about the Twins’ stadium running out of hot dogs for the first time in history. Good work!
Well, I wasn’t kidding when I said I need the rest. We had an interesting night last night. Throughout the day yesterday Greg continued to run fevers, and his heart rate was really high (130s), so they doubled his dose of beta-blockers. As the day progressed, his breathing became more labored, especially when he was laying down. His ankles & feet looked like basketballs, and he couldn’t get his shoes on. His energy level was at zero. Something was definitely wrong. The nurse listened to his lungs and said she heard some "crackling" – a sure sign of fluid buildup. They called for a chest X-ray and gave him a double-dose of Lassex at about 8 p.m. to make sure he’d be up most of the night. Timing is everything (insert sarcasm here).
About 8:30 p.m., Skibby called. She’d been doing some research. One of the side-effects of the beta-blocker is congestive heart failure (!). Its rare, but possible. And, as we all know, Greg never does what he’s supposed to do. Plus, they doubled his dose yesterday, and his heart rate seemed to go up. In fact, its increased since they started giving him the drug in March. She suggested removing it, possibly changing it, and calling in a cario consult. Just as we ended our conversation, DiPersio walked in (it was after dark). I told him Skibby is a pharmacist (so he wouldn’t think she’s just some yahoo), and her theory. He pretty well blew us off. With no explanation, or any attempt at conveying any info, he pats Greg on the shoulder in a condescending sort of way, and says "We’ll get him fixed up." And with that, he was gone. Never to be seen again (at least until the sun goes down today).
About an hour later the nurse comes in. DiPersio didn’t change the beta blocker, and added a steroid instead. He thinks the heart rate issues are caused by the fevers, which he says are caused by the disease. Of course, he didn’t tell us this. He didn’t tell us anything. The nurse had to. She sympathized with our plight, but there’s only so much she can do. So, after much thought, Greg decided to go along with DiPersio on the steroid, and only take half the dose of beta blocker (his original amount).
Steroids cause fevers to go down (good) and night sweats (bad). So, we were up at least 4 times (I lost count) to change the bed and all his clothes. Oh, and the chemo is definitely rearing its ugly head too, in the form of Montezuma’s Revenge.
The end result was that he didn’t run fever overnight, and the fluid on the lungs appears to have dissipated. So, maybe DiPersio was right. On the other hand, the heart rate is still around 120, and about an hour ago, he got a fever again (he got a second dose of steroid about 2 hours ago). So, maybe he’s wrong. But that’s impossible, because he says he’s never wrong.
The resident who does the rounds in the morning is much more willing to explain things. So we talked with her this morning. She’s not convinced that his ticker is fine, as a test they ran the last time he was here showed some function (I can’t remember what) at 47 percent, when normal is 50 to 75 percent. (I know, not much of an explanation, but I’m kinda tired right now). This is the first time anyone bothered to tell us that. Anyway, she’s inclined to get a cardio consult, but DiPersio runs the show. According to her, DP "usually isn’t too inclined to ask for help." (Insert gasp of surprise here.) So, we’ll see. As I’ve said before, this ain’t our first rodeo, so we’re willing to press, especially when we don’t get satisfactory answers. I trust his intellect. I just want to know why. If he wants to be a pompous ass, that’s OK, so long as he fixes this. Stay tuned.
On a lighter note, let me just repeat that daytime TV sucks. But, we’ve laid in a good stock of DVDs. Yesterday, we watched the entire first season of "Soap." And the Stanley Cup Playoffs are on in the evenings. Michelle L, thanks for "John Adams." Maybe we’ll start that today. I’ll let you know how it is.
That’s way more than I intended to write today, so I’ll close for now. Just let me say thanks again to all for the prayers & good wishes.
Love,
Us