November 2009
Stable and asleep
Cathy is in stable condition, she is sleeping as comfortably as she can. Beth and Liz are heading home to sleep. So, I suggest that we all do the same. Tomorrow there will be updates.
Organization in a chaotic situation
Dear friends and family,
We know everyone is eager for news, I am, too. We must however be super careful to avoid overwhelming Beth with calls, both to her cell and to the room. Immediate family: you all of course should organize yourselves and call as needed!! Everyone else, please be patient, check this blog and/ or call me (202-821-8729) or Kat (202-255-8888). We’re willing to fill in every little detail that we know.
It’s almost 6:00pm; Liz and Beth are still with Cathy. Beth spoke to Kat awhile ago. Again, so glad Liz is there.
Barbara H
Update from Liz!
2:16 EST – This text from Liz, “Hoping 2 take breathing tube out soon. she is alert & making jokes without talking. Slight temp”
Still no news from Balitmore..
2:07 EST – Monday, November 30th.
Several of you are starting to worry, but I have not gotten any communications from Beth or Liz from Hopkins yet. I am assuming “no news is good news” and that they just can’t use the cell phones currently (if there is a heart monitor).
Someone will post as soon as possible with any news.
Cathy was readmitted to Hopkins
Apparently Cathy had a very rough time last night and was taken to the local hospital in Takoma Park. Eventually she was moved back to the cancer unit at Hopkins where she had been yesterday. She is now with her regular team. Even though, of course, Cathy prefers to be at home, this is where she needs to be for now. Beth is also there and Beth’s nurse friend, Liz is with them. Beth will post as she knows more and when she is able. Love to them.
Good Night from Takoma Park (Sunday, Nov. 29)
Yes, indeed, Cathy and I are back home again.
We got back around 7:30 with many sighs of relief. Cathy’s medical situation stabilized about mid-afternoon. She had no signs of infection in her chest or lungs, a negative flu swab, her temperature had returned to normal but her blood sugar was still causing havoc. Up to 385 after one can of Osmolite and some dextrose in her saline bag (she had been at 43 in the morning). The nurses were really baffled. The day nurse confessed that she had never treated a patient with an insulin pump before. At the shift change, the evening nurse came in and is a 15 year veteran of the cancer ward. She could tie up an IV with one hand. I could tell she was a pro, just from her hand skills. She also figured out that Cathy and I knew more about handling Cathy’s diabetes than she did, so she let us ‘take care of it’ while she was out of the room. Cathy got two bags of B+ red blood cells and the change in Cathy’s clarity, coloring and body warmth was almost instantaneous. The nurse also decided to give us a different way to feed Cathy the maximum of her liquid diet, supplemented by water and Gatorade. The Gatorade will help give her sodium level a boost (though one bag of saline did the trick, too). We’ll be giving her the Osmolite at lower amounts more frequently during the day to, again, try to stabilize the sugar levels. Keep your fingers crossed, say a voodoo chant, send up wishes or whatever it is one does to push Mother Nature in a positive direction. We’ve added a liquid antibiotic to her medicine chart to help keep any infection at bay from her broken open skin on her neck. It looks awful, but surprisingly, Cathy says it doesn’t hurt.
Tomorrow is the beginning of our weekly radiation journeys, which this week will consist of only 4. On Thursday, she gets the last one. The following Tuesday will be her last chemotherapy. If I am repeating myself here it’s because we can’t quite believe it but we have clearly focused to keep our ‘eyes on the prize’.
I just tucked Cathy into bed (hopefully for the last time tonight) with Charly on one side and Lucy on the other. They both promised me they would keep guard over her tonight. I think they sense that Cathy needs more TLC right now. They are sticking close to her side, licking her hand a lot and generally, providing that unspoken love and companionship that only dogs can do.
Thank you ALL for you love and attention. It goes a long way and provides us with much comfort. I can’t wait until we can have a celebration party when Cathy can say ‘thank you’ in person and stand on her own two feet when she does.
xxxooo
“They also serve who only stand and wait.”
I was mistaken, it was John Milton who wrote that line. Never-the-less, I think it is appropriate to those of us who can only wait, to know that we are still contributing, with thoughts, prayers, and love.