| 11:00 PM Friday September 14th ( 3 of 10 ) - Kara is still having trouble keeping food down. She tried Gatorade through the tube, but that did not stay down. She also tried to manually put formula through the tube with a plunger, but she says that process is uncomfortable so she did not try for long. - She missed her radiation again this morning due to nausea and made it up later in the day. (Her new 1PM slot starts next Monday.) - She is resting more soundly now. She went to bed at 6:30, and I have not heard much movement from the bedroom since. 8:00 PM Thursday September 13th ( 2 of 10 ) - Kara went to radiation this morning, but was unable to take the treatment because she repeatedly got sick. Because she is usually more nauseous in the mornings, the doctor has perminantly moved her treatments to 1PM. - She spent the majority of the day sleeping and resting and even tried a meal through the feeding tube. Unfortunately, she was unable to keep it down. She is working on Jello cubes at the moment. - She is quite fatigued, mentally, physically, and emotionally. 10:00 PM Wednesday September 12th ( 3 of 5 ) - Kara spent most of the day sleeping. She used the feeding tube as well as ate small meals throughout the day. The tube takes about 12 hours to run it's course so we had her start in the late afternoon and let it run through the night. She is sleeping semi-upright now because the mucus caused by the radiation is starting to build up. 9:00 PM Tuesday September 11th ( 4 of 5 ) - Kara came home from the hospital tonight at 8 PM. She is feeling much better today, and is very happy for the opportunity to sleep continuously without hourly visits from nurses. - She has been getting IV fluids with minerals almost constantly for the past few days including four bags of potassium today. She still is not using the feeding tube, although the nurse did adjust the flow rate which is much less upsetting to her stomach. She was able to eat orally throughout the day and has yet to get nauseous. She is enjoying the side effects of her new diet because she has lost 16 pounds. - A home health care nurse came by today to drop off the feeding tube machine. (I forget the real name of it.) He taught Megan S. and I how to use it: pretty simple, dump the "Similac" into the bag, and plug it into Kara's stomach. 7:00 PM Monday September 10th ( 2.5 of 10 ) - Kara resumed her radiation treatment this morning. She has been getting more sound rest in the hospital, but she remain quite fatigued. While having short conversations with her, I can see her get visibly run down after just 10 minutes. She was able to take another shower yesterday; however, she still refuses her work computer and Blackberry so we still have a long way to go. (She worked on those things on and off in the hospital during labor with Sullivan.) - Dr. Folbe is going to keep her in the hospital for at least one more night. He wants to wait until she can keep food down before he releases her. She disconnected the feeding tube yesterday and is again trying to eat conventionally. She was able to keep some juice down this morning and plans on trying some Jello today too. 8:30 AM Sunday September 9th ( 2 of 10 ) -Kara is starting to feel better. Her energy is coming back. She turned the TV on in her room for the first time since she has been at the hospital, and took a shower for the first time. She is still having trouble keeping food down, even what is coming through the feeding tube. - Nita and I took the boys to see her last night. Between the walk from her room to the visitor's area, sitting up for 10 minutes, and the walk back, she was exhausted. 6:00 AM Saturday September 8th ( 2 of 10) - Kara had her feeding tube installed Friday morning. The procedure only took 20 minutes, and the suregeon said that everything went great. The surgery required four doses of pain killers in addition to her prevous regimint so she spent the rest of the day sleeping. She was sleeping everytime we checked on her. Her color is starting to come back. - I talked to Dr. Gustafson's office while I was at the hospital. The missed radiation sessions will not effect her overall treatment. They decided to skip Friday's session, too, in order to let her rest. They will resume again on Monday and add three make-up sessions at the end of her normal treatment schedule. - Dr. Folbe expects her to stay in the hospital at least until Monday. |