The C Word – A New Battle Day 49 - Yippee! No extra “jewels”!

Well, we had a great day on the 1^st and then stopped the feeding tube.  The next morning George started complaining about being very sore at the site of the feeding tube.  He had really wanted to go with me to Costco but ended up staying home because he was in such pain.  That pain escalated over the next few days.  He actually started having me administer pain meds via the feeding tube - - and that says a lot about how much pain he was in.  He literally spent four days not budging from the chair except for bathroom trips.

This morning I sent a text message to ask Dr. B if he had office hours and let him know that I believed we needed to take the feeding tube out.  I told him about the pain that George was in.  He sent a text message right back and said he had never heard of anyone experiencing a lot of pain from the feeding tube and though perhaps there was an obstruction.  He said to come right over as he was in the office doing paperwork. 

We went in and he asked some questions.  The pain appeared to be isolated to the skin around the opening for the feeding tube.  It occurred only when George moved or when someone just touched the feeding tube even lightly.  He said, “I think we need to remove the tube.  Do you agree?”  George said, “yes” and with that he pulled the tube out.  George was totally not prepared for that as he groaned in pain.  I just sat in amazement as this three foot long tube came out.  Holy smokes.  I had no idea how long it was!!  Now, for the first time in seven weeks George is free of all the extra “jewelry” as he called the various drains, PICC lines and feeding tube. 

We had to wait for at least ten minutes to allow the wound to settle down.  Then he removed the dressing and re-applied a new dressing and then sit some more.  The whole time Dr. B sat in the room and chatted with us.  We asked about his granddaughter and he went to grab his phone to show us a recent video of her.

George then asked him how much he knew about PMP treatments outside of the surgical arena.  He proceeded to tell us that, aside from a few researchers, he is very well versed in treatments.  He also told us he had just heard about the PMP pals symposium in Monterey next month and that he hoped to be able to go.  We told him we planned on being there.  We told him about our appointment this coming Monday with Dr. Sheh, our oncologist and that we would be hearing what he thought should be the next step and about how we weren’t sure about chemo.  He then said that the term chemo is a broader term for the treatments out there and that there are different kinds of chemo under the umbrella.  He talked about targeted chemo, various immune-type therapies, etc.  I think he sat with us for nearly 40 minutes.  It was a great conversation.

In the middle of this appointment my dentist called with a last minute opening for the hygienist.  (I had to cancel my appointment at the beginning of August because of George’s hospitalization and had asked them to call if they had an opening.)  Today I got to do some “catch up” on medical appointments!!

This afternoon after a short nap we had a visit for two hours from George’s buddy, Steve.  That was followed by a visit from our friends, Vernita and Steve.  AND, on top of that, George was feeling well enough to go out for dinner!  That was so amazing.  I am so grateful!  We had a marvelous visit and a pretty good dinner!  SOOO much better than early this morning and the past weekend.  Hoping that we get a break for a bit!