The Mask

Apparently, Mike has aspirated something, so he’s not doing so great right now. A lung x-ray was conducted during the night, and something was found in Mike’s lungs. His oxygen level dropped to 83 overnight, so when I came in this morning, he had on an oxygen mask, not just the tube that sits in his nose. (The mask helped his oxygen get up to 93.) A lung doctor came in to look at him and ordered that Mike be put on a BIPAP machine for at least 24 hours; this forces pressure into the lungs and helps oxygenate him. He’ll also be put on some antibiotics. If all of this doesn’t help, they may have to fish out whatever it is in Mike’s lungs. Because of the mask Mike now has to wear and the risk of further aspiration, he is going to be put on a feeding tube. I’m not sure how long he’ll have to stay on that, but since he was eating well otherwise, it will probably only be until they make sure his lungs are clear. Mike was retaining an insane amount of fluids, so he was given some Lasix which helped that tremendously. (When I left last night, he looked pregnant—not so much anymore!)

Mike has continued to not receive the chemotherapy; tomorrow will be two weeks since he had his last dose of Temodar. The radiation he missed on Tuesday will be tacked on, so Mike has three treatments left. If he doesn’t skip any more treatments, he will be finished on Wednesday. Mike’s blood counts have still been a bit low, so he received blood and platelets yesterday and will receive another round of platelets tomorrow. My sisters Cindy and Karen donated their platelets for Mike, so he now officially has Lucas blood in him. We’ll see what kind of magic that works. He had some sort of infection in his blood the other day, so his regular antibiotics were changed.

It’s probably not a good idea to visit the hospital today or tomorrow. The mask Mike is wearing covers his nose and mouth, so he is unable to talk at all right now. (He’s had selective speaking before…yesterday morning he talked to me pretty well, but the three days before that, he didn’t say much. I’m sure he hasn’t just been ignoring me. What man would ever want to ignore his wife?) I hope you all have a wonderful Easter; I hear the Easter Bunny has removed all calories from chocolate this year, so eat up! For those of you on spring break this week, enjoy some rest and relaxation; most of you who teach in the Columbia area will need all the R&R you can get—when returning to school next week, it’ll be nine solid weeks with no days off! Yikes!

It’s with great sadness that I share with you Ron Ridgeway, the gentleman with a glioblastoma I told you about in an earlier post, has passed away. I haven’t talked with his mother since she told me about contacting Duke, but I read of his passing in the newspaper. Please continue to pray for his mother as well as the rest of his family during this most difficult time for them.