Peter has remained in hospital all this week and while the doctor is aiming for his discharge on Monday I am not so sure it will be then. Peter has continued with the Cisplatin and 5FU chemotherapy this week for 5 days through a pump into his Pic line in his arm and he has also commenced radiotherapy and had 5 of the 12 sessions to date. While he has not been as nauseated this time as he was from the last bout of chemotherapy he said yesterday he feel flat and low and is thinking he can't go on. I think that within a week or two some of the nausea and depression may well lift a little as he begins to eliminate the toxins from his system. He currently has a low sodium level and so the IV drip has had to come off and salt added to his tube feeds to try to rectify that. He also has an infection at the Peg tube site and so is now on antibiotics too. The human body is so complex that everything is linked to everything else and one thing out of synch leads to so many other issues.
We have successfully commenced overnight feeding through the Peg tube into his duodenum with a pump and he is now having the 1 litre infused overnight with 2 smaller feeds through the tube during the day. So with that nutrition going in now on a regular basis I think Peter will start to look a little better and start to feel a bit better gradually as well.
I have been at the hospital showering, dressing and administering the extra feeds as well as keeping an eye on the dressing changes and medications as there is a bit of laxness from time to time and things don't get done when you necessarily want them done. I also learnt to do the overnight feeds through the pump so I can do them when he comes home. We are being loaned a special pump to do the feeds and I was keen to use it under nursing supervision before being at home wondering what goes where etc.
This week I managed to take a quick drive up to Sydney to see my mother who has just had a tumour removed from her salivary gland and will now undertake 30 sessions of radiotherapy. I hadn't seen her for more than 6 weeks and so I was glad that Peter was in hospital so I could take the quick trip and be back within 24 hours. Luckily I have an excellently competent sister who is accompanying mum and dad to the specialists etc, in between work and family.
So as for next week, I am hopeful we will see some gradual decreasing of the impacts of the chemotherapy, while the radiotherapy is still continuing. After that, I am unsure as I am not sure how many cycles of the chemotherapy Dr Yip considers appropriate. So I will wait to hear about that next week.
Until then, take care everyone and remember - don't smoke, eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and don't get fat!!! Cheers - Leanne
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