The “C” Word - The Next Chapter, Day 1 - CT Scan completed

Today was the CT scan which will begin the process for the next surgery.  George awoke early to start drinking his “banana smoothie” aka Barium. 

On the way to the hospital I inquired as to how he was doing.  He looked fairly calm.  This is the easy part.  The hard part is waiting for the next 6 days until our appointment with the surgeon.  Until that meeting, there will be some level of anxiety as he fears what the tests will show. 

This being the “easy” part – was not so easy.  George was late being escorted back to the room (and I had told him they would probably make him drink some more barium as so much time had lapsed – and that did happen).  After an hour of waiting I finally went to the counter to ask where he was as the test should only take 10 minutes or so.  A little while longer if they have trouble finding veins.  Apparently that was the case today.  Two nurses, one doctor, an ultrasound machine and 9 sticks later they finally got the IV needle in. 

Ironically, the doctor that they called in to assist was Dr. Wright.  George recognized the name.  This was the doctor that was on duty when he had his needle biopsy for the cancer (before we knew what it was).  He worked at O’Connor hospital at that time.  He is the one that tried to draw off the fluid from his belly but couldn’t because it was so thick.  He is the one that whispered to the nurse off in the corner after the procedure and on his way out of the room patted George on the arm and said “Good luck”.  He did not make us feel very good. 

After our appointment (which took a little over 2 hours from the time we entered for admissions until they were done), we went out for a bite to eat and then home for George to try to get some more sleep.  An hour or two after getting home, George experienced another bout of nausea and vomiting and spent a few hours back and forth to the bathroom.

Note: At a doctor appointment earlier this week we found out that George has anemia.  The nurse practitioner says that we have to figure out the cause and, after telling her about the nausea spells (4 since June 1), she suspects George may have an ulcer.  She put George on Prilosec to see if that will help.  I think we will be seeing the GI doctor sooner than later to ensure this is not an issue going forward. 

We see the surgeon on Thursday, June 30 to start cuing up the next surgery.