8 AM Sunday, July 2, 2011

After a long day yesterday, I fell asleep without updating the blog, so I am making sure to get to it first thing today.  Ed is still feeling about the same -- just on the edge of crummy with no appetite, not much energy and super bored and wanting to go home.  So far, he's experiencing manageable nausea, but no diarrhea, no mouth sores and just a couple of skin lesions.  The nurses say he's doing well.  We don't have his blood counts for today yet, but they've started the Neupogen shots to help control the dropping numbers as much as possible. 

Ed added some excitement to the equation yesterday by falling in the bathroom at about 4;30 AM Saturday morning.  He's okay, but it created a bit of hub-bub for the staff of course.   It happened before I got here yesterday so I didn't witness it, but he remembers getting up to use the bathroom after the early morning blood draw.  He was sleepy and NOT wearing the hospital-issue socks with the rubber skid-proof tracks on the bottom.  He had put on a pair of his own socks from home.  When he leaned forward to flush the toilet, he lost his balance and fell between the toilet and the sink, hitting his arm and side of his head.   His right ear looks like Mike Tyson took a bite out of it,  he's got a goose-egg above that ear (really more like a quail egg size thankfully), and he's got a pretty good-sized area of his right forearm that has the skin scraped off.   Luckily, his platelet count is still okay, although its dropping too, so they want to get these injuries healed  quickly to minimize the bleeding and infection risks.  They immediately took him down for a head CT and everything looks fine there - no concussion or brain bleed.  He's been read the riot act by the doctors and nurses about the sock issue and using the bedside urinal during the night instead of wandering to the bathroom in the dark when he's sleepy.  After a fall, the staff is required to monitor him more closely and check his vital signs every 2 hours, so we didn't get much sleep last night.  Hopefully he'll be comfortable enough to catch up on some rest today and then be back on schedule for fewer interruptions tonight.

The nurse practioner just came in and said the final results from the CT scan came in.  Without thinking through the long-term implications of making such a declaration, she announced to Ed that "you have a perfect brain".  I immediately concluded that she must not be married or that the radiology tech accidentally scanned the lower half of his body.......in any event, we all had a good laugh at her gaff.  By the time she finished examing Ed and tried to leave, she could barely squeeze out the door - his ego was blocking it!!  She has no idea about the magnitude of havoc she has just created.   Forewarned is forearmed.  None of us can EVER AGAIN expect to engage Ed in opposing viewpoints and come out victorious.  By the time we leave here he'll probably have a "perfect brain" certificate (suitable for framing), and one in his wallet for on-the-go moments!  Even with all the meds he's on, I have a hunch he won't forget this and years from now, he'll refer to this moment as having been worth the whole ordeal!

Well, I'm going to run out and get coffee and the Sunday paper.  Mr Perfect Brain has just dozed off, but remains smiling.......

Happy Sunday!