Dave's hospital Journey

Well, I am neither as funny or as articulate as Dave but I figure that I need to update everyone.

Dave has been in the hospital for almost 4 weeks now. He was admitted since his pain was spiraling out of control. This was suppose to be a simple admission and he was supposed to get discharged rather quickly. Unfortunately, do to complication after complication he has not been able to become discharged. Last Friday we finally received the PET scan after much anticipation, the Medical Oncology Resident came back and gave us some small amount of information. This being that the cancer looks better but he has air in the bowel wall. I asked what the complications and seriousness of the air in the bowel wall is and was told that there was no serious complications and he just needed some bowel rest. I also mentioned that Dave was have some jerky-twitchy moments and we were concerned that it might be his pain medication.

After the weekend, I go in on Monday and Dave is rather confused. Not really knowing what day it is and waking up from sleep with random thoughts. They thought that this could be the pain medication and that it may need to be changed. By Tuesday he was not really awake and not really asking about things he would normally ask about, not holding my hand, and at moments very very confused when he was awake. They did a complete septic work up as well as a CT head, which is already coming back as normal. What I did find out on Tuesday is that Dave is very very unstable and sick. The air in the bowel wall is very very dangerous and that not of his systems are working right. I was also told that if he keeps on this path it would be very likely that he would not survive. I asked for what they call a "Family Meeting" meaning that they discuss with Dave and I with all the Doctors taking care of him.

This meeting happened yesterday morning after Dave had a couple episodes of chest pain. What came of this meeting is that Dave is not stable enough for surgery in his condition but there is potential until the GI surgeon says no, Dave's bowel systems are not working well and he continues to need to rest them(so once again there is nothing by mouth), If Dave had a catastrophic event such as a heart attack he would not recover enough to get out of ICU.

All in all, Dave is very sick and we are working to get him better. In the midst of this my father is dying, so there is a lot of things pulling me in many directions. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts.