5-17-09
Shana took her new chemo on Thursday and has clearly been feeling pretty good. She has not been sick so far and that is a new one for the new mix of Carboplatin and Alimpta. As I type this at noon, she is sitting on our new patio in the sun and loving it. She feels good and has some energy which I did not expect at this point of treatment. We got to babysit our granddaughter, Bella, both Friday and Saturday nights. She is a real doll who is mellow and already it is pretty clear that she likes visiting Nana and Poppy’s house. She ate with us and then played with Poppy on the floor for a long time. She then climbed up in Nana’s lap and promptly went to sleep looking like an angel. She obvously got her mothers temperment because she did not cry or fuss at all. We had a good time with her.
IN my last post I mentioned that Jeff McKim was doing much better. I lied. By the time I posted that entry, Jeff had crashed and it was nip and tuck whether he would make it at all. He had had another stroke and it was making his body functions go haywire. He was in extremely bad shape with no response at all to doctors, family or wife. On Thursday I went to see him and for some unkown reason, he became responsive to my voice and no one else’s. His wife suggests that all of those years of yelling at each other must have had some effect but I hope it was more than that. Anyway, I explained to him that it was a critical period and that he and he alone could help himself by trying to wake up. I touched the muscles he had to use to open his eyes and repeatedly told him that if he would wake up we could work on getting his tube out of his throat and start him on his healing. I could see that he was able to understand at least some of what I was saying and that he was upset with his current situation. I worked with him for about 2 hours and told him that he needed to work on waking up so I could talk the Doctors into possibly removing his breathing tube. I also had a long talk with his main doctor who agreed that if he could wake up, it would be good to move him to Dallas Baylor Hospital Rehab Unit for retraning. The doctor did not beleive that he would wake up until next week so I reminded Jeff that the most importent thing he had to do was to try to come out of his light coma.
Yesterday, I went back to the hospital and found Jeff’s family much improved and hopeful. It seems that during the evening, night and early morning Jeff had forced himself to wake up and open his eyes for short periods which he had not done for almost two weeks. As soon as he heard my voice, he opened his eyes and looked directly at me. I was able to ask him some questions and he responded by blinking his eyes. It is terribly tiring for him to just wake up but the man has enough discipline and moxie to force himself to wake up and try to survive. He looked at me and I know he wants me to make them take the tube out of his throat but I think it is still too soon to do so. I talked to him and told him what he needs to do to convince the doctors that he can do just fine without a breathng tube. Right now, he is scheduled to have a stomach tube and a tracheotomy tube inserted on Monday or Tuesday. I told him if he could wake up and be responsive to the point to where he can eat on his own they might waive the stomach PICC and maybe even the throat incision. He seemed to accept that and during the two hours I spent with him yesterday, he kept waking up and trying to move his limbs on request. We will see what he is able to do by Monday. WE also got some good news. It seems that at the time that Jeff was brought into the hospital, he was having a stroke brought on by his low blood pressure. The type of stroke he had is very rare and is called a watershed stroke. It occurred in a part of the brain that easliy allows neurons to grow around and replace the damaged cells. At least we now know what happened and the extent of the damage. I am amazed that just by making it clear what was needed to be done, Jeff has used his stong will to try to overcome this trauma and to try to regain his life and health. He is a heck of a guy.
Here is what happened. Jeff was diabetic but otherwise healhy except for a heart murmer. He was so healthy that he did not watch his suger levels and he was addicted to Moutain Dew which he apparently drank in large quantities at work. His failure to monitor his diabetes over a long period led his blood pressure to get vey high 280/210 and he went into the hospital for a few days. They adjusted his diabeties and heart medicine but they were not clear about how he was to take the medicine. So, after he got out of the hospital, he continued taking his old medicines as well as the new blood pressure medicine he had been prescribed. It didn’t take long for his blood pressure to plummit to 60/40 and he had his stroke that is just now being discovered. His blood pressure was so low that he was not circulating blood to his brain or to his kidneys. The brain had a stroke and the kidneys began to die and are just now getting back to normal. There does not appear to be any physical distruction but he is very weak and he will likely have to relearn some physical functions.
So, pay attention to your doctors and learn to use your brain to control your body. It can be done and that is what is going to let Jeff come home before very long. Say a prayer for him and Shana and all those others who are facing challenges to their health.
Jim