Jim has had a bad week. He made such a remarkable recovery at first that even his doctors and nurses were amazed. We naively believed that this rate of recovery would continue. It has not. He has two main complaints. The first is pain in his stomach. We believe he developed an ulcer as a result of being so sick and being in the hospital. We read on line and our daughter Amie, who is a critical care nurse, said that ulcers are common following a serious illness and/or surgery, especially if a breathing tube was used. This pain is making him miserable and preventing him from eating much. He has lost 25 pounds since this all started on May 20. His second complaint is a constant feeling of nausea which is adding to his misery and preventing him from being active. We saw his doctor today. She said the nausea is a concern. Plus he nearly blacked out this morning. Those two things combined made her change the date for his next MRI from Aug. 21 to this coming week. (I had thought the MRI was scheduled for Monday, but I had my dates mixed up. Monday he is scheduled to see a neurologist in Dayton.) Before they’ll do an MRI they need to know exactly where the titanium plate that covers the surgical site is located, so we went to the VA Hospital in Dayton this afternoon for an x-ray. I was impressed with how friendly everyone was and how quickly we got the x-ray and some meds from the pharmacy. We were in and out in about 45 minutes. The VA Hospital can’t do the MRI any sooner than August, so Jim’s doctor is sending him to a civilian hospital, probably Reid, one day next week. The meds we picked up this afternoon were for the nausea and pain in his stomach. I hope it helps and that he feels better soon. I’ll keep you informed.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 22:08:37 +0000
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