It's a Beautiful Day!

3:45 p.m. FINAL ENTRY: I just spoke with my brother-in-law, Jimmy. He is a respiratory therapist. He said the mild fever is very common and if Denny starts taking deeper breaths then it will go away. I will make sure Denny takes deeper breaths. I checked in on Denny before I left to update the blog. He was sleeping like a baby. All signs were normal. So now, I'm going to take a deep breath and relax a little while he dreams for both of us. This will probably be the last post of the day. My access to computers at the hospital shuts off at 5pm. If I can, I'll post when I get back to the lodge. Otherwise, look for me again at 9 a.m. tomorrow. I'll go visit Denny, get the latest info, and update y'all as soon as I can.

Love to all,
Deb

2:40 p.m. My last trip in was about 2 p.m. Denny's lip is better. I need to clarify my previous entry. They did not stop all antibiotics. Just the one that they suspected was causing the problem. They substituted another one in it's place. The nurse and I have come to a more agreeable understanding. She is being nicer and more cooperative as a result.
She gave Denny more painkiller and nexium to control stomach acid. My worry at this time, is that he has developed a small fever. She says it is because he is not breathing deeply enough. I've put a call into my brother-in-law who is respiratory therapist to see what he says about that. I'm waiting for his call. Also, Denny's magnesium level has dropped lower than they want so they are giving him magnesium through his IV. When I left, he was sleeping comfortably. Sweet Dreams, Denny, your team is watching out for you!

12:45 p.m. I was thinking about Denny's swollen lip. After the nurse mentioned that it could be an allergic reaction, I asked her to talk to the doctor about the antibiotics. Denny does have an allergy to one antibiotic which they have on file. I brought this to her attention. She, in turn, talked to the doctor. It appears one of the antibiotics that they had to give Denny is a crossover from the one he is allergic to. They gave it to him thinking the benefit would outweigh the risk. We are not 100% sure this is the case. They have stopped the antibiotic for now to see if the swelling goes down.

I'm not real thrilled with the nurse working on Denny right now. I can only stay with him for a few minutes but everytime I've gone in, he is saying his pain level is at a 6 or 7. When I go find the nurse, she always gives him more pain medicine. Another time, he was trying to pull a tube out of his nose that is sutured in. I stopped him and called the nurse for more pain meds. He was trying to pull it out because it was hurting. She appears distracted by the other patient she is responsible for. She had better consider me the pitbull in lipstick because I'm watching out for our guy! :) The night nurse is much better. She is not so distracted and is very good at keeping on top of Denny's pain. I'll be with him until she gets here tonight.

9:00 a.m.-The ICU is not open between 6 - 8 am. I got back to the hospital about 8:05 a.m. this morning to see Denny. He looked so good! His color is great and he seemed comfortable; not in any pain. They are giving him oxycodone and morphine. When I touched his arm, he opened his eyes and smiled at me. Then he started to lift his left hand. (The nurses said that hand had to lay flat because it was monitoring his pulse.) I said, "You need to keep your hand down, sweetie." He said, "Don't tell me what to do." Ha! He's baaaaaccck!

Dr. Chicoine had already been in to see him before I got there. However, Dr. Chicoine spoke with Anita and me last night about 8:30 p.m. He said eveything was good. The surgery went better than expected. However, it appeared that the cancer had spread a little bit more towards the front of his head than it appeared on the MRI. They addressed that area and feel confident that they got it all out.

I did notice that Denny's lower lip is extremely swollen. That is quite a new look for him. HA! I asked the nurse what had caused that. She said it could be from the tape. She said she would check with the doctor to make sure it isn't an allergic reaction to something they are giving him. He also hasn't had anything to eat or drink. She said it may be this evening before they start him on ice chips. Because he has to lie flat, they do not want to start food too soon. Among other medical reasons, vomiting could result and this would definitely be a problem for Denny.

In my opinion, Denny has done better than expected. I think of all the things they said would or could happen, Denny has experienced only about half so far. In my book, that is a good thing. Now, we keep watch for brain swelling and infection. He is strong and he is fighting, so we march on. You can do it, Denny!

Love to all,
Deb