Like Clockwork

Howdy-ho, everyone!

My poor husband!  Every morning, like clockwork, he wakes up nauseated and vomits.  Sometimes a lot, other times not so much. But it happens only in the morning and like clockwork. I've joked with him and told him maybe he is pregnant.  LOL!  I can't figure it out, though. It's not like he has a seven course meal before bed!  Tonight I'll try giving him one of his nausea pills and a Prilosec and see what that does for the morning time vomit episodes.  Other than the above, he is doing really well.  He eats and drinks regular food now, no more pureed stuff of the hospital.  He's been playing on the computer and watching TV. Last night he even smashed soda cans for the recycle...but, I told him to NOT do the whole bag quite yet or he might get sick. It's really hot out in the garage and that's where the "smasher" is, so I told him to take it easy. And he actually listened to me! Wow! :0)

Yesterday the home health nurse, Tim, came to do the initial visit. He's a really nice guy, very funny.  He was ordered to come over for wound care (the abdominal drain and dressings), but today we see the surgeon and he probably will remove the drain.  I hated to see Tim go through the mountains of paperwork (whoever works in Medicare must get paid by the word...those documents Tim filled out were endless!!) if he was going to get rid of the drain today, but orders are orders.  Tim said that if the drain was removed, great. He would stop by on Friday to make sure we were OK and then he would come some time next week.  That sounded like a good plan.  Tim said that everything looked great. The abdominal drain is only draining about 20cc's of bloody fluid a day and the dressing is still intact. No signs of infection.  Tim couldn't believe Frankie had been through so much....and he really is a pretty healthy guy. Not like me, who has a whole compilation of medical problems!  Before the surgery, he only had the GIST and seasonal allergies.  That's it.  You need a whole notebook to record my issues!!!

On Monday we go to the oncologist to discuss what we do next. Go back on the Gleevec? Full dose or half dose? Or NO dose?  I feel really uncomfortable with him going off it completely. It's kind of like a security blanket that the tumor they couldn't get seven years ago will stay dead if he continues the Gleevec.  But it WOULD be nice if he didn't have to take it, his legs wouldn't hurt so badly and he wouldn't need the narcotics, probably. He hasn't taken it since before the surgery and his legs are great. No more pain there - it's all in the abdomen from the surgery.  And even that is lessening now.  BUT, when we lived in Tucson and saw a GIST specialist from the U of A, he said that when he took a patient off Gleevec, the tumor not only returned, but returned with a vengeance! So we definitely don't need that!  So it will be interesting on Monday to see what the oncologist has to say about this.

Well, I should start getting ready to take my hubby to the surgeon. I'm doing OK, not the greatest, but OK.  My right knee is giving me problems now and the fibro is in its element inside my body, with all the drama of my life!  It literally feeds off of stress and little sleep.  Even though NOW is OK, I'm paying for the past month of no sleep and worry over my husband.  Hopefully, I'm at the end of the flare-up.  God, I really hope!!!
I'm glad the appointment is early, so we get get out and get back before the bad heat starts rolling in.  We've had "excessive" heat warnings all week and daily temps of 105-110's.  The sun is like a hot little orb in the sky, beaming down on all of us, sharing its warmth and misery!! LOL!

Hope you all have a great day and weekend.  Another week has rolled around....where does the time go?

God bless you all!!
Until next post,
Missy