A Few Set Backs, Test and Oncologist

As I mentioned in the previous post, Alan had to have an NG tube put in Sunday evening. He had it in all day Monday and then they took it out Tuesday around 1 and he was doing ok, until that night and all of the gas and bile started to build up in his stomach thru the night and in to the morning. Needless to say neither of us had any sleep Tuesday night thru the morning. It was a BAD night. Alan was hurting so bad from the build up. He would get up and walk the halls thru the night trying to get any relief. The nurses would pump him with nausea meds and pain meds to try and help and again, nothing helped. He was stressing pretty bad that they were going to put the NG tube in again and the previous experience from that was not something to remember. That Wednesday morning he started throwing up again, so the Dr. did order another NG tube. This would be the 3rd one. If anyone has ever had this done and you were awake, then you know what Alan is going thru. We were pretty upset about this. At this point after Alan's surgery, he should be able to eat whatever he wants and should defiantly be home. Also at this point, he has not eaten anything since lunch Sunday, Sept. 7th. Anything that he did try and eat just came back up. The nurse putting in the third NG tube is Becca. She is a nurse from the intermediate ICU that we loved, so we were excited to see her again. Again, I left for the tube insertion. I left for about 30 minutes and when I came back, Alan wrote that she did a whole lot better than the nurse from Sunday. He actually had a smile on his face.

I skipped over the part about the abdominal xray. While preparing our nerves for the NG tube, they did an xray on Alan's abdomen to see if they could tell what is going on with his intestines. The Dr. came in this morning saying that it looked like there is an issue with Alan's small intestine. He ordered an Small Bowel Series which is where Alan will drink barium and they will take a set of xrays to see if they can tell where the blockage is. The test will be done Sunday and we should have the results for the SBS Monday. They are waiting until Sunday to preform the SBS so his intestines can have a few days of rest. Please pray that there is an easy fix for this b/c if not then Alan will have another surgery.

They also put in a PIC line today so Alan can receive nutrients that he is lacking. Again, since he has not eaten in so long. Hopefully this will give him some strength. He has lost almost 15 lbs since he has been at the hospital and he did not need to loose that at all!

Oncologist Info:
We did meet with the oncologist (Dr. Beck) this week...I think at 6:30 one morning. You know how those Drs. love to come in bright and early! Anyway, he was extremely nice and told Alan that he would not have to do chemo or radiation. He will take an oral drug. We do not know the name of it yet or for how long, but that was wonderful news. There are other meds Alan will be taking too since he no longer has a spleen, but hey...who cares. I'm sure he will take whatever they tell him to at this point. We have seen Dr. Beck a few other times, but have not talked about meds really, just the issues Alan is dealing with at the moment.

I'm home for a few days!
I got home today just in time to pick Sydney up from school. I also picked Samson up from the boarder before Sydney so he was along for the ride too. I'm not sure if Sydney was more excited to see me or Samson, lol. She has not seen him in almost 2 weeks. She actually told someone the other day that she used to have a dog, so I guess she thought we got ride of him! Carson gave me the best hug ever when I picked him up from Wee School today. It felt GREAT!! He has not let go of my finger since. It's been so nice to be with my kids tonight. Poor Sydney is already asking how many days I'm going to be home. I will be heading back to LR either Sunday or Monday. Alan's dad is staying with him while I'm at home. My poor mother has been taking care of the kids along with some great friends helping too. Alan's parents have been back and forth to LR alot, but they did keep Carson over the weekend. I'm sure that was a good break for Gigi, hehe.

Everyone has helped us soooo much. I can't even explain how much I appreciate your help, your calls...everything!! Sarah, I'm sorry you had a blowout on the way to my house tonight!! Thanks for helping out so much with Sydney. Paula, thank you so much for picking up Sydney and letting her come play. I think she was a little disappointed today that she did not get to go home with Julia, but she did make up for it by saying she was also glad to see me, but sure did want to come play, lol. Ricky Babb, thank you for feeding Bealle and mowing our HUGE yard and for being such a good friend to Alan. I know he has enjoyed your visits at the hospital.

Keep the prayers going. God has answered some amazing prayers for our family, but now we need to get Alan thru this. He is still not in the clear. It makes me so sad for him and to watch him just lay in that bed. That's not my Alan. God will give him his strength back and will guide him thru the good and bad. That's why we love him...thru the good and bad...God is always there. Faith will get you thru anything!!

I know this is long...sorry!!