Dave is back to the hospital fighting for some kind of infection. Last Monday, driving back home from Va., he noticed that the back of his left hand was bright red. He went for his chemo treatment on Tuesday and was told that he has cellulitis in his hand. He was given Augmentin for it but on Wed. he started running a fever. We went to the ER that night-- lab tests and X-rays were done, was given antibiotics through IV, stopped Augmentin but was given clendomycin and was sent home. The fever didn't go away and he was having chills. He noticed yesterday that his legs were swollen and painful but we just waited to see his oncologist this morning since he had a follow up check for the ER visit.

Had a lot of test done all day long. He had ultrasound in his legs to check for blood clots as I was so anxious to know what were those stuff that the tech was marking. Thank God, there was no blood clots! (As we were getting ready to go for the ultra sound, Dr. Berenstein gave me a penny that she just found on the floor at the Oncology clinic. She said, " Here's a penny that I just picked up from the floor. I'll put it in your pocket, for no blood clot". She just reached into my coat pocket.)

He also had CT scan in the head and abdomen, more blood tests, blood culture and at 10:00 PM we headed downstairs again for chest X-ray which sent Dave up the wall. ( He had chest X-ray on Wed while at the ER.)

He had spinal tap at 4:00 PM and I had to hold his hand! I had to see that mile long needle ( 4 or 5 inches long ) that the doctor used to collect fluid. Well, had seen much worse I guessed. He had a cyst on his back months ago and he made me hold his hand again while the doctor was cutting it or making incisions (sounds better than cutting). I had to close one eye but had to leave the other eye open so that I could see what the doctor was doing. Had to watch it being packed with like a yard long of ribbon (don't know what it's called ) and I had to pull it out a few days later.

Before I left the hospital tonight, the nurse was saying that doctors were leaning towards cellulitis in Dave's legs. Meningitis was ruled out and more test were sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Dave is also being so worried that I might lose my job because I'm taking a lot of days off lately. He is so worried that we might lose everything. I just told him that he has to read his Bible more often.

I had to go home to catch up on some sleep. It's 3: am so I better go to bed. Gotta go back to the hospital in the morning. Please hold Dave in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank so much,
Edith

THE RUN AWAY PATIENT!

Dave and I had another date at the ER--this time via ambulance! He started scratching like crazy on Friday night and started having pain on his left shoulder Saturday morning but he still didn't want to go to the hospital. He finally agreed to go when he started having chest pain but didn't quite make into the car. Had to wait for the ambulance on the steps, in the cold.

He was taken at another hospital because our local hospital was on code yellow. Not a good experience! We wanted to leave and go to the Naval Hospital but they wanted to monitor his heart for the night so we stayed considering that his bilirubin is 5.7 and still scratching like crazy. They were going to do CT scan on his chest and had to tell them to do CT on his abdomen so that he didn't have to drink more of that barium. Hours had passed but nobody was letting us know the results of his tests so I had to find the doctor. They never call the Naval Hospital so we had to advocate for ourselves--letting his oncologist know that Dave is at another hospital and we wanted to get transferred. They tried to do stress test but Dave kept on falling asleep on them so they gave up! "He can have the stress test at the Naval Hospital. We are going to arrange for your trasportation". Dave wanted for us (Barbie, Angie, Mom and kids) to drive him but we were advised by the on call oncologist to wait so that we didn't have to start at the ER again--it would be ward to ward. Dave agreed but he was already restless and grumpy --he needed to smoke! They didn't want him to leave the floor (we were at the cardiac floor) not even with a escort. That was at noon and the transportation wasn't coming until 4:30pm. Angie and I were on our way to home to get some clothes and take a shower at least but we had to turn around because Dave and Barbie left the room refusing to sign any forms!

We were at the ER in Bethesda and guy at the desk was like, "You're Hoskins. We are ready for you. BWMC called that you left AMA --Against Medical Advice-- but you have to wait". ER was busy on Super Bowl Sunday!

We were in his room at around 3:oo pm, still a lot better than waiting for the ride to take him to Bethesda. Thank goodness for the nurse at the triage, she knew Dave from the previous trip and she is a new Ensign working at the ER. She check his temp and it was normal so she sent him right to his room. The oncology nurse at the ward said that she didn't do all the necessary procedures. We love her anyway!

Dave's billiary stent was replaced last Monday. The old one was occluded. The tumor was growing in it, not good. It was replaced with a longer stent, 80mm x 10mm. The pain in his shoulder is gone, his color is almost normal and his bil. had dropped from 6.7 to 2.6 on Tuesday. The itching was gone a few hours after the procedure. We've never met the GI doctor who did the procedure until Dave was already in the room waiting for his turn. His name is Dr. Ischowitz, very young and aggressive. All I could do was hope and pray that he is good! I asked him questions which were irrelevant because whether I like it or not, He is it! "Are you good at this. How many procedures have you done?" He said that he was very good and that he had done maybe a thousand ERCP's. He was going to tell me where he did his fellowship but Dave kept on talking.

Dave and I came home this afternoon. He had a CT scan last night and it showed that there's fluid around his liver. He also has fluid retention in his legs which started yesteday. He missed chemo yesterday and the week before. He started back with Xeloda and Tarceva today. He is scheduled for Gemzar infusion on Tuesday. This is a new regimen. Taxotere is replaced with Tarceva because of pulmonary taxocity.

Please continue to hold him in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

Edith