Thursday?

These days really run together, they seem to go quickly then very slowly.  We've been totally confused at times what day it is.  Chase can't believe he's in his 4th week of missing work.  Luckily they have been very understanding of the situation.  Today is Mitch's Step One test for med school.  This test is the culmination of the first 2 years of class work and plays a very big part of determining what specialties will be available to him in residency.  We know he will do VERY WELL and we are so proud of his hard work.  He will be so relieved to have this over and enjoy 3 weeks in Europe with Maddie.  We miss them both but are so excited for their trip!

Today we went up early to talk with the doctors about the next treatment and if he'd have to leave the hospital.  We lucked out and had both the intervention radiology team and the oncology team in at the same time.  That's the thing about hospitals.  You never know when the doctor will come in and you spend a lot of time waiting for them to show up.  So they talked about what they'd like to do and that March 30 would be the day of the next treatment.  Craig was surprised and wanted to wait another week but after much discussion he came to the realization that next week was best.  The radiologist explained that with Y90 they like to keep going in in regular intervals to kill tumors as quickly as possible.  They get the best results that way.  The oncology team felt that the positive response he is feeling the past few days is attributed to Y90 and the octreotide.  Craig feels the octreotide is the reason because he's noticed his improved appetite and less distended abdomen just the past few days. Most likely it is both treatments.  This is such an improved procedure over 8 years ago.  The chemo embolization was brutal.  Look back to 2009 and the photos of Craig in October and you'll see how lethal that treatment was.  This Y90 is a game changer and could give Craig a few more years.  Really quite amazing!

He needs to leave the hospital now because insurance won't pay if he's not actively having treatment or is in a crisis situation on his blood sugars.  Since the sugars have been stable on the drip for the last 48 hours, he will come home on Friday with the glucose drip.  He will need 6 shots a day of octreotide, plus pain meds, and glucose tests every 2-4 hours.  I will be a full time nurse!  Luckily I have Chase's help for the weekend but he'll go back to LA on Sunday.  A home health nurse will come probably daily to check him and change the bag of glucose.  I'll have to change it too since it runs about 12 hours.  Chase helped me set up Maddie's room as his "hospital" bed so he can sleep whenever he wants and have privacy.  We also moved his favorite chair from our room to the kitchen and made a straight shot to the chair so he can wheel his pole in there with him.  I think this will work well for the next 5 days until we check him back into the hospital next Wed. for the 2nd embolization on Thursday.  Wish us luck!