Steve out of the operating room and in ICU

It's 7:08pm. The surgery is over. The doctor was able to insert the chest tube, as well as perform pleurodesis on him. After the surgery, Steve's lungs are not recovering their functions as quickly as expected. Therefore, he is staying in the ICU for over-night observation. Please pray for his recovery. Thanks for your prayers and love. Meanwhile, it is not possible for anyone to visit him. We will keep you posted.

Saturday PM update

Steve is finally in the operating room after waiting all day. He hasn't had anything to eat since midnight. However, under the oxygen mask, he rested and waited peacefully. At present, the thorasic surgeon is operating on Steve to insert a chest tube. Steve is under general anesthesia and will be breathing through a machine during the surgery. The doctor said that there's a 5% chance he may need to open up Steve's chest.

Prayer request: Please pray for the surgery itself. Pray for Steve's strength and the strength of his lungs that they may resume functioning after the surgery.

Friday PM update: Urgent prayer request

Steve's difficulty in breathing became worse this afternoon. The pulmonary specialist has ordered a surgery to drain the fluid in his chest this evening, as well as a pleuradesis (removing the space where liquid can accumulate near the lungs). Meanwhile, his heart beat is getting faster and his breathing more labored, in spite of the oxygen mask. A blood test will determine if he needs to be moved into an ICU right away.

Please pray for him that he can breathe again and that the surgery will go well.

Friday PM update

This morning, the GI doctor performed an endoscopy. The photos reveal that the tumor has shrunken significantly from the chemotherapy, causing lesions in the stomach. In other words, Steve now has ulcer, as the oncologist had predicted. The good news is that there does not seem to be significant bleeding in the stomach. His most recent blood test confirms that internal hemorrhage has slowed down but not entired ceased.

Results from his thoracentesis show that there is no lymphoma in the chest fluid. That's very good news. However, more fluids are building up again in his chest cavity, causing breathing to be difficult. Another draining may be necessary soon. The oncologist ordered albumin for him, which will maybe help the tissues to retain liquid and hopefully reduce the pleural effusion.

He is still mentally confused somewhat. The neurologist said that the CT scan and various blood tests came back normal. He attempted to perform spinal tap but was unsuccessful due to too much edema buildup in his back. Another spinal tap is scheduled for tomorrow morning in the radiology department. Since 8pm yesterday, Steve has been off the duragesic pain medication (fentanyl), a drug that is linked to nervous side effects including confusion. We need to see if things improve tomorrow morning once the drug wears off.

The biggest challenge today is Steve's difficulty in breathing. He needs an oxygen mask to relieve the strain.

Prayer request: Please pray that his breathing will become easier and that the doctors can determine how to help him breathe better. Pray also for the spinal tap in the morning to be successful and that his mental faculties will be restored once the duragesic medication wears off. Thank you so very much for checking in.

Thursday PM Update

The stool samples confirm that there is hemorrhage inside the stomach. The GI doctor said that she will perform an endoscopy tomorrow to see where and why the bleeding occurs and if a treatment is possible. The neurologist said that Steve's confusion may be due to medication. He is going to lower the pain medication to see if Steve gets better. If the confusion persists, then MRI or some other diagnostics may be necessary to determine other causes.

This afternoon, Steve had an incident where, after getting up for a BM, he returned to bed and immediately had the chills. His heart rate went up to 130 again, and he complained of pain. Some Demerol was given to him, and, after an hour, he was back to normal. Maybe the exersion of getting out of bed was too much for his present anemic condition. It was quite a scare! He's probably not ready to get out of bed any time soon.

Prayer requests: Please pray for his mental ability to get back to normal. Pray for tomorrow's endoscopy to be effective in reducing his hemorrhage. Pray for the restoration of his strength.

Thursday AM Update

The big news this morning is that Steve's heart rate has been slowly down steadily since 5am this morning. Right now it is at 107ppm. Praise the Lord for this miraculous change! His respiration rate is normal (at 18). Around 9am, the doctors inserted a Vena Cava Filter into his right thigh to prevent the blood clot in his leg from causing pulmonary embolism (a condition in which the clot breaks loose and travels into the lungs). He is currently lying flat and resting. All his vital signs are looking good.

Both his primary doctor and the oncologist came by. Currently, it looks as if Steve's internal hemorrhage is slowing down, though no hemoglobin reading was available today. His breathing is normal (Great news!) However, the fluids in his chest cavity are building back up. A more permanent procedure (pleurodesis) may be necessary to prevent the fluids from building up altogether, but this is not urgent at the moment.

A new concern: Steve, though conversing well and feeling better than ever, is confused. He doesn't know where he is. He speaks about crossing the border to Canada and about soldiers and border patrols. A neurologist is scheduled to come in to determine if some of the medications are interacting to cause these effects on his brain.

Praise: That his vital signs are becoming more and more normal. He is no longer breathless and is able to speak.
Prayer request: Pray that he can become coherent and that the neurologist may be able to determine the cause of his mental confusions. Pray also that the fluids in his chest will not confinue to build up. Pray for the consultation with the GI doctor later in the day to see if an endoscopy is necessary. Thank you so much for your love. God bless you for your blessings to us.

6/27 Update

This morning, Steve woke up in very good spirits. He was more alert and energetic than these past few days. He was able to converse, albeit with some strain. He even managed to eat a few bites. The big news this morning is that he did manage a bowel movement, thereby producing some sample for diagnostics--hooray! His blood test indicated that his internal hemorrhage has abated somewhat (hemoglobin level at 10.3--a drop of 0.3 in one day, as compared to >1 in the previous days). In fact, he felt so well and uplifted that he actually declared, "I'm leaving the hospital!" However, his pulse rate did not improve, as we had hoped. The occupational therapist came by to help him sit up. Steve managed to sit at the bedside for 10 minutes. However, it was a big challenge.

In the afternoon, Steve did become more lethargic. The cardiologist came and, with EKG and chest X-ray, diagnosed Sinustachycardia (high heart rate with normal rhythm). This means that his heart is normal, but there are unknown causes for the rapid rate. The mystery continues...

Praise: Steve had not asked for any supplemental pain medication today. Also, he was very alert for much of the day.
Prayer requests: Please pray that the doctors will be able to determine the cause of his high heart rate. Pray also for his internal hemorrhage to stop altogether so that there will be no need for endoscopy. Pray for the examinations and consultations tomorrow: gastro-urologist (for the kidney), the gastro-interstinal (for the stomach). Pray for the IVP filter procedure which will prevent a known blood clot in his right thigh from moving into his upper body. Thank you so very much for your love and support.

Thoracentesis finished

The draining of fluids from areas near his left lung was completed this afternoon. A total of 1.2L was extracted. The swelling in the middle of his abdomen was visibly smaller. However, the procedure seemed to have exhausted him. Also, the acute abdomenal pain came back. So he received another doze of Demerol. His heart rate came down just a tiny bit (133 ppm) so far. It's 6:17pm. No sign of any doctor yet.

Today's update

After last night blood transfusion, Steve was much more alert this morning. He was able to eat a piece of canned fruit this morning. For lunch he had a couple of nibbles of Chinese food. Because of his high pulse rate (138 ppm), he still has a hard time talking. Right now, he is getting a thoracentesis (a draining of fluids in areas near his lungs). The doctors hope that this procedure will allow more oxygen to flow into his lungs, and thereby slow down his heart rate.

Another important diagnosistics that we are waiting for is a sample of his stools. This can tell us if his blood loss is due to hemorrhaging in the stomach (which, according to the encologist, can happen when the tumor in the stomach shrinks too fast and leaves a lesion). Once this is confirmed, then procedures can be done to treat the lesion. However, we are waiting for him to pass stools. Until then, his hemoglobin level still seems to drop at an alarming rate.

Prayer requests: Please pray that the draining of fluids really makes a difference in his heart rate. Pray for him to pass stools so that the doctors can make a prognosis about the cause of his blood loss. Thank you so very much for your love and prayers.