In the night from Thursday to Friday Paul woke severayl times with severe chest pain and pain in his lower back. We rang the hospital yesterday morning. They told us to come in immediately. Blood tests showed that his white blood cells had gone up very much since the day he had been discharged; they had tripled in two days. The doctor did another xray of his lung and it showed that, while the first course of antibiotic had done a little bit of improvement, the lung infection at the base of his lung is still there. So they admitted him again. But this time they didn't take him in at the cancer hospital but at another public hospital where his consultant is one of the leading oncologists. Unfortunately, instead of giving us an ambulance transport to the other hospital, we had to go, like every other patient, through the emergency department; not such a good thing to do for someone with a somewhat comprised immune system. After many heated discussions I had with various nurses and doctors he was finally given a bed on one of the wards last night. This morning they started him on a new and much higher dose of antibiotics. We are really hoping they will work. The liver markers have gone up further. So it feels like we don't have much time, you know, and yet time is what his system needs the most to recover from this infection. Not very happy tonight as you can imagine. I thought we would be over this now. Paul is keeping cheerful, although he is still having chest pains and feeling very fatigued. I will be in the hospital at 9AM in the morning to catch the doctor on her round. Best wishes to all. Mel.
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MelaniePaul
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Oh No Mel....My Thoughts And prayers for both of you. Hoping wishing and praying that Paul recovers quick from this infection. Take care of you too Mel.
Hello again, Mel. We are sad to hear about Paul’s return to the hospital and your stressful ER visit. Best wishes in the morning. Stay strong both of you.
Recently, it has been stressful and, at times, painful here, too. Les will have inguinal hernia surgery in a couple weeks followed three days later by a first visit in a new facility to a prostate specialist with impressive credentials and reviews who was recommended by Les’s urologist. During the past six months while on Vantas and bicalutamide, the PSA has risen to 166.71; in short, he is castrate resistant.
Please continue to post, Mel. We’ll be waiting to hear Paul is home again. Mrs. S
Hi Mel. Thanks for the update. I know it is easier to say than to do, but I hope you get enough sleep and rest, yourself, as Paul continues to be treated and monitored. Of course you want to be with him as much as possible, but do not hesitate to talk with others you may know, and the professional support staff, so as to keep a balance. Hope he bounces back soon.
Big Hugs, for both of you.
Charles
P.S. Also, I don't mean to be pessimistic or to quash any hopes or to instill any unnecessary fears, but when people are hospitalized with multiple things happening, and a serious prognosis, there are some things that can be worth discussing earlier rather than later, "just in case". For example, you may have already been asked if Paul has an Advanced Directive for Health Care, or an equivalent document, and to what extent that may help guide You and the Doctor(s) in case his condition might worsen, or in case any invasive or serious medical interventions might suddenly come under consideration, etc. The best time to talk about these things, obviously, is while Paul is still doing relative better, rather than in the midst of a sudden medical episode, or perhaps incapacitated or unconscious, It's not always the easiest type of conversation to have, but it can be a very important one. The "devil is in the details", as they say, when it comes to "exactly" what it means and what the implications may be of getting various breathing/feeding "tubes", rescue or resuscitation procedures, etc. Take all the time you may think you need or want in discussing these matters with Paul, the main doctor(s) who you need to get to be advocates for his overall care, and any of the more senior nurses and hospital staff who have a lot of experience in this aspect of patient care. ..... (A fellow member of ours from a Cancer Support Group just went through this difficult but necessary process a couple of months ago with her husband in hospital.)
I'm sorry to hear you are struggling. When you said he was cheerful I thought to myself just how important that is to his healing. Just sending a hug. Don't give up. Follow your hubby's cheerful lead. I pray for quick healing. XO Erica
Hi Me, So many bumps in the road...My husband also had a bad infection and white blood cells were next to nothing, five days in the hospital getting the blood cells back to normal and antibiotics to get rid of the infection. Take care, hope Paul has a speedy recovery!! Hang in there and keep the faith.
I believe that with you supporting him, he will get through this. When my dad was in the hospital because of a blood clot to his leg.. he coded twice.. ended up getting a defibrillating pacemaker. He spent 3 weeks in the ICU. They said he would never be the same man. He not only made it out of there but he came home with us and we still had great times together after that. We were with him all the time. We would even sneak in our kids for quick visits. Love can help a lot. A happy upbeat attitude also helps.
We have reason to hope that the antibiotics Paul is on are working for him.
They also give him something called Megace (I don't know if the spelling is right) now to stimulate his appetite.
He is still weak and very tired. He spent most of today in bed.
Although I was in hospital today and yesterday at 8AM, I didn't see a doctor; they had already gone when I came in. But I spoke to a nurse today who said that the bloods are slowly improving. His infection marker - I think it is called CRP - is at 108 now and dropped from 188 since yesterday. So maybe this is a good sign? Liver markers are very high. The nurse said that the ALP was at 950. But I don't get too worried about that now, because it was only a nurse who said that and, until we have spoken to a doctor, there is no point in getting upset.
I wonder if we have to wait with Chemo until the infection has cleared?
As for looking after myself, I really struggle to do so. I mean, I sleep okay and I eat and drink okay, but I cannot sit down and relax or concentrate for long periods of time. I think I am just very tired but, even at night, I can't let go completely, so it feels like I am always on the go. The trips to and from the hospital take so long - over an hour - and I spend as much time as possible with Paul; so I am not home very much. However, this afternoon I left the hospital early because I had two clients this evening whom I really needed to see. That was good. Now it is off to bed because I want to be in hospital at 7:45 tomorrow. Maybe I will see the doctor then. But tomorrow our own consultant is back as well and I will not leave until we have spoken with him.
Yesterday we were finally able to speak to all the doctors.
So Paul's blood marker for infection dropped from 188 on the day of admission to 108 the day before yesterday and 88 yesterday. So they are thinking that the antibiotics must be working. His liver markers, particularly the GGT, is very high, but they think this may be due to all the medication Paul is on, so in fact they told us not to worry to much about the liver at all at the moment.
They say the priority must be for Paul to overcome these infections. Dr. McDermott said that Paul would definitely need a little break from Chemo afterwards, but we stressed that we would like him to go back to Chemo as soon as possible because otherwise we might run out of time where the liver is concerned. He said we would do this.
Paul is in good spirits. He is still very sleepy. But we had a little walk around the room yesterday and he can walk very well. I just wish they would let him walk around outside, but they don't because they say the influenza is still there.
I will go in to see him this afternoon and hopefully get more good news.
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