Oh, What a Week!

Mark seemed to be coming off the Prednisone so well -- we thought he had it licked!  That is, until he got to 30 mg/day. (He started at 90 mg/day which is an extremely high dose.  There are side effects of being on Prednisone so that's why the rapid taper, but it can't be too fast.)  Last Sunday he had extreme fatigue and stayed in bed all day.  He was supposed to go down to 20 mg on Monday but was concerned.  We never heard back from the endocrinologist as to what to do, so he took 20.5 mg.  Monday night everything really started falling apart.  During the night he had extreme nausea and diarrhea.  He was so dizzy and nauseous that he ended up on the bathroom floor for 45 minutes and I couldn't get him back into bed. He couldn't keep anything down. Finally, I called 911 at 5 am for help as we didn't know what was happening.  They came and checked vitals which were all fine, and indicated that these were symptoms of coming off the steroids too fast.  He went back up to 30 mg on Tuesday, but that night was almost as bad.  Wednesday morning we went to the cancer clinic where he got intravenous fluids for dehydration,  meds for nausea and some steroids.  When it was time for us to leave, Mark couldn't stand up because of the severe nausea, and I didn't want to take him home in that condition.  The doctor came back in to check on him and agreed that Mark could not go home.  A room was procured in the hospital and he stayed on IV's during the night which included some steroids.  

Thursday morning he felt much better and by noon we were on our way home.  As the day wore on he started feeling nauseous again and by night, he couldn't keep anything down including water.  Friday we went back to the clinic for fluids.  Before we left, he was given another intravenous dose of steroids which seemed to help.  He slept well in the evening.  

Saturday early morning the diarrhea and vomiting wouldn't stop so I talked to the on-call doctor.  The only thing she could suggest was going to the Emergency Room.  We didn't want to do that.  He was exhausted and wanted to be in a comfortable bed. Eric brought over some Pedialyte and Mark was able to keep it down at least some of the time.  He isn't dehydrated, but he is incredible weak and still nauseous much of the time.  He is now on 30 mg of Prednisone in the morning and 30 mg. in the evening. He hasn't been out of bed all day, and feels sick whenever he is awake.  Fortunately, he has been able to sleep.  He hasn't eaten anything for days so he needs nourishment but for now, he would rather wait until his Monday appointment to take the next steps, as long as we can keep him hydrated.  Overall, he is quite miserable!  

So...if he hasn't responded to emails or texts or calls, that's why!  Everything else in on hold until he feels better.  We're hoping next week he will have some major improvement.

We appreciate your prayers, love and support!