Mar 19, 2014

March 19 - End of a 5-day Awareness Surge

Gary had 5 good days in a row, then last night he went back into his coma-like staring phase. We knew the honeymoon/rebound wouldn't last long and that he would take another step down after all that alertness.

Down to 26cm on his arm. His watch band can go on the smallest hole. Stomach is concave now, and as of last night, he's so stiff that his neck and shoulders are making popping and crackling noises when he moves his head even the tiniest little bit. We are starting him on a low dose of muscle relaxers tonight in an attempt to keep him from spontaneous fractures from the contracted muscles. His pain is escalating and a lot of it now seems to be abdominal/mid back pain, plus he's still shedding a LOT of debris in his urine. We've been unsuccessful in getting another urine sample with a straight cath over the past 48 hours, so we're working on a sample tomorrow morning with a fresh catheter one last time to see if there's an infection we can resolve. If no infection, we are likely at the point where he may have to be continually sedated to keep him comfortable. I'm hoping it won't come to that, but I'm resolving myself to it, just in case. It's not fair to him for him to be in constant pain and discomfort like that.

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