Best seen with
Notes about this site
Al's Cancer Update
2001:
January:
8th Al told the Doctors he has decided to stop all therapy. Since there is only a 30% chance of shrinkage of the tumor, and no chance of a cure, he decided the chemo, all the tests and being so sick.....was just not worth it.
He is feeling much better now.
He has been able to continue his activites with the Aksarben Amateur Radio Club and as Vice President with the Boyer Valley Amateur Radio Club. He has also been able to return to Knights of Columbus, and Knights of Columbus 4th Degree, St Patrick's Parish Council and to his position as Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus. He goes out, every weekday morning, to the "Ol' Geezer's Club" at McDonald's. He joins his buddies from First Data Corp, at lunch on Thursdays at Taco John's in Omaha.
|
He feels well enough to play with his new toy.
That is a good thing, or we would be inundated with the snow and ice we have received this winter.
Life is back to normal. If you can call this much snow, normal
|
|
April:
Strange how some things come on so slowly you really do not notice, then all of a sudden you realize it has been there awhile. However, you cannot go back and say just when this or that started.
What we are looking at now is, general feeling of poor health, but he can't pinpoint anything. He says, he just feels different.
He shows a more pronounced fatique, some loss of appitite, 15 pound weight loss since January, occasional pain in chest and shoulder, occasional very warm skin (possible fever), very uncomfortable night sweats and occasional extreme weakness. There are also days, when his voice is hoarse and weak.
He says he is tired of being cold. He says he is tired of dealing with the diabetes.
He seldom misses going to church. There are days he rarely comes out of his den, but then, there are times he sits in the yard swing, just enjoying that spring and the warm weather, are finally here.
May:
We have now put Al in the hospice program. We have assigned to us, a Chaplain Tom, Registered Nurse Brenda, Social Worker JoAnne and Home Health Care Aide Tina, who shaves and bathes him.
The month of May passed with only one crisis.
"They" say that having cancer is like a roller coaster ride. I certainly agree. There are good days and bad, then the good come again. However, the good days never seem to be as good as they were before the bad ones began.
On the 17th Al took a pain pill at 0300, for upper chest pain. The pain was bad enough that he was unable to sleep.
The medication allowed him to sleep the rest of the night, but when he awoke he began to vomit. This continued till noon when he said if he had something to eat, maybe that would help. It did not. He promptly lost the toast.
He continued this throughout the day.
The next day he was better, no longer getting sick, however, his energy was drained.
It took a week to feel well enough to get dressed.
On the 30th, the nurse on her weekly visit, asked if he wanted oxygen to help his "sometimes" labored breathing. He said "No" but she suggested we order it and have it handy just in case he did want it. He agreed.
When the oxygen came, he listened to the instructions on how to run the machine. (It is a machine that takes room air and compresses the oxygen.) After being shown how to work the machine, he put the oxygen on, just to make sure he was doing it right. He left it on for a couple of days.
The nice thing....his cough has stopped and he did not have night sweats that night. We will see if this continues.
June:
I finally bought a scale. Al has lost 48 pounds since January 8th.
2nd Al has developed a headache. That is something new for him, as he rarely has headaches. We tried asprin, then a decongestant and the old stand-by, eating. Nothing touched it. It was just an annoying little headache except when he coughed, it felt like a sword going from his chin right out the top of his head.
The next day, in getting up out of his chair, Al fell. He said he just lost his balance. He was able to get up, with my help. (He did not hurt himself in the fall, thank goodness. No bruises.) Later, as he was walking down the hallway, he was very unsteady. That was when I realized that his "little" tumor had found it's way to his brain. Brenda, when told of the fall and unsteadiness, agreed. I should have known this might be the next place the tumor would travel. An internet friend had told me this happened to her husband.
Yes, I had searched the internet for any information I could get. I also received email from friends and friends of friends.
It was not long before the Hospice Nurse, Brenda, had some medication for him. It is a steroid and is designed to reduce swelling around the tumors. It was like a miracle, within one day, he was back to the way it was before the headaches began. His walking is now steady, the cough is gone, the chest pain (with the help of a mild pain killer) is gone. His appetite is back to normal.
He is back to going out to coffee in the mornings. Father's day saw all his children and some grandchildren here. He enjoyed the day immensely. However, on the 10th, he fell again.
20th Al has developed thrush. That is a fungus that makes your tongue burn. Brenda got some medicine for it and it is helping. He also has started hiccups. They have lasted for 2 days. The medicine for the hiccups makes him sleep and dopey when awake. Needless to say he, again, is not feeling his best, however, the hiccups disappeared very quickly and the thrush is clearing up.
July:
12th July has not been good to Al. He has not been back to MacDonald's. That is my guage as to how he is feeling. He has lost a lot of muscle tone which makes his legs "heavy." This makes it difficult for him to get around and even turn over in bed. We had a hospital bed delivered on the 6th, but he only uses it ocassionally. He spends most nights in his recliner.
He is still getting up in the morning and making his own breakfast. It consists of microwave oatmeal and a glass of juice.
He seems to have no tumor pain, however, his hands are beginning to shake.
He is no longer able to attend church. Communion is being brought to him, here at home.
18th I have a chance to go to the SeniorNet Chat Room Luncheon in Illinois, so Al is going on "respite care." I took him to the local hospital and got him settled in. The nurses will see that he gets any help he needs. He was going to stay till I got home on the 23rd.
20th Crissy brought him home early. They didn't have cable. *grin* "Mom, he was so bored!"
21st I arrived home in the late evening after having had a marvelous time, meeting people I have been chatting with for 3 years. I have decided, that I will not take the respite again as it is too hard to get back in the daily routine. An occasional afternoon, for shopping in Omaha is enough. His friend, Mike, comes to visit with him.
26th Al is now sleeping in the hosptial bed every night. He beginning to show jaundice. His skin is slightly yellow and when he walks the length of the house, he changes to a greenish color. This morning, I noticed a bulge on his right side. The tumor must be huge now.
His poor "heavy legs" now have no strength at all. He can lift his foot an inch, sometimes. With the help of a walker, he shuffles, when he walks. He can no longer get out of the bed or a regular chair by himself. We do a mutual hug. He puts his arms around my neck and I put mine in back of him and "up we go". When he gets back in bed one of us has to lift his feet and move them over.
He gets really frustrated. Yesterday I got him a "lift" recliner so he is able to get up from that chair, but I am usually there in case he loses his balance after standing. When he sits with no support to his back, he has a great deal of pain.
He continues to get up and come to the dining room for breakfast, however, lunch and usually supper are served to him in his chair.
Today, we tried something new - to him. (I had done this for my mother) Instead of getting in the bathtub and then trying to get out again.... I bought a child's small blow up swimming pool. He was sure he was not going to like this procedure at all. He was pleasantly surprised.
For those of you who may want to know what we did, so you can do the same, here are the details.
Supplies needed:
1 Small child's plastic blow up swimming pool. One that has only 1 or 2 rings.
Plastic bathtub seat with rubber tips on the legs, so the pool is not punctured.
2 basins for water, one for soapy and one for rinsing. (For the rinse, I use an 8 cup plastic measuring cup)
5 or 6 bath towels
Wash cloth, soap, shampoo
This takes two people. One for the bath and one to keep getting more hot water.
I blew up only one ring on the pool then took it into the bedroom and put the shower chair in the middle. (with a thick double folded towel on it, for comfort) I also put a towel, outside at the edge of the pool for him to step out on when done.
First, we wet his head and he was able to do the shampooing and wash his own face. I then poured a basin of clean water over his head to rinse. (the effort to do his shampooing, wore him out, so Tina and I took over) We dried his head and face.
Next, Tina washed his upper body. (while I went and got more hot water) She poured rinse water on him. She then dried his upper body so he would not get too cold. (With my mother, aged 93, we covered her with towels to keep her warm and had a room heater going) Next came his legs and feet. Again rinse by pouring water from the basin. Of course, all the water is caught in the pool.
Finally, we helped him stand and he took care of the "private" parts. Again rinse. We then dried him off except his feet, which, by now were in about an inch of water. To make it easy, Tina and I stepped on the edge of the pool, so he did not have to lift his feet to get over it. There was so little water in the pool, it did not run over the side when we stepped on it.
He then sat on the bed and Tina dried his feet, paying particular attention to between his toes. I helped him get dressed, brought his mirror and he brushed his hair. All in all, I would say it was a very successful bath time.
Poor Tina did not know how she was going to record this in her report. Always before, she had either put bed bath, tub bath or shower. How do you say, pool bath? *grin*
To empty the pool, we caught most of the water in the measuring cup and emptied in the bathroom sink. Then folded the pool (2 people) and emptied the rest in the bathtub.
Now for drying and storage of the pool.... we have not figured that one out yet. Right now it is in the bathtub. I don't have the lung power to blow it up each bath time.
27th Nurse Brenda paid her bi-weekly visit. She not only noticed the jaundice and bulge on his side, but also that his stomach seems to be getting larger. She explained, when the liver is not working properly fluid sometimes collects in the abdomen. If it gets uncomfortable, the doctor can come to the house and, with a needle, draw off the fluid. However, it will come back and may need to be done again. At this point, Al shook his head. Brenda measured him and will do it again in a week. If it does get uncomfortable, I am sure he will agree to have the doctor come. That extra weight may be what is causing his backaches.
|
August:
2th Trying out my new camera. *G* Al is not feeling too well, right now. I said "smile" and he said, "this is as smiley as I get."
It appears that Al's large stomach may not be fluid. Brenda will measure again tomorrow. Today is bath day. We will see if he has enough energy to get out of bed or if he will just get a sponge bath and/or shave.
|
|