So here we are again, unexpectedly, getting to know even more of the staff at the UMMC here in Baltimore. I received a call from Mom this morning shortly after 4am to tell me that she and Dad were in the ER down here. Dad had awoken around 1 a.m. in excruciating pain. He tried sipping coca cola. He tried some milk of magnesia. He tried walking it off. Nothing worked. Finally, he told Mom he had to get here. Mom called all the doc numbers in "the binder" to get advice on what to do. Dr. Jiang, Med Oncologist, answered her cell in the middle of the night, and told Mom to get him to the ER asap. So, there they are, 3 a.m. at the hotel, calling a taxi to get to the ER. Taxi never came. The folks at the Tremont also tried to flag one down, but also to no avail. Finally, a Tremont bell hop used his own car to transport my parents to the hospital. God, thank you for that angel! I know what you're thinking, "Why didn't they call 911?" Umm....hmmm....yeah......not sure. Evidently calling 911 was "too much trouble," but getting into a strange car with someone they don't know was a good idea. I'll say it again, raising parents is not easy!
I arrived around 6:15 a.m. By that time, Dad had two IVs going with saline, one in each arm, and had already completed a bag of IV antibiotics. He was, and still is, in excruciating pain..... told me this is the worst pain he's ever experienced in his life. His pain level has consistently been a TEN, which means for the average person, it's really a 20+. He's been asking for more morphine, and often. Typically, he has never been a person to request painkillers or come close to seeking out medical attention. The Snead's are a "suck it up, tough it out, and move on" group of people. Apparently, now, though, we're letting strangers take us to the hospital to GET meds! My how far we've come!
CT scan showed that his gall bladder was inflamed, and filled with bacterial fluid.....again, and it had perforated. Explains the pain. The good thing is, his vitals have been perfect. His labs didn't indicate a high white cell count, so the infection hasn't gotten too far. No nausea, or fever, or vomiting. Just this blasted pain! This gall bladder has been nothing but trouble.....Dad wanted it out and the surgical team said that was their plan. Welllll......that was the initial plan....to remove the gall bladder. But when Dr. Alexander arrived, the surgery brakes were put on, and then Plan B.
Oh so, THERE'S a funny story.
Soooo....... keeping in mind that we are in a teaching hospital.....and if you are a Grey's Anatomy fan, you know exactly what that might look like. The McDreamy's and the McSteamy's are plentiful, indeed; I'm sure there are things going on in the on-call rooms I'd rather not know about; and the surgical residents DO definitely tend to be a little "vulturous." Not sure if that's a word, but....sounds good. Anyway, I can attest that the stereotypes witnessed on that show could very well be true. They are "savages for surgeries!" (Sounds like a t-shirt slogan.) When the surgery team...and I mean team, like enough to be a football team...came rolling through the ER to see Dad, the interns were all atwitter with excitement, their eyes bulging and glazed over, and their chatter focused on, "Did you hear about the gall bladder? The perforated infected gall bladder?" The excitement on their faces that this infected, perforated gall bladder on this pancreatic cancer patient might need to be surgically removed gave them all a bit of a crazed look.....like they'd been up all night, which.....I guess is possible too. They couldn't do enough to try to squeeze around the bed to take a peek at this potential surgical candidate that in a few months would also offer up a whipple to one of them. Would it appear insensitive if I tried raffling that opportunity off?
So Plan B did not entail surgery at all. The surgery students' dreams were completely deflated, and the "team" dwindled down to only 3 after that. Dad suddenly became a teachable moment. How awesome it was to see Dr. Alexander with this football team of young surgeons huddled around a monitor examining Dad's CT scan, all the while teaching to these students the reasons surgery was not a good option for this case. Doing surgery now would really break up the treatment plan right now. It would also delay the whipple. Neither of which we want! So, they did a (let me see if I can spell this expensive word) percutaneous cholecystostomy.....they put a drain in his gall bladder to get the pus out and continuously drain any bile out of the gall bladder. This drain will be in for weeks. I'm good with that. It's not the most glamorous of apparati tohave to sport under your clothes, but this infection stuff is frustrating.
Step back 14 hours prior to this latest attack of pain.....
Dad was a ROCK STAR yesterday. He'd been eating well. His treatment schedule was becoming an easily navigated daily task for him by this time, and he had walked by himself from treatment back to the hotel yesterday! That's 8 blocks! Who would've thought we'd be where are today, looking at this situation once again. Deja vu.... we all found ourselves on such a high, only to be faced with yet another challenge. I know the Lord doesn't give us more than we can handle, but sheesh! Can we catch a break?
It's now after 6pm. The procedure is over and Dad and I are back in the ER bay waiting for a room for him. He's getting morphine every 3 hours. He's rocking out to classic country on Pandora radio (love my Galaxy SIII!). Seems to be resting more comfortably now. Dinner for him has consisted of ice chips and honey lemon hall's cough drops. He's got a tube down his nose into his stomach to continue to drain bile juices out of his tummy too. Mom was exhausted. She needed a big break. I sent her back to the Tremont to de-stress and sleep. Hopefully, she will.
I know there are prayer warriors out there reading this blog....please continue. Pray for renewed physical and emotional strength. For both of my parents. This infection came out of no where....
Much love to all. We appreciate all that everyone has done for us! I hope God is ready, b/c he's got a LOT to listen to tonight!
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