To update everyone--yesterday was a good day! He was in a good mood, and we got to take him off the suction tube! He was happy to be free to walk around. I asked for some pain meds for him since he seemed still uncomfortable at times and irritated, which helped him out a lot. We all were optimistic that his healing was going quickly, and it was decided to take him off the suction indefinitely! We went to bed thinking we may even start feeds today and be on our way out of here for this round.
BUT then over night, he got uncomfortable again, even after more pain meds. He also got sick again twice. An Xray was ordered and while it doesn't look as backed up as it was before, there was still some extra gas building up in his belly. Then he developed a fever. It was a busy night for us! In the morning it was decided that maybe we too eagerly took the suction tube out. His digestive tract is healing, we are seeing (and hearing!) movement, but the obstruction is still causing things to get behind in his stomach, causing him to get sick. We will be putting the tube back in today and anticipate he'll be much more comfortable. The feeds through the feeding tube will not be started today, or probably tomorrow. We'll just have to give his system more time to heal. We will also keep up with the pain medicines. They explain that this hematoma is similar to a bruise, and bruises hurt when pressure is put on them, right? So it is probably painful as waste and gas pass by it in the small intestine. That makes sense to me. The fever has been ruled as coincidental. A "typical" fever associated with low blood counts following chemo, and a possible sign of infection. He was started on antibiotics right away and blood cultures were taken to show if an infection is present. Him and I both are pretty tired today after all this. Please pray that there is no infection, and the fever goes away as quickly as it came. Also that the blockage issue continues to resolve and we can keep him comfortable during the process. And that he (and I) can get some rest! Josh will be coming to take over on this end today, and I'll go back to Austin to rest and spend time with Molly.
~Heidi
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