Ileus and Oddities

...or...an idle colon is the devil's workshop.

The discovery by Xray of an ileus (inactive piece of bowel, caused by trauma removing tumor that had attached to the outside of the colon) made a naso-gastric tube essential last Wednesday. Advice: if you ever need an N-G, try to be unconscious first. And I don't have any advice for the resultant coughing and misery. Ah well, just before insanity set in, the doctor ordered the tube removed on Sunday, and within hours I was released to go home. What a wonderful relief!

I'm sure you've figured out by now that this is a very advanced cancer. It's "effusive," which means that it creates fluid all over the place. In the lung cavity, the fluid is called a pleural effusion. In the abdomen, it's called "ascites." and in the rest of the body it's simply edema. My legs resemble corinthian columns.

So I spent all last night sitting bolt upright. The other option was E.R., distinctly unacceptable on the night of an official holiday when doctors' offices have been closed for a 3 day weekend. So the girls kept me company, I slept as I could, and hurray! I'm still breathing this morning. We need to find help this morning, at least get the pleural effusion drained again, and maybe move more quickly to the next stages of my treatment.

I've been relishing the wonderful stack of e-mails and greeting cards and notes. What a wonderful community of friends we have. I strongly wish to reply personally to each one, but I'm not sure when that will be. The difficulty with breathing really limits my energy and ability to get things done. So please accept my thanks and love. And keep praying.

After we search out our next steps today, we'll post another update.

Carol