Day 158 - Nov 5, 2008

Things really weren't all that much better today. Kev has been in pain and he has been vomiting on and off all day. We started our pain management regimen today too, but we already had to up the doses and tonight we had to give him a shot of a totally new painkiller and finally...Finally! He is feeling well.

It's currently 11:11pm and he just ate half a pizza. It's the first time he felt well enough to eat today and when Kev can't eat? There's a real problem.

So I think the pain management doc and I are going to need to revisit the situation tomorrow. I did talk to our primary doc about this as well today, and he is thinking that we need to go a step further, at least for a little while.

And obviously we did not go to the mall today. We are going to try again tomorrow. Hopefully he feels better.

So getting to some of the ideas y'all have thrown at me...first, Brenda - I would never be offended from you comparing Kev's situation to your dog's situation. And actually, the weather change makes a lot of sense. I will say that it has been on the cold side here lately and someone keeps turning his heat down in his room making the temp fluctuate (nobody knows how it's happening though...must be a ghost - and yes - you are hearing sarcasm drip right there). But anyway, I don't have time to go back and check this out, but I will pay attention to that from here on out.

And this could so be grasping at straws, but I remember there being a link to certain dyes and hyperactivity in both children and adults. Oddly enough, Kevin has been drinking red Gatorade the last three days. I don't know if this could have some bearing on it, but I won't be buying red for a while, just in case.

Sarah, you mentioned Kev taking Neurontin. We are actually in the process of weening him off of that. We just started it recently and we believe that is what was causing him to sleep constantly. It seemed every time he took those pills, he was out like a light within 20-30 minutes. We are down to only taking it at night and happily - he didn't take as many naps today. And tell everyone at work I said "hi"!

So many things going on all at once, huh?

Holee, I agree that pain management is a good thing, and I am all for it when necessary. In the past, I would never have worried about Kev taking pills unnecessarily, but he's not mentally the person he used to be. I was watching him ask for sleeping pills before even trying to go to sleep. I also was seeing him ask for pain meds while playing around without any signs of pain. I think if a person can mentally make a decision on their own, that's one thing. But when a nurse or doctor looks at me and asks if he is in pain - I have to say whether to drug him or not. And there have been times he has asked for strong meds and I have went to the nurse on the sly and made them give him Tylenol instead. I just don't want to be the cause of his addiction and I also don't want him to be the cause because he just doesn't realize the consequences of asking too frequently or when it's not really needed. Kwim?

And I do realize that it's possible that Kev will probably be on some form of controlled substance for the rest of his life. I just need to know it's necessary and up until now - it hasn't been. And what if this is just a temporary thing and we end up medicating him without him needing it?

So, so confusing. And so, so scary knowing I could be making a wrong decision.

Moving on though, Jane - you mentioned the Fisher House and that is actually where I stay. If we didn't have that - I would be sleeping on the bench in front of the hospital with two other homeless people that are always there.

Ok, I need to get to bed. A nurse came in and was discussing Kevin with me and it's now almost 3am and I have to get up soon to go back up to the hospital. So, I am cutting this one off in the middle.

Remind me to tell y'all what the CT scan showed...