We're back

After conferring, Alan's docs decided that the lack of eating and weight loss was serious enough that they wanted him back in the hospital. First, to get an ultrasound to check his kidneys. Even though the tumor is retreating, the kidneys may still be having problems, which in turn could be causing problems with his eating.



Of course, while the tumor was growing, not only was it taking nutrition away from him but it was also crowding his stomach, making him feel more and more full. We had noticed in the 4-6 weeks before the diagnosis that Alan was less and less interested in solid food, and by now he's out of the habit of eating.

Which leads us to the second reason we're back, so they can put a feeding tube in him. They put the feeding tube in after the ultrasound while we were still in radiology. We were hoping to avoid this, but given that the amount of food he eats most days can be measured by the teaspoonful it was unavoidable. The docs want to feed him by tube to get his strength back up and hope by then he'll be more amenable to eating again.

As for The New Normal, the doc told me on Tuesday I should have a bag packed in the car in case a doctor's visit turned into a hospital visit. I did that right away, not knowing my packing choices would be tested so soon. Not bad, all I was missing was my contact lens solution. I was going to get some more the next time I went to the store, go figure! Of course, the hospital gift shop only had soft contact lens solution. Why is the world so prejudiced against people with gas permeable lenses?