Friday, December 23, 2011

Tonight we are all home once again. Derek was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon, just in time for Christmas.

For more than a week following his hospital admission, Derek was in a lot of pain. Morphine did not even touch it, so they had to give him an even stronger medication that pretty much knocked him out. The only solution for pancreatitis is to let the pancreas rest, so once again, Derek could eat and drink nothing.

Saturday night, he spiked a fever of 102° so they started him on three antibiotics. He was severely dehydrated, and to make matters worse, he started leaking fluids into the space around the organs in his abdomen (called third spacing) and he got quite distended. They moved him to the special care unit which is usually occupied by transplant patients, but also serves as acute care for other patients. They finally got his pain managed by putting him on a continuous drip of dilaudid, a very strong pain medication. Once the pain was under control, he began to perk up a bit and spend some time playing with his Legos and some other toys people brought him for early Christmas presents.

Initially, Derek’s pancreatic enzymes dropped sharply, but then plateaued, still well above normal levels. After a week, his pain increased again, and they had to increase his pain medication. As he stabilized, they moved him from the special care unit back to the regular unit. With his pain under control, he began going to the playroom and giggling again. For me there is nothing so reassuring as hearing him giggle.

Chemotherapy started again the week after he was admitted. We were concerned that it would slow his progress further, but he tolerated it fine.

After nearly two weeks, they reduced his pain medication to see how he was progressing. He had no pain except when they took him off completely. Finally, they allowed him to drink clear liquids, which he tolerated fine. He was not too keen on them, however. It was obvious he was still not really feeling like eating yet, but he did not throw up. A bout of diarrhea had us concerned that he might have caught an infection, but it resolved within a couple days.

Finally, after two and a half weeks, they removed him from the pain medication completely and let him eat soft foods. He did not eat much, and frequently after just a few bites, he would lie down and say his tummy hurt a little. It never lasted long, though, and he did not want medication for it. By now, his energy level was increasing and it was obvious he was feeling a bit better. Our goal was to get him eating enough to take him off his IV nutrition so we could go home by Christmas. The hospital food was not appealing to him at all, and it was hard to get him to eat or drink much of anything.

On Wednesday of this week, they told us they would release him after his chemo treatment on Thursday. We were ecstatic! We would be home for Christmas!

Sure enough, yesterday afternoon, after three weeks in the hospital, he was released from the hospital as planned. Last night we drove around looking at Christmas lights, a favorite activity he has missed the last three weeks. Today he began eating better, and I think he is on the mend. It is so good to be home!

Merry Christmas everyone!