Update

kitten0385
kitten0385 Member Posts: 248
edited March 2014 in Esophageal Cancer #1
Just thought I'd update everyone....

I'm moving out of ICU and to a regular surgical unit floor today. The nurses in the ICU were amazing! I just had a chest x-ray done and will hopefully find out later on this morning how much longer I will need my chest tube for...we'll see how much the fluid has gone down. I am also getting the central line, in my neck, removed today. It was rather nice to have though so I never had to be poked for blood draws or anything, but all the tape on it is beginning to make my skin very sensitive...my skin has always been very sensitive to adhesives. Well, I'm off to go for a walk around the unit. Hope everyone has a good day!

Cathy

Comments

  • JaneE2366
    JaneE2366 Member Posts: 289 Member
    #2
    hope YOU have a good day
    Cathy,
    I hope you walked around your unit....I know when Charlie was in the hospital getting his treatments, I would try to get him up walking as frequently as possible. It's good to keep moving and it was better than staring at the four walls. Charlie could never concentrate on watching TV and the days were long.
    Happy you are moving out of the ICU....no one wants to be in there. Will you be having another port put in?? I think I remember you had one and then had it removed.
    Continuing to pray for you and your husband....
    God Bless.
    Jane
  • emg09
    emg09 Member Posts: 228
    #3
    JaneE2366 said:

    hope YOU have a good day
    Cathy,
    I hope you walked around your unit....I know when Charlie was in the hospital getting his treatments, I would try to get him up walking as frequently as possible. It's good to keep moving and it was better than staring at the four walls. Charlie could never concentrate on watching TV and the days were long.
    Happy you are moving out of the ICU....no one wants to be in there. Will you be having another port put in?? I think I remember you had one and then had it removed.
    Continuing to pray for you and your husband....
    God Bless.
    Jane

    I'm happy to hear you are
    I'm happy to hear you are moving, hope your moved by now and have your xray results!! Do keep on moving if possible, it's really good for you!!

    HUGS!!
    Erika
  • kitten0385
    kitten0385 Member Posts: 248
    #4
    JaneE2366 said:

    hope YOU have a good day
    Cathy,
    I hope you walked around your unit....I know when Charlie was in the hospital getting his treatments, I would try to get him up walking as frequently as possible. It's good to keep moving and it was better than staring at the four walls. Charlie could never concentrate on watching TV and the days were long.
    Happy you are moving out of the ICU....no one wants to be in there. Will you be having another port put in?? I think I remember you had one and then had it removed.
    Continuing to pray for you and your husband....
    God Bless.
    Jane

    Jane
    I'm up and walking quite a bit. I'm watching a movie with my brother and his fiance right now, they drove the 4 and a half hours to come visit me. I haven't had a problem with the tv, and am on the computer quite a bit. As of now I do not need another port put it, I've already had a chemo infusion without it....we'll continue on and see how it goes. Thanks for the prayers!

    Cathy
  • kitten0385
    kitten0385 Member Posts: 248
    #5
    emg09 said:

    I'm happy to hear you are
    I'm happy to hear you are moving, hope your moved by now and have your xray results!! Do keep on moving if possible, it's really good for you!!

    HUGS!!
    Erika

    Erika
    The chest tube has to stay in for another day or so, there's still some air around my lung. I'm having no problems walking doing just fine. The pain meds they have me on work quite nicely, but also make me nauseous every once in a while, so it's a balancing act.
  • mumphy
    mumphy Member Posts: 440
    #6
    kitten0385 said:

    Jane
    I'm up and walking quite a bit. I'm watching a movie with my brother and his fiance right now, they drove the 4 and a half hours to come visit me. I haven't had a problem with the tv, and am on the computer quite a bit. As of now I do not need another port put it, I've already had a chemo infusion without it....we'll continue on and see how it goes. Thanks for the prayers!

    Cathy

    Glad your up and around
    Hey Cathy,
    I'm glad that you are up and about and in good spirits. Al passed his test!!! now we have to get him strong againg and hopefully surgery in six weeks. It was a long day at Hillman
    but worth every hour of waiting Dr. Luketich is so busy and is always being called away that you get there at 9:00 am and we didn't get to see him until 2:00.

    I was wondering if they will be changing your chemo? or if they think that it may have caused you blockage. I'm just curious about how this all happened in case I have to look for anything with Al.

    Get well soon!!!
    May God Bless & Keep you well
    (((HUGS)))
    KATH
  • kitten0385
    kitten0385 Member Posts: 248
    #7
    mumphy said:

    Glad your up and around
    Hey Cathy,
    I'm glad that you are up and about and in good spirits. Al passed his test!!! now we have to get him strong againg and hopefully surgery in six weeks. It was a long day at Hillman
    but worth every hour of waiting Dr. Luketich is so busy and is always being called away that you get there at 9:00 am and we didn't get to see him until 2:00.

    I was wondering if they will be changing your chemo? or if they think that it may have caused you blockage. I'm just curious about how this all happened in case I have to look for anything with Al.

    Get well soon!!!
    May God Bless & Keep you well
    (((HUGS)))
    KATH

    Awesome News!
    Six weeks?? Awesome!!! I'm so happy for you guys!! Surgeons can be very busy people, but it sounds like the wait was worth every minute!

    As for the blockage, no, it was not caused by chemo. My blockage is not occurring inside the colon, it's occurring from outside the colon, something is pushing on my colon from the outside. Could be another tumor or could be scar tissue from previous surgery...I won't know until I have further testing, which most likely won't occur for a few weeks because I have to heal from surgery first. If it's scar tissue, they would do some surgery and reverse my colostomy in several months, if it's a tumor then we'll leave the colostomy most likely just continue with the same chemo regimen, I'll know more once we work with my oncology team, we're still working with the surgical team right now because of surgery.

    Again, so happy for your great news.

    Cathy
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #8
    kitten0385 said:

    Awesome News!
    Six weeks?? Awesome!!! I'm so happy for you guys!! Surgeons can be very busy people, but it sounds like the wait was worth every minute!

    As for the blockage, no, it was not caused by chemo. My blockage is not occurring inside the colon, it's occurring from outside the colon, something is pushing on my colon from the outside. Could be another tumor or could be scar tissue from previous surgery...I won't know until I have further testing, which most likely won't occur for a few weeks because I have to heal from surgery first. If it's scar tissue, they would do some surgery and reverse my colostomy in several months, if it's a tumor then we'll leave the colostomy most likely just continue with the same chemo regimen, I'll know more once we work with my oncology team, we're still working with the surgical team right now because of surgery.

    Again, so happy for your great news.

    Cathy

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • kitten0385
    kitten0385 Member Posts: 248
    #9
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Thanks William
    I really appreciate your notes and e-mails. You are right, we cannot make decisions for anyone, just offer perspectives. I am having trouble having a restful night tonight. My bowels and body aren't functioning quite correctly yet, so my body isn't getting rid of the bile like it's supposed to, so it's filling up in my stomach and I am getting really nauseous and throwing up every few hours....yuck! They said that should start getting better soon though...if it doesn't they may have to put the ng tube back in temporarily to give me some relief. So, we shall see what happens with that. I appreciate all of your and Loretta's prayers, and e-mails! You make my day much of the time! You guys are so wonderful to respond and reach out to so many on this site. Well, the nurse is walking in to take my vitals, so I better run....and then attempt to get some more sleep since it's only 4:30 in the morning. Thanks again for all you do!

    Cathy
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #10
    kitten0385 said:

    Thanks William
    I really appreciate your notes and e-mails. You are right, we cannot make decisions for anyone, just offer perspectives. I am having trouble having a restful night tonight. My bowels and body aren't functioning quite correctly yet, so my body isn't getting rid of the bile like it's supposed to, so it's filling up in my stomach and I am getting really nauseous and throwing up every few hours....yuck! They said that should start getting better soon though...if it doesn't they may have to put the ng tube back in temporarily to give me some relief. So, we shall see what happens with that. I appreciate all of your and Loretta's prayers, and e-mails! You make my day much of the time! You guys are so wonderful to respond and reach out to so many on this site. Well, the nurse is walking in to take my vitals, so I better run....and then attempt to get some more sleep since it's only 4:30 in the morning. Thanks again for all you do!

    Cathy

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • emg09
    emg09 Member Posts: 228
    #11
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Good morning Kitten!!
    I hope
    Good morning Kitten!!

    I hope you are resting right now and getting some much needed sleep. I pray your pain will be gone on it's own so you don't have to have the NG tube put back in. You amaze me with responding like you do. Every time I see a message from you I say a prayer for you!! Keep up your strength, I know it's hard. I'm thinking about you always!!!

    Get better soon!!
    Erika
  • mumphy
    mumphy Member Posts: 440
    #12
    emg09 said:

    Good morning Kitten!!
    I hope
    Good morning Kitten!!

    I hope you are resting right now and getting some much needed sleep. I pray your pain will be gone on it's own so you don't have to have the NG tube put back in. You amaze me with responding like you do. Every time I see a message from you I say a prayer for you!! Keep up your strength, I know it's hard. I'm thinking about you always!!!

    Get better soon!!
    Erika

    Hope your resting
    Hi Cathy,

    I hope you are getting some rest and sorry to here about the bile situation."NASTY" I hope
    no tube will be needed and it will go away on by itself. William is right you need to get
    better so take your medicine and get your rest so that you can get better faster.

    Talk to you soon.

    Lots of HUGS

    GOD BLESS

    KATH

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