We lost the battle!

Yes, we lost the battle. Jerry died early this morning. We don't know what happened. He was breathing better and was settling in to sleep when I left at 6:30 p.m. The nurses said he began breathing hard about 11:30 and his saturation points started going down and they tried giving him CPR and it didn't work. The pulmonary doctor called me this morning and said they thought it was a cardiac problem or that the cancer metastasized and was in his brain. I guess we will never know for sure but maybe the good thing is that he isn't struggling to breathe or dealing with that horrible cough. The viewing hours are Sunday 2-6 p.m. and the funeral will be Monday at 11:00 p.m. Thanks to everyone for all of your concerns and prayers. I sure appreciate all of my friends.

Not Congestive Heart Failure

We found out today after the doctors looked at the tests they did yesterday that Jerry doesn't have any fluid around his heart. He has inflammation in his good lung caused from the radiation. The radiation oncologist had told us that some patients get what they call "radiation pneumonia" and that is what this is. They are giving him steroids and antibiotics. Hopefully he will begin to breathe better when this begins to clear up. They also did some tests looking for blood clots in his legs and lungs and there were none and his heart is working properly. So that is a good thing. Also his blood count is good. Sometimes during radiation treatments the blood count goes down. He was still nauseated some today and didn't eat good. I hope that leaves soon so he can begin to eat more and gain some strength. He is so weak right now. He will probably be in the hospital a few more days and he doesn't seem to mind that. His Pulmonologist said he is not going to rush him out of the hospital. He wants to get his stomach settled and get him to breathing better before he sends him home. I am glad of that! They put in a Midline today for his IV. They were having problems with the IV's and had to keep changing them so this will eliminate them having to keep sticking him. They were having trouble finding veins because his veins are small.

Not such a good day....

Jerry was sick to his stomach during the night last night and also this afternoon. He wasn't able to eat today. The internist and cardiologist came to see him today. The cardiologist ordered an echocardiogram, a nuclear scan and a veinus ultrasound. He had all but the veinus ultrasound today. By the time he had the first 2 tests he was short of breath and completely wore out so they said they could do the last test tomorrow. It is hard for him to lay flat on a table for these tests because of the shortness of breath. Hopefully the cardiologist will have the results from the tests tomorrow.

Another bump in the road!

Oh boy.....this has been "one of those days!". Jerry was short of breath all weekend. His feet has been swelling for a little while now and the cardiologist gave him Lasix last Tuesday when we were there. He didn't want to take it because he had such a hard time walking to the bathroom so he took one pill on Saturday but that was all. He could hardly make it to the car this morning to go for his radiation. When we got to the Cancer Center he seemed worse so I talked to the nurse and she listened to his chest and thought she heard some noise and I should take him to the ER for them to check him out. We went straight to the ER and they began running some tests (blood tests and chest xrays). Later the ER doctor came back in and said the chest xray was fine but his blood test showed Congestive Heart Failure. They started him on Lasix and the ER doc talked to his Internist and Cardiologist and they admitted him to the hospital to treat him for the CHF. They will be giving him more Lasix until they get rid of the fluid. We are so hoping this helps his breathing. They said he might be there 2 or 3 days. After that maybe he can finish the radiation treatments.

About the same....

Everything is about the same. Since it is Saturday and we don't have to go to radiation treatment, it my day to catch up and Jerry's day to rest. He is still real short of breath when he gets up to go to the bathroom. If that would only leave I know he would be more relaxed and feel better about things. Yayyy...tomorrow is another day to kick back! We have been watching the golf tournament so at least there is something for him to watch that he likes. TV mostly stinks right now.

A Little Better...

The day went a little better today. I think he is feeling a little better today. We went for his treatment and met with the doctor. The doctor really didn't have much to add today but we will see him next Wednesday on his last radiation treatment and he will tell us when he will be coming back to see him and when he will have the next CT scan. The doctor did say that the scan wouldn't be done any sooner than 45 days after his last treatment. The radiation continues to work for about 6 months after they stop. He hasn't been sleeping as much today. A neighbor came to visit this afternoon and he enjoyed talking to him. We got a car starter put on our car today so I can get it started cooling before he has to get in it. The hot car really bothers him and it looks like there isn't going to be much of a break in this heat. Guess we also might need it this winter because it doesn't look like we will be able to go back to Florida this winter.

Much Better.....

Jerry had the packing removed from his nose today. Everything went fine and he didn't have any additional bleeding. That made him feel much better and he is able to have the oxygen back in his nose rather than in his mouth so maybe his throat will begin to feel better. Of course, we are not sure if the radiation is affecting his thoat. That is possible and common. He ate better today also. He was pretty tired after going to the ER to get the packing out and then to his radiation treatment so he napped quite a bit this afternoon and evening. He will be seeing the radiation oncologist tomorrow after his treatment. He usually sees him on Thursday but it was changed this week. This will probably be the last time he sees him since his treatment ends on Wednesday of next week.