Vic in the hospital again - June 30th

Last Thursday, June 25th, I had to take Vic to Morristown Memorial's emergency room as he started feeling really sick. Our son-in-law came with us since I need another pair of eyes to drive home in the dark. We arrived at the hospital around 8:45 pm - he was finally taken at 12:30 am! What a nightmare! There wasn't a bed for him on the cancer floor of the hospital, so he had to stay in emergency until 11:00 am the next day. They did perform another Cat Scan and his doctors came to see him and they were trying to keep him as comfortable as possible. The Cat Scan revealed another very large area of fluid in the left side of his abdomen and another area in his pelvis. By this time, he was getting sick to his stomach on a regular basis despite all the nausea medicine they were giving him. Yesterday, they did another "pumping out" of the fluid and also inserted a drainage tube. We thought the drainage tube would be more or less "permanent" for now but Vic was told by the doctor that it will probably be removed before he goes home. He's feeling a little better today, however, he's been running a fever since Sunday and has been in IV antibiotics since. They've done several blood tests and cannot determine where the fever is coming from. He also has to keep his leg propped up and on heat every 4 hours - the blood clots in his leg are numerous and it's now starting to bother him when he walks. Vic thinks he's coming home tomorrow, but I really doubt that. I'll update again when he comes home.

Another Exciting Week - June 24th

Vic was doing okay on the TPN until late Sunday night. He went to get up and stepped on the feeder line to his port and wound up bending the needle. The TPN nurse instructed him on how to remove the needle (this was around 11:30 pm) At this time, I was sound asleep and had no idea what had happened until I woke at 4:00 to get ready for work and Vic came into the kitchen with his arms outstretched and asked me if I noticed anything different about him (he was thrilled to be off the pump!) He told me what happened and also said that he had to see the vascular surgeon before they put in another IV needle because they thought that something could be wrong with the port. The only day he could get an appointment with him was for Tuesday. Around Noon on Monday (hours after the IV was removed) Vic called and told me that his right leg was very swollen and red. He called his oncology office and they told him to come in immediately and that he would have to have a Doppler done on his leg.

Our son-in-law drove him to the hospital and I left work and met them at the Cancer Center. Vic hadn't eaten anything for lunch and by the time I got there, he was already feeling very sick with nausea. He had just been examined by the nurse practitioner, when he got sick (violently). Every nurse, not with another patient, came running. They immediately put him a reclining chair and started giving him IV anti-nausea medicine. The Doppler couldn't be done until he was settled down. The medicine did help and the Doppler was done around 5:30 and was found that he has one large and several small blood clots in his right leg. He was given blood thinning shots to inject into his abdomen once a day for a month. The oncologist also feels that he's filling with "fluid" again in his abdomen and that will have to be drained again - possibly by next week, if Victor keeps getting sick like this, just like before it was drained the first time.

Vic and I went to see the surgeon yesterday for his port and there seems to be nothing wrong with it. As far as the TPN, the nurse came this morning to insert a new needle, so for tonight, I'm good to go to torture him and set him up on his "feeding bag" again tonight.

Vic Home Again From Morristown Hospital

Vic had to be admitted to Morristown Hospital last Thursday, June 11th, as he was not digesting his food and was getting sick everytime his stomach was empty. He's lost over 40 lbs since the surgery. He was not getting any nutrition and as the oncologist explained, since the cancer has spread to his liver, any nutrition he was getting, it was being absorbed by the cancer. His oncologist arranged with a nutrition doctor for Vic to be given TPN (or liquid nutrition) for 12 hours a night. A surgeon had to implant another port and that was done Thursday night. We were at the hospital from 7 am and somehow the hospital screwed up the doctor's orders and he wasn't given a room until after 11 am. A receptionist in the new heart center in Morristown was extremely helpful in trying to get Vic into a room and make him more comfortable (by this time, he was getting sicker by the minute). After his oncologist came in and discovered his orders weren't being followed, everything moved along very quickly as far as the port being installed and getting his liquid nutrition. The doctor also ordered that he be seen by a diabetes doctor (his sugar levels are very high) and a stomach doctor. He was sent for a Cat Scan on Friday of his abdomen and it was found that he has a large amount of fluid building up in an area between his liver and his stomach. We also found out that the cancer is spreading very quickly into the liver and into the rest of his colon. His oncologist would like to start chemo again in two weeks, if he's responding to the TPN. The fluid was removed by a radiology doctor during another Cat Scan and over 2 liters of fluid was taken out! He said his belly went down immediately.

Victor came home from the hospital Tuesday night, June 16, and the doctors made arrangements for him to receive the TPN at home. I had to learn (with Tracey being my backup) to infuse the TPN bags with his insulin and vitamins, prepare his port, hook up his IV nutrition bags for the night, and unhook them after the 12 hours. I'm learning my new trade very quickly. The TPN bags are delivered to the house once a week (they have to be refrigerated, so I have to make room for these 7 very large bags of fluid in my refrigerator) along with all the supplies, needles, gloves, insulin, saline, etc. The nurse comes twice a week to take his vitals and blood samples and to change his port needle. He has been feeling a little better since the start of this nutrition but he can still only eat small amounts at a time and drink very little.

Back Again From Baltimore

We left for Baltimore at 4 am Friday morning. Vic did not feel well, especially since he did not eat anything from 8 o'clock the night before. His appointment at Mercy was at 9 am. We got to the hospital at 8:45 and had just checked in with the nurse, when he started getting sick. The nurse immediately started him on IV and some medicine to calm his stomach down, after I explained why he was sick. He had to wait for awhile since the doctor was doing another procedure but just before he was brought to do his procedure, he got sick again. The doctor was concerned because he was going under anesthesia, but then gave him additional medicine in his IV, which helped. He was out for about an hour and then the doctor came to see me to advise that the IVC filter would have to stay in Vic's artery as it contained a very large blood clot. In other words, the filter did the job it was supposed to. The doctor told me that if he had not had that filter, the blood clot would have gone to his lung and killed him instantly. Thank God we did not listen to that doctor in Hackensack Hospital who refused to put the filter in because "you're too young and never had a problem before" and "if there's a problem we can do it later". It would have been too late! I've always said to listen to a doctor with one ear and use your common sense with the other. This time that was true. Actually, the doctor told me on Friday that this filter procedure is mandatory at Mercy Hospital anytime someone is undergoing major surgery - especially cancer surgery.

Dr. Sardi had refused to do the surgery without this filter, which no doctor in New Jersey would insert. Anyway, the doctor also said that since this filter is FDA approved, he can keep it in long term. The blood clot should dissolve on its own but if Vic really wanted it out, we could go back there in 6 to 8 weeks. I don't think we'll do that - especially since Vic's primary doctor does not want it removed.

We left the hospital around 2:00 that afternoon and we were brought across the street to the Tremont Hotel. As usual, the hospital and the hotel staff were superb! We left for home on Saturday morning and it took us about 4 1/2 hours. Vic felt much better coming home probably because he had the IV's on Friday.

Vic is going back into the hospital (Morristown Memorial) on Thursday, June 11 to have a port inserted and start IV nutrition. He's expected to be there 3 to 4 days and the doctors have told us that when the infusion starts working, he'll start to feel much better. We won't know about the stomach drainage tube until he's further examined by the doctors in Morristown.

As always, Thanks for your thoughts and concerns and prayers.

June Update on Vic's Progress

I'm sorry I haven't updated this blog in a long while - there has been so much going on.

Victor's recovery is basically at a standstill. He's having problems eating and drinking liquids and what he does eat, he's not digesting properly. He's lost about 40 lbs since the surgery. He's also extremely tired all the time. Vic saw the Oncologist in Morristown 2 weeks ago and he referred Vic to a nutrition doctor. This doctor confirmed that Vic's immunity levels were very low and he is at a high risk for getting infections or worse, the Swine Flu. The nutrition doctor is pushing to have Vic admitted into Morristown Memorial next Friday, June 12th, for 3-4 days, to have another Port inserted in his chest and then be given IV nutrition. He will have to have this liquid nutrition given daily for about 12 hours a night from now on. This can be done at home after he's released from the hospital. The doctor believes he may also have some type of blockage and may require a tube inserted in his stomach to drain it. This is very discouraging to Victor because as everyone knows, his main love in life is "food" and since I love to cook for him, this is upsetting to me as well.

Tomorrow, we have to travel back to Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, to have his temporary blood clot filter removed. We expect to be back home by Saturday night.

To continue this nightmare of a saga, two weeks ago, we found out that Victor's mother also has liver cancer. She is currently being treated with chemo pills and has not had a reaction to them so far.

And, last week, one of our grandsons was hospitalized with a severe infection in his leg - and after he was sent home with oral antibiotics, he developed a reaction to them and now has hives on top of the infection.