I really hate this disease. There are no words to express how much I hate this. There are no words to express how much I've hated to see my husband deal with cancer three times in the last 25 years. No words.
Monday night, Greg made a pork roast on the grill. He cut a piece off to eat and, even though he chews his food up VERY finely and drinks lots of water while he's eating, a small piece of meat got lodged in his throat. For over an hour he tried coughing it up and nothing was working. I gave him some Coke to drink (it helps stuff to dissolve), and that didn't work. After arguing with him, I finally got him to agree to go to the ER. Mind you, it's a 30 minute drive to get there because we live in the middle of nowhere.
The entire drive to the hospital, he's gagging and coughing. I gave him an empty ice cream bucket, because he was spitting up stuff and that's as good a puke bucket as anything! When we got to the hospital, Greg went and sat down and I got him checked in. While we were being checked in, the young lady at the desk called and told them that there was a 61 year old man with esophageal cancer that had something lodged in his throat. I assumed someone would be coming out to get him. I was wrong. After about 15 minutes a nurse came out, looked at him and said "Oh, you're breathing fine. It's going to be a little while yet." Granted it seemed fairly busy in the ER, especially for a Monday night, but I couldn't believe they weren't going to take him back right away! We tried sitting away from everyone, because the sound of his coughing and gagging and hacking up stuff was pretty gross. It was getting to me, too. (I can't handle puke, it makes me want to gag!) While we were sitting there, of course, some people couldn't help peeking around the corner to see who it was that sounded like they're dying of Ebola or something! One woman looked at me very compassionately, and I told her about his cancer and that he has some food lodged in his throat. She and the person she was with couldn't believe they were making us wait. The other people in the waiting room just shook their heads. There was no one there with any sort of life threatening illness, and truth be told, I'm pretty sure a bunch of them were there because their insurance won't cover an office visit!
So, after at least 30 minutes we finallly got called to "triage." The nurse takes our information and tells us that we have to wait again, because the procedure room needs to be cleaned, and that's the room they're going to want to use for Greg. OK, fine. More waiting. Believe it or not, I was fairly nice to the nurses. I was disgusted with the waiting, but I knew there was nothing that I could do to make anything happen any faster. Greg was actually surprised that I managed to hold my temper!
When we finally got into the ER, the doctor wanted to try a drug called Glucagon, which is supposed to relax the sphincter muscle in the esophagus to allow the food to go down. This is normally a very quick working drug. The doctor said it's one of those drugs that either works or it doesn't. Unfortunately for Greg, it didn't work.
Because that didn't work, they had to call in a Gastroenterologist. We were lucky enough to have Dr. Christopher Young attending to Greg. This doctor is the most compassionate, nicest, sweetest doctor I have ever met! And that is no exaggeration! While he was examining Greg, we were talking about his cancer, and Greg mentioned that he was "Iron Man" because of how he has beaten cancer twice before. Dr. Young was more than just a little impressed at what Greg has all been through. We talked about the endoscopy he was going to have to do on Greg and what he expected to happen. He walked me out to the waiting room and then left to perform the procedure. He came back about 20 minutes later to tell me he was all done. He even had some pictures for me!
In this first picture, I have circled and put an arrow to the food that was stuck in Greg's esophagus.
Greg's esophagus is narrower than a healthy person's, but that is to be expected, considering his diagnosis. We do not know if things are better for him or not because this picture doesn't show it. One of the things that Greg may end up having done is to have his esophagus dilated, to make it wider. It's basically stretching it out. Hopefully he won't need to have that done, but that is an option, nonetheless.
While Dr. Young was in there, he took some other pictures, including this one of Greg's feeding tube from the inside!
Isn't that cool?!!! I find this sort of thing absolutely fascinating. Hopefully, no one is too grossed out by the pictures, but if you've been following us for any length of time, you already know that we're not shy about posting pictures of Greg's various physical issues.
After Dr. Young was done, all we had to do was wait for Greg to wake up sufficiently so I could take him home. That took almost an hour. Trust me when I say I was ready to go home. It was already 1 a.m. and I really needed to get to bed. I had left a voice mail for my supervisor at 10:30 p.m., so she would understand why I wasn't in at my usual time. I must say, I have some really awesome supervisors who are so understanding. I'm also very blessed to be working from home! Even though I started late, I was able to get extra sleep because all I have to do is walk downstairs to my office! It's great to not have to worry about how I look or what I'm wearing. Truth be told, I was in my pajamas until 4:30 p.m.! Isn't that great! LOL
Anyway, when we finally left the hospital, I was starving, as I hadn't eaten dinner. The only place that was open at 1 a.m. was Hardees, so I pulled into their drive through. I asked Greg if he wanted anything, and he said "a burger!" I damn near died when he said that! After all that he had been through, to say he wanted a burger, well, I think he's tjust rying to kill me! (LOL) Obviously, I did not get him a burger. He got a chocolate shake!
So that was our Monday night. We finally got home at 2 a.m. Neither of us got a lot of sleep. Me, because I had to get up for work, and Greg because he had to get up to go to the hospital for his last dose of chemo! Of course we appreciate all your continued prayers that this will heal him!
Blessings to all!
Julie
As you already know, Greg had a PEG tube (feeding tube) put in on Thursday. He was in a lot of pain at the hospital and that pain didn't get much better over the weekend. I knew he was in a lot of pain, because he was cranky (VERY cranky), and very contrary -- and by that I mean, he argued with everything I said. If I would say the sky was blue, he'd say it was grey. Yea, that's how he gets when he's in pain. Now, mind you, he's in pain every day, from the nerve damage from his shingles two years ago, so this was a different kind of pain. He said it felt like he was being stabbed in the gut. That's just not good!
So, this morning, when I wasn't supposed to have to get up until 6:30 to start work in my new home office at 7 a.m., I ended up being awake at 5 a.m. to take Greg to the Emergency Room. I was up early because that's when my body made me get up. I knew Greg was still in a lot of pain, and I thought it best to get to the ER before the day starts and they get too busy. Why make Greg suffer any more than he already was.
We got to the hospital around 5:30 a.m., and they did their usual thing getting him into a gown, history, etc.. Then they wanted to put an IV in, so we asked for an anesthesiologist. They weren't very happy about that, and basically insisted that they have to try before they can call an anesthesiologist. Well, WE weren't happy about that, either, so we decided to wait on the IV, because, what if they don't need it? Most times, an IV in the ER is simply standard procedure, as a "just in case." I'm not willing to have Greg be poked numerous times on a "just in case" so we made them wait until the ER doc decided that Greg needed a CT scan (they have to inject stuff for that), so that's when we said OK. As always, the first nurse could not get it in, so another nurse had to try. She got it on her first try, but I have to say, if she didn't make it, and he would have had to be stabbed a third time, I would have made a call to the hospital administrator to complain. It's nothing against the nurses. I know they are just doing their job. Greg's veins are horrible from all the chemo he's received over the years, and I just can't handle seeing him wincing in pain from people trying to insert an IV. Seriously, those things HURT under normal circumstances! I really can't wait for Greg to get his PICC line next Monday so he doesn't have to keep getting stabbed multiple times.
Anyway, they gave him some very strong pain meds, and that really didn't do much to relieve the pain. He was sent for a chest X-ray because he has so much wheezing (from his sinusitis issues), and then he had to have CT scan of his stomach to see what was up with the PEG tube.
He also had some albuterol treatments because of the wheezing (as seen in this picture on the left).
After the CT scan, the ER doc looked at the scans and showed them to us. It appeared that the inside of the tube (which has a balloon on it to keep the tube in place, and the outside of the tube, where there is a circular "retention ring" that keeps the tube from going into the stomach. (Peg Tube Parts) So, it's being held on both sides, and was too squished together, or too tight, and that's what was causing all his pain, and that's also why the pain wouldn't go away. Looking at the picture linked above, what's between the balloon (inside the stomach) and the retention ring (outside the stomach) is skin and well, belly fat. If it's all being pinched together constantly, nothing is going to make the pain go away until you relieve the pressure.
The surgeon who placed the PEG tube checked the CT scans and had one of his partners, who was already in the hospital for other procedures, come and look at Greg and then turn the retention ring to loosen the pressure. There was an immediate sense of relief! Not complete, but definitely a difference! Greg had watched some of this on YouTube when he was investigating his pain, and told me that I could have done that. Sure, and if I did, knowing our luck, his guts would have started spurting out! Nope, not doing that! 😆
We were able to leave the hospital a short time later, and after the 30 minute drive home, Greg was HUGELY better! YAY! Praise God! I must say though, Greg is really pushing this "in sickness and in health" vow I made almost 28 years ago! HA!
So, my first day of work in my new home office didn't quite go as planned. Instead of starting at 7 this morning, I started at 10:30. Once again, my supervisor was fabulous about me being gone! I now understand why God didn't have me get that position I applied for a month and a half ago. Had I gotten that position, I would not be able to work at home, because you have to be in a position for a year before you can go home! Being able to be home is an integral part of Greg's care, as I can actually concentrate on work while I'm working and not worry about how Greg's feeling. If I were at work, I know I would be worrying about him at home alone, instead of concentrating on work. As always, God knows what's best for me, and, although it doesn't happen all the time, I now know why I did not get that position.
I was able to get six hours in today, and will make up an additional two hours later this week. Should be easy enough to do, because I have a feeling it's going to take my body a while to get used to sleeping as late as 6:30 a.m.! LOL
As always, your prayers are appreciated!
Blessings to all of you!
Julie
Greg's Go Fund Me
