New Room

Karen is out of ICU and in a wonderful room. Her penthouse is equipped with a coach (with rollout bed), DVD player, veranda (ok, small porch), and is at the end of the hall. It is a quiet room and has a lounge nearby. This is where I spend my time upon nurse imposed banishment. They get testy after too many questions and suggestions.

Last night Karen struggled with pain because her dosage was reduced. Once she was asleep she was fine but she was frequently wakened and the pain would start up again. Despite pleas to increase her dosage, she didn’t get relief until she saw Dr. Sugarbaker this morning. Now her Fentanyl dosage has been increased to about the same level as last night (40/30 as opposed to 40/40). The pain continues to be where the chest tubes are inserted.

This morning her nausea was quieted by a dose of Zofran.

She is disciplined to use the inhalation tube on prescribed intervals. Go figure, Karen is following through on her exercise routines. This workout helps to decrease the risk of pneumonia. It occasionally causes coughing which hurts but helps with her diaphragm recovery.

Her liquid diet (IV) has progressed from Potassium Chloride to a white substance which has sugars, vitamins, fats and other yummy stuff.

This morning’s highlight was that she was transitioned to a chair and was sitting comfortably (see note about medicine above). Her voice is stronger, her swelling reduced, and her hair nicely combed. She had a sponge bath which was “wonderful.”

Karen was surprised by a visit from Steve who flew in from California last night. Both Karen and Tom are very pleased by their friends visit. Steve was amazed at how good she looked. I’m pretty sure he was sincere.

Her 3^rd (of 5) day of chemotherapy starts at noon and lasts 6 hours. She’ll be turned every 30 minutes by the trained medical team of Tom and Mark. This process is painful as she has to lay on her side which messes with the chest tubes. We are all looking forward to positive lung x-rays returns and less discharge from the chest cavity (already decreasing). Both signs will permit the removal of the dreaded tubes.

Heading back

Mark