Day Zero Plus Four – a Vomit-less Day!

Jeff looked good this morning.  When I arrived he had already eaten half an orange and was very pleased with himself.  He had been given Ativan for nausea and he must have timed his snack (breakfast?) just right.  It stayed down!

He did not sleep all day and complained very little of elbow pain.  He rode his bike for 13 minutes with his sneakers on.  Afterwards, he got back in bed and left his shoes on.  I asked him if he wanted me to take them off.  “No,” he said, “it makes me feel like I’m ready to go.”  He watched a lot of TV and could focus on it most of the time.  An ad for diabetes products came on and Jeff said, “Why couldn’t I have gotten diabetes?”

Nurse Tamara said his Tacrolimus lab from the day before had been lost and they needed to repeat it.  If his “Tac level” is too high, that could make him nauseous.  In fact, it was elevated.  The dosage was adjusted and then, to test whether Tacrolimus is the cause of his elbow numbness and pain, it was stopped altogether for the evening.  If his elbow pain goes away, that will give the doctors useful information about what to do next.

Jeff ate three cookies in the morning, Frosted Flakes with a little milk for lunch, and a small cup of chocolate ice cream for dinner.  He also fixed and drank a cup of hot tea from his dinner tray.  He doesn’t dare open the food covers because the smell of the hospital food activates his very sensitive gag reflex.  He gave me a Wawa order for tomorrow:  Pop Tarts, Nutrigrain Bars, etc.  He isn’t ready to cook the microwave dinners (Chef Boy-ardee and Macaroni and Cheese) that I bought earlier because the cooking smell would be in the room.  I think the nutrition room has a microwave; I’ll have to check tomorrow. 

Today’s “meals” stayed down but, unfortunately, made a hasty exit just the same.  Steroids were started around lunchtime to help his appetite and nausea.  They were prescribed for only three days since there is a risk of masking infection – a dangerous situation if you have no white blood cells.  The dietician visited.  She wants to start giving IV nutrition even though there is a risk of infection with it.  A decision will be made tomorrow about that.

Keith visited in early evening, just as Jeff began to fade.  Jeff rallied enough to be decent company.  Hopefully, he will sleep well tonight.

Jeff sure needed a good day.  He knows there are more tough days ahead but a good one will make the difficult ones easier to bear.