Slowly Improving

While progress is never as fast as you want it to be, David is gradually making improvements in many areas.  He is gaining some strength which allows him to perform more of his self care & walk independently.  His temperature has been normal over the past week, he is slowly losing some of the 45# fluid gain he had in the hospital (probably has about 10 more pounds to lose), his appetite is better, & his abdominal pain is less.  Unfortunately, he has a new issue -- right shoulder pain, which we believe is a rotator cuff issue from always using his right arm to push himself up from lying down to sitting up.  So, we are working on resolving this new problem.

On Friday, we went into the urology clinic & David was able to adequately void his bladder, so the Foley catheter is gone -- yay!!  We have been going to the infusion center daily for IV antibiotics & will meet with an infectious disease (ID) doctor on Friday to see how much longer David will need to receive daily IV antibiotics (the ID docs in the hospital had mentioned IV antibiotics for 4 weeks, which would be around 2/26, but that an abdominal CT would be done first to make sure that the liver abscesses are gone).  We see Dr. Fanta (David's oncologist) on Wednesday to address many things, one of which will be to see who is in charge of David's gallbladder problem -- how long will the drainage tube remain in his gallbladder & what is the long term solution to his diseased gallbladder.  The other big issue is when do we again start treatment for the pancreatic cancer in the head of David's pancreas & what will the treatment involve as the Gemcitabine & Abraxane David has been receiving over the past year is no longer keeping his cancer stable.  So, we will have much to accomplish this week!

We are now mostly flying solo.  Carl, Mom Hager, & sister Mary all headed home on Sunday after a much appreciated visit.  So, we are getting into our own routine & back to some quieter moments where we can begin to heal emotionally from all that has been thrown at us over the past many weeks.  Our local friends are continuing to bring us food almost every evening, so we are being well fed & attended to as we heal!

Once again, thank you for continuing to follow this blog & for the comments you post here as well as the texts & phones calls you share with us -- they all help us feel cared for & loved, which helps us get through tough times!

Hugs, Janet

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