Surgery not an option

My mom sent out the following email this afternoon.

Things have not progressed in the right direction. Phil has a complete bowel obstruction and his kidneys have taken another hit over the past week.

We are at Froedtert Hospital. Came here at 7:30 this morning. Phil is not in a condition that will allow surgery.

The obstruction is in his lower intestines. The stint is clear and not a problem. The obstruction could be caused by two things either the cancer or adhesions from an old surgery. Most likely it is the cancer that is causing the obstruction.

We could make a better guess as to what is causing the obstruction if we could do a cat scan. However, he cannot do the cat scan until his kidneys are good enough to get rid of the cat scan dye. He also needs to get premedicated for the cat scan because he is allergic to the dye. The plan right now is to do the cat scan tomorrow if his kidneys are ok. Doing a cat scan without the dye would not give us a real answer.

No matter what the cause of the obstruction, two things can happen. It can resolve by itself which it has not done yet. He has probably been blocked since Monday night. I have been giving him IV's at home since Tue. Or he will only be with us for a very short time because you cannot live with an obstruction.

Obstructions that are going to resolve usually do that in 3-5 days per the surgeon. Right now he has an nasal gastric tube from his nose to his stomach and IV running. They will put a cath in his bladder to measure his intake and output. Oxygen to help his shortness of breath. He is comfortable.

He is watching the packers lose right now. We are taking him to room 4NE-25.

If it does not resolve in a few days, we will take him home.

Michael, do not come rushing home. If you get snowed in up in Green Bay and have to stay in Egg Harbor, give us a call from Egg Harbor. I am doing OK right now and will be happier when we know the results of the scan.

Phil and Judy Ortiz

Please continue to keep my family in your prayers (as I know many of you do). My mom does have her laptop at the hospital, so she can receive emails and will also be notified of comments left here on the blog. My mom's sister Mary is going to the hospital soon. My cousin Melissa and I are going to run an errand for my mom.

I know many of you regularly check the blog for updates. I wanted to let you know that you can subscribe to the blog. Updates will then be delivered to your email inbox. In the navigation bar on your browser there should be an RSS feed logo (shown below in its many forms). Clicking on that should get you started. Email me if you need help or have questions.

Bowel obstruction

My dad is at the Froedert Emergency Room with my mom. He was bloated and short of breath. The diagnosis is bowel obstruction. She is waiting for the surgeon to come and explain the treatment options.

Thanksgiving

My dad was able to make it to Thanksgiving dinner this year at Mary and John's. He didn't eat much. For many years my dad has been making the turkey, packing it up and transporting it where ever dinner was being held. He had planned to make the turkey again this year with help from Mark and Rhys. He was unable to do much more than direct Mark to the correct recipe book. Mark and Rhys put the 24-pound bird together and made the dressing, too. Later my dad said that the turkey was good.

Update from Mom

We came home for Michelle's, Rhys' and my sister's birthdays and Thanksgiving, so we have been in town for about two weeks.

During this time we had someone replace all the windows in the house in Tosa. They look beautiful. Now they need to be stained and varnished but that can wait. The ones for the tenant are vinyl so only ours need the work. That is for another day.

Things have been going down in the last several days. Phil started to have more pain and so he was taking a lot of the vicodin and then he started having bad stomach cramps and took more vicodin. That began the constipation that sent us to the doctor and then he got on some morphine and then we started giving him laxatives and enemas. He finally started pooping and now has very bad diarrhea and is eating next to nothing. We are making some other changes in his medications to see what we can do but this episode of problems has taken a lot out of him and we do not know our next plans.

He is getting another CAT scan done on Tue and then is scheduled to see the doctor the following week. Maybe we will get some more information but right now things are not good. Here's hoping tomorrow is better. Keep us in your prayers. Judy

More pain and Germany

My mom took my dad to see the Palliative Care Team at the Froedert Cancer Center this afternoon. He started having pain late this morning. Usually the pain subsides in a short period of time. This time was different. Vicodin (hydrocodone) didn't offer any relief.

He took the Vicodin just before his 12:00 appointment at the barber shop. He was in too much pain to drive himself, so I drove him there. We figured that the pain would follow the usual course. The Vicodin would kick in, and he would be more comfortable soon. However, that didn't happen. He was in a great deal of pain during the whole outing. Tom (the barber) and I struggled at small talk during my dad's haircut, but it was very difficult for us both to see my dad clearly in so much physical pain.

After the barber shop, my dad received a call back from the Palliative Care Team. He and my mom went in to see one of the nurses. She prescribed two additional pain medications: oxycodone and morphine. He is also constipated and was given some Milk of Magnesia. Constipation can be a side effect of Vicodin. It is impossible to know at this point whether the pain is being caused by the cancer tumors or the constipation or a combination of the two.

Just yesterday, my dad was feeling well enough to celebrate Rhys's birthday with my family and I. My dad had taken some Vicodin before he and my mom came over. He and Mark discussed the state of the economy. Also, my parents spent some time studying online maps.

My parents were using Google maps satellite views to try to find the house that we lived in in Germany. For about the first year of my life, my dad stationed in Germany and working at a U.S. Army Base in Zweibrocken. He was drafted during the Vietnam War. My mom, my dad our dog Co-co and I lived in Hornbach. There are five buildings in a row on the west side of Brenschelbacher. (The street name is over the image of the houses. You'll need to uncheck the "labels" box under "satellite" to see the houses on the west side of the street.) The house we lived in is the one with the reddish brown roof in the middle of that group.

Quilt pictures

Part of Muriel's Double Irish Chain



Block for friends Pete and Pat: Friendship



Muriel's Twin Bed Quilt: Double Irish Chain



John's Flag Quilt



Rhys's Twin Bed Theme Quilt: Sand, Marsh, Loons and Sky



Michael's Queen Bed Quilt: Light Houses



Mary's Quilt: Cultivate Kindness



Kyle's Twin Bed Quilt: Silly Safari



For a friend, Sue (all hand done): Indiana Rose

Another update from my mom

As you all know Phil has stopped his chemo treatments and now he is able to eat better and has more energy. He is getting Physical Therapy to increase his strength and that is helping. He takes his supplements so his calorie count is better. So in a general way he is doing better than when he was taking the Chemo. That is the good news but there is always another side.

Since May he has been having more and more symptoms of the cancer. Pain that he never had before began this summer. Many times it went away with tylenol or motrin but in September we got a Rx for Vicodin and he has been taking that on occasion. The pain is usually not, but sometimes, intense. Most of the time it is just nagging and in his back and stomach.

No more obstructions though so that is something that is very good. Sometimes when the diarrhea is really bad I give him some IV solution to help with the dehydration. He occasionally vomits but usually only once and then he is better. So the stints are still working.

He is extremely bloated and takes a lot of gas-x and metamucil type products which seen to do the trick as long as he doesn't forget them. Without the chemo his memory and ability to process thoughts has improved. (I sometimes wish mine would). He is, however, getting gradually weaker over the months. And when he does too much he then looses his appetite and just crashes.

We have been spending most of our time in Door County and the fall colors and weather has been spectacular. Phil's dream of a perfect death would be to go out in the woods sit on the ground with his back up against the tree and just go peacefully to heaven.

If that happened the plan is for me to get our neighbor and he and I would put Phil in the car. I would drive him to Wauwatosa and put him in the bed and call the doctor and say he died in Wauwatosa. Then we would not have to pay for a hearse to get him back to Tosa. Getting the body home is the humorous part of the deal and it has to do with how cheap Phil is.

Our life up here is pretty peaceful and we spend a lot of time at the library. The library in Egg Harbor is like the corner store in a small town. Gossip, Gossip, Politics and lively conversations. Phil is also making Quilt squares which keeps him busy. I have mastered the chain saw and spend time outside in the woods on the sunny warm days. I am also working on the woodwork in the lower level. However, most of my time is managing Phil's care and monitoring his meds and food intake.

Lady got a hysterectomy, oophorectomy on Friday and now is no longer a lady. She was laying low on Friday and has bounced back a lot today. Tilly did not know what to make of a slower, sleepy Lady. However things are normal again but I am giving her a couple of days before taking her out hiking.

We have been getting a lot of company and that has been good. Thanks to all who have made meals and visited us. Thanks to all of you who helped out with work. My brothers and sister-in-law made sure we had wood for the winter. Phil's brother, brother-in-law and sister put my bathroom on Stickney back together, after my family and friends ripped it apart in February of 2007. It looks beautiful. Another thing which I got done and am very happy about is the ceiling of the screen porch in Door County. This has allowed me to store things for the winter. Thanks also to Randy for cleaning my chimney. Thanks also to the many others who have been so helpful in many ways. Always, I am thankful to my sister and her family and my son and daughter and her family for all that they do everyday to keep the little things from getting overwhelming. (phone calls, e-mails, games, and tasks)

Keep up the prayers. Thank you for them. Love to you all.

Phil and Judy Ortiz