There were no more infusions yesterday. His blood pressure continued to be low, so he was on the Phenylephrine from yesterday morning at 6 am until this morning at 9 am. Whenever he is on the blood pressure medication, he has to continually wear the cuff. It squeezes his arm every 15 minutes. Try to sleep with that going on all night!! If he isn't on his back(he's a side sleeper), the results are often skewed, so a nurse will rush in to recheck his blood pressure. Needless to say, he doesn't get much sleep, although yesterday he was so drugged that he slept more than he did last night.
Fortunately, nausea has subsided considerably, and by this morning, he was feeling much better. Even though he was still on the blood pressure meds, the doctors decided that his bp wasn't low enough to be a problem, so he got the 7 am infusion. Besides the rigors that were calmed with Demerol, his side effects were minimal.
Since he was doing so well, he got another dose at 3:30 pm. This time he didn't even need the Demerol--just lots of warm blankets. We expected him to get sick like he did on Round 1 when he had two infusions in one day, but he never did.YEA!!! Just when we think we know what to expect, it changes. We have been told that he can respond differently each time, and it seems they are right.
A new side effect is joint pain in his shoulders--so much so that it's painful to move his arms even to push the call button. Pain meds have taken the edge off. He looks sunburned all over--a nice red glow! Itching continues to be an issue, but meds help some.
The last reading on his blood pressure was 88, so it's trending down. We just pray that it doesn't go below 85, or he will have to go back on the IV medication and wear the blood pressure cuff again. Some uninterrupted sleep would be heavenly! Well, at least for an hour, maybe two. The doctors say that he may have to wait until he gets home for that luxury.
Food doesn't taste good, but he has managed a few bites of mashed potatoes and gravy and some applesauce. So, I haven't had to buy much food--I just eat his left-overs, and they aren't bad. Last night he thoroughly enjoyed some frozen yogurt from the hospital cafe.
All in all, it is going much better than expected, so we are thankful. The nurses always caution us to be careful what we say because it can change at any moment. Whenever one of them comments that it's quiet on the floor, suddenly lights start flashing, and they are running to keep up! We'll just be grateful and take it as it comes. I think it's time to head to the cafe for some more frozen yogurt! 😋
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