Hi Everyone! I got back home about 2 hours ago, having spent since Monday at the hospital. We went Monday morning to get PEG tube. Jesse was severely nauseated/vomiting upon arriving; so they gave him fluids for awhile and went ahead and put the tube in, but by next morning, CT scan showed it had "backed itself out." So we got another surgeon to put another tube in using a different technique and so far it has stayed in. But Jesse couldn't have anything in it for 24 hours to make sure it sealed, and by then, we had decided to have a port put in while he was still in the hospital, so he was only able to get the feeding started for about 8 hours before he had to fast again to prepare for the procedure this morning. So already 5 days in the hospital, but at least we have the PEG and a port in place and hopefully we can move forward from there. I will now pray that there are no problems with infection and am fighting the feeling that if it can go wrong, it will. At least he didn't miss any radiation treatments during this process, so he has 10 treatments completed at this point. I felt so bad for him, knowing how entirely sick and miserable he felt and having to go for treatments anyway. He tried to skip them a couple times, but didn't. I hope the coming week is a little calmer. He is already down 27 lbs since discovering the lump! RO says he needs to put 10 lbs. back on as soon as possible. I can see a big challenge there.
Within 2 hours of arriving home from the hospital, his temperature rose to 102.7. But we got it down to 99 now. Is that (fever) a common occurrence? I really didn't think he was going to be as sick as he was during the first week and then to spend the second week in the hospital. I am glad he only took the Ethyol one day as it seems to have only complicated matters. Does radiation make you nauseated as well? I thought it mainly made you tired.
Also, what does Erbitux do? I had asked the medical oncologist about it, and she seemed to indicate it would not need to be considered until later on in the treatments. Does this seem right?
I am feeling frustrated with having so many doctors, surgeons, etc. and one not seeming to have a clear understanding of what the other is doing... every procedure seems like its own separate entity and not part of the overall treatment process for the cancer. If that even makes sense. I should go now and post later after I have rested.
Goodbye for now and as always, thanks for being there and listening.
Michele