Visit with Patty Jo, Johnny and Joanie (Gary's sisters and brother-in-law) went well, though would have been just THAT much better if the Chargers had made it into the playoffs, but we recovered from that. JJ and Jerry came last Saturday and that was an awesome visit as well.
Medically, Gary is no longer able to swallow any pills at all. The nurse heard me about his continued increasing need for pain management and started him on Fentanyl pain patches that we only have to change every 3 days. We started that last Tuesday. Within 24 hours it was like Gary bounced back 3-4 weeks, became more talkative, alert and responsive. In the meantime, consitpation has become more and more of an issue and Gary can't go at all anymore unless he gets a suppository to boost the 2x/day, Senna and Lactulose and prune juice he's already getting daily. Yesterday we received a 10oz dose of magnesium citrate we had him drink that should have worked within 3 hours to clean out his system and that was ineffective in helping to move things more, or more comfortable, which was very surprising, actually. The doctor is coming tomorrow to re-certify Gary for his next 60 days of Hospice. They were batting around a hospice inpatient unit stay on Monday, and with the outcome from yesterday, the likelihood of him being moved there by Friday to help him get things moving is pretty high. Constipation is a classic complication of this disease and we now have so many more catch-22 issues. The high calorie drinks, and of course, the increased doses of pain medication that have been keeping him comfortable, are also adding to the constipation conundrum.
In the meantime, after all the activity yesterday with trying to get things moving, he's shutting down again. Gone back into his shell of unresponsiveness, rarely reacting or responding and back to staring past us. Only person he really made eye contact with last night was Sami. He was in the same shape this morning. It was so great to have even a small part of Gary back over the last 7 days. He was even almost smiling...what he couldn't do with his mouth was at least coming through in his eyes.
The ups and downs of this disease are brutal and harsh.
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