You're going to have to deal with a substitute blogger for today. Laurie would love to be writing this herself, but she's busy resting and trying to get healthy enough to escape from the hospital. I'll get to that later in the post....
The TACE procedure went smoothly. They ran behind schedule due to an emergency earlier in the day, so we were about an hour or so delayed. Laurie got changed and some of you have seen her stylish display of the gown on FB. Eventually a nurse came and took Laurie away to get her ready for the procedure. I headed off to get snack and to drop off her things at the car. Much to my surprise I ended up joining Dr. Komlos and his PA on the way down. I just happened to get in while they were going down to grab a bite before they were called in to perform the procedure. I grabbed Laurie's overnight bag and pillow and settled into the waiting room.
Some 90 minutes or so later Dr. Komlos came back and said the procedure was successfully completed and she would be taken up to her room in the next 30 minutes or so. He also was somewhat apologetic in saying that Laurie was going to be in some discomfort and they would keep her here possibly a second night if the pain wasn't being managed. He also said once she was home that a few days after the procedure she'd start to get fairly fatigued from the chemo that was inserted. I could tell by what he was saying that this was going to be tougher than what we originally believed. What I'd heard from my GP was that it was really painful and now I was starting to believe that it was going to be more towards that spectrum than we expected. Laurie's a trooper, but she does have her limits.
Eventually, someone came by to get me and direct me to Laurie's room (they forgot to pick me up on the way). When I got to Laurie's room she was in a lot of discomfort. Her stomach felt like it was cramping and it was extremely painful. They'd given her a dose of dilaudid before bringing her up, but it didn't seem to be doing enough. They ordered a PCA pump, but it wasn't there yet. Laurie seemed to be fading in and out and I believe it was because of the pain. Eventually I went hunting for the nurse. While at the nurses station I also saw Dr. Dormady. About the time I chatted with him the nurse showed up with the pump in hand. Dr. D said he'd come by later to check on things.
The pain pump with PCA was setup, but things didn't seem to get better. I talked to the nurse about it, but I didn't get anywhere with increasing the medication. After about 45 minutes, Dr D showed up and when he saw the pain level and medication rate he had them change the PCA amount 4x. Sure enough, within an hour Laurie was feeling better and was actually more aware of things. She began talking and asking me to read her the FB messages/posts (she just couldn't read well on her own). We really like Dr D and so much appreciate his activism in managing Laurie's care.
Around 9:30 she seemed to be resting well, so I headed home.
This morning I arrived around 9:15 (can you say an hour commute for what took 15 mins last night?). She seems to be pain free and the pain pump is currently off (we're hoping to start the pill form soon). Laurie's not able to keep anything down, so she'll be here until she's mobile and can keep food down. Hopefully that will be later today, but we'll see. They're giving her stuff to help with the nausea. Most of the nausea is the side effect of the pain medication, so by reducing the pain medication we should also be moving towards stability. Dr Komlos' PA dropped by and checked on Laurie while I was here. Dr. D was by just before I got here. So they are keeping an eye on Laurie and she's being well cared for.
That's about it for now. I want to thank everyone that has been sending her wishes via FB, email and thought. It helps us both to know we have such a supportive community around us.
As a side note, I know the dogs are puzzled by us not being around. Theo watched the door last night after I came in, I suspect he was waiting for Laurie to come through. Both dogs hung out with me all night and were never very far away. They'll be very happy when their mommy is home.....
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