Bumpy Night

I got to Prentice at 6:30 tonight, and left at 10:30.  Megan spent the afternoon with Steve and said he was fine, just really tired.  Such was not the case when I arrived.  He "slept" the entire time I was there.  At first he was interested in food from outside the hospital.  I encouraged him to just try some chicken soup or canned peaches from home, just to take some baby steps with returning to solid foods.  By the time he thought about it, he wasn't interested in eating. 

Report was given just before 8, and then he started vomiting.  Mind you, this is only the third time in four months, which astounds me.  They have managed him SO well with meds.  His nurse tonight is a very nice young man who is a floater, and has never worked on the 15th floor before.  He was very gracious when I asked if there were other nurses on the floor that were familiar with Steve and he gladly found someone who whisked right into Steve's room for an assessment of his demeanor, which I felt was "different."  She felt perhaps they tried too soon to transition him back to pills for some of the meds, as moments after he took the pills up they came for round 2.  Then it occured to me...."mucous-itis".....I asked, and the nurse said it could be from a sloughing off of the throat buildup.  Gross.  Poor, poor Steve.   At one point, and I have to chuckle a bit, he said, "ya know, this really isn't THAT bad."  Dear lord, you have your head in a garbage can, wires and tubes and lights and all THIS, and you can still say it's not that bad?  I just shook my head.  His nurse had already given him his Zofran between rounds one and two, so I believe some Compazine was coming his way when I left.  I was very torn on staying versus leaving.  I'm trying to keep Kevin on an even keel, his school year is quite new and bumps in the road are not as easily navigated by him as the girls due to the age differences.  So I headed for home, only to discover the exit ramp at Cicero was closed.  How can you complain about late-night construction after being with a sick person?

So I am on edge, hoping this is just a time of adjustment for his body.  Less meds, more new cells, and hopefully a good night's sleep.  The Dilaudid drip was stopped this morning; it is still available by his choice with the button.   He is NOT in ANY pain.  The Dilaudid was disorienting him on day of the week (heck, I have the same issue since this all started, if not the last 40 years!) and was causing him to have really bizarre dreams and mild hallucinations.  Good quality sleep is a wonderful, restorative thing.  

I must remind myself....ONE DAY AT A TIME.

G'nite.