Back on the Roller Coaster

Well, Greg is back in the hospital -- this time its a bowel obstruction. Although no one has confirmed it, I'm pretty sure its related to the Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD). One of the main systems it affects is the GI tract. He began feeling pain Sunday night, and things went downhill from there. I finally convinced Mr. Stubborn to come in to the ER after I told him he either got in my car or I was calling an ambulance. Things were complicated by the fact that he's in the process of switching over from the St. John's system to the Cox hospital system. We didn't even have a local oncologist yet. We do now. After spending 5 hours in the ER, they finally admitted him - to orthopedics! Makes sense to them, I guess. Actually we're doing what we do best -- waiting for a bed in the oncology unit. They hope to have one today.

Treatment-wise, they don't want to do any surgery because, as usual, he doesn't have any platelets. They think they can resolve this with an NG (nasal -gastric) tube. For lack of a better explanation, they're sucking all the yuk out through there. Of course, I have yet to see a doctor yet today, and the nurses can only answer so many questions. I'm keeping a list. If this doesn't resolve it, they'll have to transfer him to Barnes. Nothin' like another $3400 ride to St. Louis.

Blood sugar issues have reared their ugly heads again. From the time we got to the ER at 11 a.m., I started telling anyone who would listen that his sugars needed to be checked. Then, we moved to a room at about 6. I tried again. By 10, he was lethargic and confused. I finally pitched a fit, and, sure enough, his B/S was 24! (normal shouldn't go below 70). All night long he was all over the map, and didn't get above 70 until 5:30 this morning. I left about 5, and got back about 8:45. No one had checked his sugars since 5:30. I couldn't get anyone in until 9:30, and, you guessed it, he was back to 24 and completely unresponsive. They gave him another glucose shot (he's had about 4 since last night). Then the tech says he's scheduled to have his sugar checked every 12 hours. Needless to say, I blew a gasket. Long story short: they're checking every 2 hours, and I'm to tell them if I want it checked in between.

At the risk of being sued for libel, I have to say the nursing care here was atrocious overnight. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I hadn't been here. It took about 30 to 40 minutes to answer a call light. He didn't get his "bedtime" meds until about 4 a.m., it took 5 (!) tries to get the N/G tube down his nose. I could go on & on, but you might as well just wait for the mini-series. Since I've pitched 2 good fits today, the care has improved. Sometimes it does pay to be a bitch!

Bottom line is, Greg feels pretty good, considering. Hopefully the GI issues will clear on their own, and he's not nearly in as much pain as he was yesterday. I think I've finally convinced them here that I want his sugars checked frequently and this problem fixed, and that a blood sugar of 24 is a bad thing. If nothing else, I've convinced them that there's only one way to shut me up.

Thanks to the Per and Vicki and Karrie and Mark for all the help. Matthew is staying with the Brinck's, so he's fairly happy. I just hope we don't have to go to St. L. Eric has pizza money, so all is right with the world.

If I ever get to see an actual doctor, or when there's a change, I'll post more. Until then, thanks for all the thoughts, prayers and good karma.

Love,

Greg & Ann

P.S. I think I'll try to take a nap. That should make the doc show up!