Well, we’ve been home for a week now. Les was discharged on Friday afternoon (8/8/03) after receiving his first dose of Cisplatin on Thursday (8/7/03). He did great with it. They are concerned about nausea and vomiting with Cisplatin, but Les didn’t have any of it (they also premedicated him with three different meds to prevent it). Anyway, the only “side effect” that I noticed was tiredness. He slept for 3-4 hours at a time during the day and all night long.
Side note: the “official” report is in on the MRI and it confirms that there is no recurrence in the brain and also one of the larger nodules on the spine is no longer there. Praise God! There are still some smaller nodules in the spine. Please pray that the chemo is effective at removing those.
The g-tube feedings are going great. Since we have been home from the hospital, Les has gained about one pound. He hasn’t eaten much by mouth, but that should kick in as soon as his body is used to receiving consistent calories throughout the day. The other really great thing about the g-tube is that all Les’ medications can go through it. No more yucky medicine tastes in his mouth!!! The down side of the g-tube is that it’s a little high maintenance. Jason and I are waking in the middle of the night when it beeps because Les rolled over and kinked the hose. Also, I’m beginning to feel like a nurse with all this “equipment” around the house. Syringes full of water “flushes” and meds and stacks of Kindercal boxes in the office. Praise God, our insurance company is covering all the costs of the equipment and Kindercal.
Les is currently on a schedule of feeding three times a day for an hour each and then for 10 hours at night while he is sleeping. They gave us a portable pump so we aren’t stuck at home during the daytime feedings. Yeah!
Yesterday was appointment day. Les had a blood test (finger poke) and then OT. He then had a follow-up visit with the doctor who placed his g-tube and everything looks great from his viewpoint. His blood counts are great right now and we will go back next Thursday for another set of tests, a doctor check, and PT.