And then there was One

Yes, it's almost over. But if today is in any way typical of what happens at the end of this treatment it is going to be quite a long road before Jim is restored to anything resembling "health". He is about as bad as he has been through the entire treatment. I talked to the doctor this morning who reported on yesterday's blood work. Jim's kidneys are not functioning well and it is of concern to everyone. The nephrologist has said that this situation arises frequently with patients who are receiving Cisplatinum for chemo. It is possible that it will disable him for some time. Not enough to warrant dialysis but serious enough that we must pay attention to intake/outgo and do frequent blood tests to check on his progress. He does say, however, that the condition will most likely be resolved successfully. He feels absolutely rotten. His feet and ankles are still swollen as are his legs and even his knees. He is exhausted but can't sleep any longer than about two hours before he wakes up choking and has to get up and clear out his throat. The pain level is greater than ever and he is plagued with gagging. So he has to anesthetize his mouth and throat with morphine in order to take anti-emetics. The only thing that has kept him going for the last couple of days is the knowledge that it will be over tomorrow.

Then the long, slow road to recovery begins. The symptoms he now has will stay with him for about a month. Fatigue will be the biggest issue, along with pain and the effects of the feeding tube. But as long as they are no longer bombarding his body and pouring poison in him he'll at least have a fighting chance.

It has been a cold, wet and dark day, one to match how everyone feels. But tomorrow is another day and when noon rolls around you will know that he has made it through these past seven weeks still alive, still kicking, but feeling like hell. We meet with Dr. Schmidt tomorrow for the final check before Jim is sent off to recover. We'll see him again in about a month.

All the medical personnel have been just terrific; available, concerned, present. Likewise the doc I spoke to this morning. One hears horror stories about the care one gets from Kaiser. We have been impressed by all we have dealt with. Especially receiving a call at 8 AM this morning from a doctor Jim has never seen, with yesterday's lab results, inquiring about how he is feeling, etc. That doc was the one who called the nephrologist, got all the info about the chemo reactions. We were told at the outset that patients under treatment for cancer are given priority attention. Indeed, this morning when we went to the lab for another blood test Jim was ushered right in and didn't have to wait along with the other folks. Of course he looked like death so they may have decided to get him in and out in a hurry. Who knows.

It's time to do more blood pressure work and get him tucked up. I would say "for the night" but it is really only for a couple of hours. Then he'll be up, prowling around the house, reading on the internet for awhile. Then back for a couple more hours of sleep. He (and I) will be very glad when his sleep-o-meter gets reset.

Until tomorrow. . .