Tips for a Hospital Stay

These are things I wish I knew going into surgery recovery with my husband.

1.  Ask the nurse or CNA to explain everything you don't understand.
      (ie. what does that medication do? how often can he have that medication?)

2.  Often the doctor will order several medications for nurses to give as needed.  The nurses may not offer these and wait for the patient to complain or ask for more meds.  Ask up front so you are aware of the options available!

3.  Ask where supplies are kept.  I was given free access to a closet of clean linens, towels and washcloths, as well as a "nutrition room" that kept extra food supplies like jello, tea, and an ice machine.  The CNA's actually are relieved not to have you asking them for these things if you are able to help yourself.  They are already busy enough.

4.  As weird as it may sound, do not dispose of any bodily fluids and notify your nurse with any fluids that are expelled from your body.  They measure and track these things to see how your body is progressing through recovery.

5.  If you want to wash your hair, but aren't allowed to bathe or can't get out of bed yet, ask for a Shampoo-Cap.  It is a shower cap with built in shampoo.  They warm it up and it is like a warm massage on your scalp and removes much of the daily grime.  Just towel dry afterward.

6.  If you know it will be a long stay for your loved one, bring a bag of non-perishable snacks and food.  The hospital has food, but it comes at a price!

7.  If you are feeling nauseous...try nibbling on plain potato chips or chewing some gum.  We were told that the Mayo Clinic had done some research on this and something about these things helps ease the nausea.  It worked for my hubby.

8.  If your loved one has a pain pump or "PCA" to deliver medication on demand (usually it will only give so many doses in an hour), talk to the pain doctors about allowing you to  helping during times when your loved one is asleep.  Nurses will tell you not to help the patient medicate...but in the initial phases of pain management, it helps to keep track and remind your loved one when it is time to push the button.  Getting behind the pain is hard to recover from versus keeping it under control in the first place.

CT Scan and Results

The day of the CT scan we made it a family morning.  All of us went to the hospital and kept daddy company while we waited.  After the scan we had a family breakfast before we had to go our separate ways.  Results were expected the next day, so I didn't worry to much that day.  Late that afternoon my husband called with the results...they were in early!  My immediate thought was: "Results early...it must mean they found more cancer!"  But he proceeded to say that the scan revealed "no evidence of cancer".  After I got over the shock, I was elated!  I told everyone and I was so relieved.  Could it really be possible that there was an end to this journey?
I did praise the Lord and thank him for the news.  It was all him after all!

We had another appointment scheduled the next day to discuss our next steps.  I fully expected to hear that we could either do a round of chemo/radiation or we could just do surveillance.  My husband and I were thinking we would probably do the surveillance with the tumor removed and no spreading to be seen.  Little did we know that there was more information we weren't aware of.

The doctor informed us that in the pathology report of the tumor there were cancer cells found in the tubes that travel to the lymph nodes.  This meant that it was possible the cancer had already spread, but wasn't developed enough to show on the CT scan.  This struck a devastating blow.  Our options did include chemo and surveillance, but it also included the option for a surgery to remove the lymph nodes.  Each option carried heavy risks.  There was not an easy decision to be made.  After being so elated and expecting to be almost done with this cancer journey...there was another hurdle to get through.  This one came much closer to home.

Chemo carries life-long side effects, but the lowest chance of recurrence.
Surgery carried it's own risks, and depending on what was found could mean a low chance of recurrence or the need for chemo anyway.
Surveillance carried the highest risk of recurrence with some life-long side effects from the surveillance methods.

So began the game of the what-ifs and figuring out what our true priorities were in this process.  We're leaning towards the surgery, because we think it is still early for the cancer...continue praying.  I'm making more of an effort to pray each day and read the Word.  It helps me to read the healing verses to my husband and it gets my Bible into my hands so I am more likely to read it for myself too.