Alan had a rough night again. He didn't get to sleep until very late and only slept about 5 hours before waking up at about 5AM in pain. He was awake pretty much from then on until he was knocked out for radiation therapy this morning.
Unlike yesterday (and to be honest, most of the stay at MD Anderson so far), today everything seemed to be come together perfectly. We arrived at radiation on time, and while they were setting up, we got to inspect the actual machine very closely and actually see how it works and moves (without it radiating us of course). You could look up in it and actually see the shielding plates in the shape of the computer diagram. Our anesthesiologist Doc R described the process to us, not only as a doctor but because he had been a radiation patient here in the past.
The radiation treatment takes only five minutes once Alan is asleep and in position, a beam from above and then they rotate the machine to beam from the bottom. In another piece of synergy, Doc HJ came down from the OR to put in Alan's rectal tube in just as they were starting the radiation treatment. We were so glad that she was able to get away to take care of this because we have high hopes it will ease Alan's abdominal pain. Her part also only took about five minutes and she was already back up to the OR by the time they brought us back from the waiting room. In total, we only waited about ten minutes from the time we left the radiation treatment room until they called us back to say he was completely done! Once we were settled back in his room on the pediatric floor, the nurses gave his first dose of Temozothlomide after a dose of IV Zofran.
Warning: Poopy talk ahead
The rectal tube showed a significant amount of waste right away, which surprised us. We didn't think there was anything left in there, especially since Alan has had nothing but clear liquids since Thursday. More importantly, Doc HJ said that once the tube was in place, a bunch of gas was released. Hopefully this will mean less pressure on his abdomen overall.
He's still dealing with pain, but some of it seems to be discomfort from trying to move things out of his bowel through the rectal tube. We saw a lot of 'poop face" today.
Doc L and Kristi came by to see how he was doing. We had a scheduled follow up in the Sarcoma clinic but since we were obviously not getting there they came by during rounds for a quick confirmation of his condition.
His red cell count was a little low so they decided to do a blood transfusion. The pre-transfusion Benedryl made him a little doze off a little but of course he didn't completely fall asleep.
We were concerned a bit because we were still seeing blood at the foley catheter but Urology said that it would continue. As the day went on, we noticed it looked better and stayed that way after a good cleaning. There was some debate about removing it, but Doc M's concerns about blockage took priority so it stays for now.
For bed time, the nurse suggested giving Alan some Ativan to relax him. With everything he has been through and tubes coming out everywhere, we figured part of the reason he isn't sleeping well is because he is just very tense and stressed. Sure enough, he was sleeping peacefully soon after the dose.
Waking up from Radiation #2
Pushing the PCA button
Dozing off post-Benedryl
No comments:
Post a Comment