A date and a full moon
Dear Friends and Family,
Nan has just turned in for the night. Two nurses came today, first the wound care nurse this morning who says the incision wound is about 90 % pink now which is good, then this evening the TPN nurse came because they have changed Nan's TPN to 20 hours instead of 24. She will still receive the same amount of food but gets it slightly faster so she can have a few hours free of the connecting tube.
Nan is not doing all that well lately, more nausea, more back pain and less energy. Neither of us know why this is happening but is takes a lot of thought for her to get up and do anything, so little energy and drive right now. We walked this morning in the cool breezes, she went up for her nap around 12 and slept until nearly 4. Before she went up she asked if I could spare time to drive to Tracy to a special Taco place we like. Of course I said yes but when she woke at 4 she had nausea. I did a IV Zophram then and she slept a bit more and then came down to her heating pad where she got real comfortable and napped a bit and felt better for awhile. Then the nurse came to reprogram the TPN computer for the new shorter time. Then Nan decided we would just go to Brentwood to Taco Bell and Longs for needed prescriptions which is what we did. She had a tostada with a bit of lettuce and tomato on it. Probably the first lettuce she has had in 2 years. Then we headed home and we reloaded the TPN for the next 20 hours, gave her another Zophram IV and now night time.
I have worked in today, got to see STeve this morning for a bit and Loree this afternoon when she came by to pick up checks. Money is coming in finally, not enough to catch up but enough to keep us afloat. Also a check arrived from the recovery fund today and we plan to use it to pay the PG&E bill which is looming over us.
Midday today I asked Nan about a smoothie and she said yes. So I took 1/2 banana, 5 strawberried, 1/2 carton of yogurt, 1/2 cup soymilk, 2 small scoops of ice cream and 1/2 of a white peach plus lots of crushed ice. The resulting smoothie was great and we both enjoyed our snack. Thank you Syliva, Barbie, Emily, Pam and Mary for pushing us to make smoothies. What a treat they are. A great way to give Nan some extra calories beyound the TPN which is only basic nutrition.
The nutritionish from Crescent Health called today and said she had Dr. approval for beginning Benefiber to see if we can slow down the colostomy flow a bit. The next TPN will have a slightly altered formula to respond to the blood work results. We are thankful that we can do these helpful things at home instead of being in the hospital. Nan sleeps better, has more comfort and pleasure than when she was in the hospital. It is true that I end up doing a lot of things to help her but it is also true that when I was in Boston for those long weeks I hoped that someday we could be back home like we are now.
Tomorrow is tough. The fun comes at 9:15 when Keanna comes to visit briefly. Then Steve picks her up and I leave for Livermore, then Carmichael, then Davis and then home so will be a long day for Nan with no one here. Loree can be on call in the afternoon in case Nan needs help of any kind. Nan should be up from her nap by 3 pm or so and if you happen to be near a phone she would probably be happy to hear from someone by then. She is also up from about 7 to about 10:30 in the morning.
We have many things to be thankful for and many things to be concerned about. Nan is not feeling well at all. We see our precious oncologist on friday and will ask many questions then. We need to get beyond the pain and nausea so nan can again begin to enjoy life a bit more. We have no idea what is causing the nausea at this point. We are thankful for Zophram but wish we could solve the cause instead of just deal with the symtoms.
We thank you for your love and wanted to let you know how much we appreciate the donations that literally have kept us going. It was nice to be out in the car with Nan tonight and see the full moon and just be somewhere beyound these four walls. It was her idea and it was a good idea.
My faith is sometimes so fleeting, it is hard for me to see a day when nan can be beyound the current pain and yet we all pray for it.
We send our love,
tim and nan
Nan has just turned in for the night. Two nurses came today, first the wound care nurse this morning who says the incision wound is about 90 % pink now which is good, then this evening the TPN nurse came because they have changed Nan's TPN to 20 hours instead of 24. She will still receive the same amount of food but gets it slightly faster so she can have a few hours free of the connecting tube.
Nan is not doing all that well lately, more nausea, more back pain and less energy. Neither of us know why this is happening but is takes a lot of thought for her to get up and do anything, so little energy and drive right now. We walked this morning in the cool breezes, she went up for her nap around 12 and slept until nearly 4. Before she went up she asked if I could spare time to drive to Tracy to a special Taco place we like. Of course I said yes but when she woke at 4 she had nausea. I did a IV Zophram then and she slept a bit more and then came down to her heating pad where she got real comfortable and napped a bit and felt better for awhile. Then the nurse came to reprogram the TPN computer for the new shorter time. Then Nan decided we would just go to Brentwood to Taco Bell and Longs for needed prescriptions which is what we did. She had a tostada with a bit of lettuce and tomato on it. Probably the first lettuce she has had in 2 years. Then we headed home and we reloaded the TPN for the next 20 hours, gave her another Zophram IV and now night time.
I have worked in today, got to see STeve this morning for a bit and Loree this afternoon when she came by to pick up checks. Money is coming in finally, not enough to catch up but enough to keep us afloat. Also a check arrived from the recovery fund today and we plan to use it to pay the PG&E bill which is looming over us.
Midday today I asked Nan about a smoothie and she said yes. So I took 1/2 banana, 5 strawberried, 1/2 carton of yogurt, 1/2 cup soymilk, 2 small scoops of ice cream and 1/2 of a white peach plus lots of crushed ice. The resulting smoothie was great and we both enjoyed our snack. Thank you Syliva, Barbie, Emily, Pam and Mary for pushing us to make smoothies. What a treat they are. A great way to give Nan some extra calories beyound the TPN which is only basic nutrition.
The nutritionish from Crescent Health called today and said she had Dr. approval for beginning Benefiber to see if we can slow down the colostomy flow a bit. The next TPN will have a slightly altered formula to respond to the blood work results. We are thankful that we can do these helpful things at home instead of being in the hospital. Nan sleeps better, has more comfort and pleasure than when she was in the hospital. It is true that I end up doing a lot of things to help her but it is also true that when I was in Boston for those long weeks I hoped that someday we could be back home like we are now.
Tomorrow is tough. The fun comes at 9:15 when Keanna comes to visit briefly. Then Steve picks her up and I leave for Livermore, then Carmichael, then Davis and then home so will be a long day for Nan with no one here. Loree can be on call in the afternoon in case Nan needs help of any kind. Nan should be up from her nap by 3 pm or so and if you happen to be near a phone she would probably be happy to hear from someone by then. She is also up from about 7 to about 10:30 in the morning.
We have many things to be thankful for and many things to be concerned about. Nan is not feeling well at all. We see our precious oncologist on friday and will ask many questions then. We need to get beyond the pain and nausea so nan can again begin to enjoy life a bit more. We have no idea what is causing the nausea at this point. We are thankful for Zophram but wish we could solve the cause instead of just deal with the symtoms.
We thank you for your love and wanted to let you know how much we appreciate the donations that literally have kept us going. It was nice to be out in the car with Nan tonight and see the full moon and just be somewhere beyound these four walls. It was her idea and it was a good idea.
My faith is sometimes so fleeting, it is hard for me to see a day when nan can be beyound the current pain and yet we all pray for it.
We send our love,
tim and nan
posted by Tim Mustard @ 11:06 PM
2 Comments:
At 5:59 AM,
Anonymous said…
Good Morning!
Yes, we had that same full moon here in NC last night too! The whole sky was bright. I'm glad Nan felt well enough to get out and away from the 4 walls for a bit to enjoy it.
Perhaps with the new TPN formula Nan will have a bit more energy. You are doing well, Tim with the smoothies. They are nutrition packed. If you think about what you put into it, that's a fair amount of food if it is eaten separately. Smoothies are wonderful ways to get a lot in.
Today I will pray for less nausea, less pain, more money coming in from appraisals, more strength for you both and peace that God is with you.
Love and Prayers ~ Carol
At 4:07 PM,
Anonymous said…
Nan I am sorry you are on the rollercoaster again. i can only pray that you feel beeter.
Deepest Sympathy,
Pam :)
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