Robertson Caring Hospital

A lot has happened since the last update. We have added two more wings to the Robertson Caring Hospital. Besides the Seizure Management Clinic and Cancer Treatment Center we added the Back Pain Management Care Facility and the Orthopedic Surgery Recovery and Rehab Center. That will all make sense soon. Let me start with Monday, November 12^th. That night was the Appreciation Dinner for the 5^th Annual Energy Efficiency Conference held at the Addison Convention Center. It went very well and I got back to the house at about 8:30 pm feeling fine. That night at 12:40 am I got a fairly severe case of the chills that lasted for 5 or 6 minutes. I threw an extra blanket on and they went away. At 3:30 am Jan woke up and I told her about the chills. She immediately took my temperature and it was just under 100 degrees. Two things my Gastroenterologist told me about the stent in my bile duct was to let them know if I got chills with a fever. Jan called the doctor as soon as they opened up at 8:30 am and they wanted me to come in for blood work. I of course had to miss the Conference so we got ready to get the blood work done and drove to the Oncologist without any problem.

Wednesday morning we had an appointment to see the Oncologist for a progress consult on continuing the Chemo. While getting Julie ready that morning Jan rolled her ankle and fell to the floor. We both heard the sound of a snapping bone so we knew it was not just a sprained ankle. I loaded Julie and Jan in the car with an ice bag on Jan’s foot and headed out to Presbyterian to make my appointment. I valet parked (a great service by the way) at the Presbyterian Hospital Emergency Room and Jan checked herself in. I took Julie and walked to the Oncologist to make the appointment. Dr. Strauss had good news on the blood work and said I would be able to start the Chemo Friday on schedule. He was concerned about the chills and low grade fever. They ordered antibiotics for me so he decided to see how that progressed.

I met Jan afterwards in a room where she was waiting for the nurse to bring her a boot, crutches, and discharge orders. She had broken the little toe connecting bone (it is called a Jones fracture). Funny thing is that all the x-rays were of her ankle. We made an appointment with the Orthopedic doctor for Friday and headed home.

Upon hearing the news that Jan had broken her foot Carol drove up from Austin Thursday afternoon and I went to work. Friday, Carol stayed with Julie while Jan drove herself to the Orthopedic Surgeon. He took the proper x-rays and said there were two choices. Put a screw in the fracture in a fifteen minute procedure or spend 8 weeks completely off the foot with the high risk that the displaced bones would not mend. Not much of a choice in Jan’s mind. The surgery was scheduled for Monday at 4:30pm after my Chemo therapy at 9:00 am. Things were progressing well until Saturday morning when Carol was lifting Julie to a standing position. She severely injured her back, although at the time it was just a small pain. It rapidly got worse until she was having back spasms and very bad muscle pain. That is when we opened the Back Pain Management Care Facility at the Robertson Caring Hospital. Two dear friends, Jeff and Melanie, helped get the ball rolling for Carol’s pain management plan by bringing supplies over that day. Monday morning Jan, Julie and I went to my Chemo appointment and left Carol at home on bed rest. Julie did not have a very good night Sunday so we continued the Seizure Management Clinic that night. We arrived at the appointment early only to find out that they only had one nurse to do infusions and a whole lot of people that needed treatments. They did my blood work at 10:00 am and we waited for the results. My first treatment started at 11:00 am. The last treatment started at 2:00 pm. It was pretty obvious to Jan and me that I would not be finished in time for Jan to make her 4:30 pm surgery in Carrollton. So she took the car and Julie and I would take a cab when I was finished. Carol wanted to drive us to the surgery center but that would be the worst thing for her back. After one or two cell phone conversations with me Carol dialed her friends cell phone by mistake. Katie moved here from Austin two and one half months ago to start a new job. As it turned out she was planning on visiting some friends who lived off of Walnut Hill Lane that afternoon. Her friends also had a van she could borrow that could carry Julie’s wheel chair and all the stuff we take for infusion days. Katie picked Julie and me up and we headed to Carrollton. We got there at 5:00 pm which turned out to be just in time. If Carol had not misdialed we would have missed God’s blessing by way of Katie.

They had taken Jan to the operating room at 5:00 pm so Julie and I hung out in the recovery room thinking it would all be over by 6:00 pm. What was supposed to be fifteen minutes in the operating room was over an hour and a half. I was not aware of that until Jan came into recovery at about 7:00 pm. That was very difficult because no one could tell me what was happening. There was a lot of praying going on by Julie, Carol and me until they rolled Jan into recovery. Dr. Heier, Jan’s Surgeon, talked to me just before they brought Jan back. He explained that the fracture was so bad that when they put the screw in the bone it broke into multiple pieces. His only option was to put a plate and five screws in. That is why it took so long. Jan came through fine but would only be able to put partial weight on the foot until her follow up appointment on the 27^th.

Jan, Julie, and I got home at about 8:30 pm after getting up at 4:00 am that morning. That is when we opened up the Orthopedic Surgery Recovery and Rehab Center. We had to stop for supplies at CVS and I became the only staff nurse available. It was a good thing that I was in good shape after my Chemo and had my energy level intact. The same two friends, Jeff and Melanie brought supper over that night. That was the third day in a row that they helped out. Saturday they spent time with us at Jan’s mom’s care facility in Valley Ranch. They are another blessing from God. We are now fully operational and I expect a relief nurse by way of Catherine to arrive from Phoenix Wednesday night. All the patients are recovering nicely and the staff is still happy.

For an update on the Robertson Caring Hospital Cancer Treatment Center let me start out by saying things are well under control. I had that one spell with chills and a low grade fever starting Monday night on November 12^th. I have not had chills since that night, but the fever has varied from the low 99’s to 101. Just in case, I am on the second round of antibiotics but the Gastroenterologist says it is atypical to have a low grade fever with an infected bile duct. I should be sick as a dog and have a high fever. My doctor brother and his wife think the fever is from the cancer cells dying. I like that diagnosis so that is what I am going with. The fever has since subsided due to the steroids I started back with Sunday. I take them one day before infusion and two days after infusion.

One other thing that started Monday night on November 12^th was a dry cough. Twice before I got that and it lasted for over eight weeks each time. It is aggravated by talking. It started when I was praying silently in bed. It got so bad I could not complete a single prayer. The same was true when I tried to talk out loud. I need to talk so it is very frustrating when I am unable to put more than two or three words together without coughing. Maybe I just need to “get over it” as I am prone to say to others. The past two episodes were caused by a medicine I was on called Lisinopril. I am not on that medication so it can not be the cause. My doctor has me on Robitussin DM. That might have done the trick but prayers are in order.

I am now showing some of the classic side effects from the Chemo. I am losing my hair, am sensitive to light, my sense of taste has a metallic taste component, I have high blood sugars, and my blood counts are being affected. So far the big ones of losing weight, nausea, low energy levels, sores in the mouth, and other ones I will not mention are not evident. Again, I attribute that to prayers by the Cloud of Witnesses and God’s loving kindness. I am okay with losing my hair, can wear sun glasses for the light sensitivity, have started using sliding scale insulin injections, and I have learned to embrace the new way of experiencing the way food tastes. The trick is to ignore your brain telling you every bite is spoiled and will make you very sick if you continue to eat it. I have started classifying foods by the different metallic tastes. I have not found many that taste like gold but a whole lot of foods taste like magnesium. A taste that takes some getting used to. Every time I try a new food there is a sense of adventure. Ordering off a menu is really challenging as I learn what different things taste like. Combination foods are very challenging. I am now glad that I eat one thing at a time, as I have done my whole life, and now see a purpose for such a strange way to eat.

It is a tradition of the Robertson house to read Psalm 100 at Thanksgiving. I am especially thankful this Thanksgiving to all God has done and is doing and I am trying to practice everything in that Psalm on a daily basis. Jan brought the verse from 1 Corinthians 10:13 to our family in the midst of all the past events. It states, No temptation has over-taken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it. That is very comforting and helps us get through each day with joy and faith. Please have a happy and safe Thanksgiving and please keep praying for us. Thank you, Price