Monday October 5, 2009

Well ..... It's been pretty interesting since we've been back here. Daddy has moments of sanity but for the most part he is still delirious (for a lack of a better word) and not making much sense. It's hard to see him like this but at the same time you can't help to laugh at the off the wall things he is saying. Examples: He kept calling his nurse yesterday "Sargent Hooligan" & said he didn't like her. (She was very nice). He said "I thought I was in the United States, not down here in Red China". But I have to say the funniest thing so far was when he started pulling at his catheter and told Mom "Look at this, what did they do sew bull balls on me?" Mom, trying her best to keep a straight face said "No, do you think your balls are as big as a bulls?" to which Daddy replied "well ... yeah". Of course Larry and I are sitting across the room about to fall out of our chairs trying to contain our laughter so as to not upset Daddy. He was very serious. That's just a little example of the things he's been saying.

Daddy's Doctors just left. They are not sure what is causing the delirium, his fever or where the infection is. At first they said they thought it was a bladder infection that had transferred to the blood stream. Now they aren't sure what it is. He had blood clots coming from his catheter last night and they did another urine analysis which didn't show any bacteria, but did show blood. His culture did come back that he does not have c-diff. So they are not sure what is wrong at this point other than the fact he's still got some type of infection. Daddy is also still scheduled to have a feeding tube put in once they get the infection under control and his coumadian level comes down. At one point they had told us his coumadin level was 4.9 and it should be between 2-3. After they took blood from the porta cath for testing (which is more accurate) they found that his coumadin level was actually over 6, which was not good at all.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that he was moved from ICU yesterday to room 1063 in the oncology ward. They have also started his first Chemo treatment this morning. They hooked the IV up to his porta-cath about 11:30, so far so good. They have decided to use a milder drug that the doctor said is technically not chemotherapy. He said it is a monoclonal antibody which is a new fangled drug that is a very targeted drug. The monoclonal antibody does something called the epidermal growth factor receptor or EGFR inhibitor. The EGFR is a little receptor/protein that is on the surface of the cancer cell. It's on the surface of a couple other tissues in the body normally, but not on a lot of other tissues so that's why its sort of a targeted drug and it mostly effects the cancer and leaves the rest of the body alone. The cancer Daddy has expresses this EGFR receptor at a very high level. This drug binds to that receptor and attempts to kill the cancer. Essentially it leaves the white blood cells alone and people don't develop low white blood cells. Classic chemotherapy drugs would attack the white blood cells and the immune system, so the Doctors feel that in Daddy's situation and with his already underlying infection this is the best treatment for him.

Daddy will still be getting radiation treatments while he is here at the hospital. Carilion transport will pick him up and take him to the Cancer Center and bring him back to the hospital.

So it looks like he is going to be here for a while or at least until they get this infection cleared up and providing there is not complications from the chemo.

Daddy's visitation is not restricted now that his c-diff culture has come back negative.