Blogging again

It didn't take long for Derek to resume his activities on his blog. For those of you who haven't already found out, here's the link: http://www.penmachine.com/

Nobody could be happier than we are. Blogging will likely channel Derek's mind back to his community, and you'll have all pertinent information first hand.

In any case we'd like to thank all who take an interest in Derek's current problems for your support and concern. As parents, it is gratifying to know that Derek has so many friends.

Home

Around 5:30 pm this afternoon my wife and I brought Derek back to his home. He is quite tired at this time but no doubt happy to be away from the hospital (no reflection on the great staff there!). He had a big day, visiting his friend Simon and dealing with the minutiae which go with hospital discharge. He even managed to walk up one flight of stairs at the hospital and did it again at home. We are all happy to see him back with his family. Airdrie and the kids prepared the house for him and got everything ready so that he'll be comfortable in his recovery.

I'm not sure when Derek will "reappear" on his blog, but since it does not require a lot of physical exertion, I expect that you'll hear from him directly sooner rather than later.

Coming home?

A phone call this morning from Derek has given us another upswing on his way to recovery. He said that he's feeling pretty good and that the withdrawal control program seems to be working. Yesterday evening, he had enough stamina to visit his good friend Simon James in Simons' hospital room five floors below. Simon had to have a heart valve replacement, due to a congenital problem which has plagued him all his life. Simon had his operation on Wednesday and is still pretty groggy, but is coherent and happy to see visitors for short periods. I'm sure that he and Derek have a lot to talk about. Derek intends to visit him again today.

Derek said that the staples used to hold his incision together are going to be removed today. The incision seems to have healed (note to Christa Giles: "knitted") very well. There'll likely always be a scar, but I think that the idea of stapling is to "minimize" its appearance.

It's Derek's choice regarding whether to come home today or stay another day. It all depends on how he feels later on. We'll let you know. You may see Derek on his blog soon.

Upward again

Today, my wife and I both visited Derek again and are happy to report that he is a lot better than yesterday. He's back on controlled doses of morphine - which proves that he really was showing withdrawal symptoms. While I stayed for about an hour, my wife spent an additional two with him. They went to the hospital's retaurant patio - and had a good discussion about things (big bands,various kinds of music, the inventors of overdubbing and multi-channel recording, Les Paul and Mary Ford, etc...) totally unrelated to Derek's fight with the cancer. It was Derek's first time in the open since his hospital stay began.

Derek is now going to follow a regimen of gradual morphine withdrawal, with lower and lower doses stretched over longer and longer periods. This should go on for about a week. Most of this is likely to happen at his home - we'll provide whatever needed support we can help with. This includes looking after our grandsdaughters - not a chore in any case; we love having them at our place.

Things are looking up again.

Morphine

Derek just phoned from the hospital. He has asked me to post the following information: There seems to be a consensus developing among his medical support team that his current symptoms (described somewhat in my previous post) are a manifestation of morphine withdrawal. Derek had this idea earlier and it seems as though the team is leaning toward the same explanation. Before his operation, he was prescribed morphine tablets to control severe abdominal pain caused by the undetected perforation of his bowel by the colon cancer. There now appears to have been some leakage into into his bowel causing the pain. He was given morphine intravenously by the doctors to control post-operative pain and subsequently was able to use a control setup to self administer it when the pain got to be too overwhelming. The hospital team discontinued its use a couple of days ago, and instead prescribed an oral painkiller medication. According to medical literature (I did a quick "google"), the kind of symptoms he's experiencing are consistent with withdrawal symptoms (chills, twitching muscles, perspiration, abdominal and muscle cramps, etc...). Morphine withdrawal symptoms are at a peak 36 to 72 hours after stopping its use. Untreated, withdrawal symptoms take 5-7 days to disappear. Derek says that the hospital is consulting with the appropriate in-house doctors to establish a course of action. More on this when we know.

Too much to hope for

Derek has had a setback. Most of you'll know from his blog that he also has Type 1 diabetes. Right now, his blood sugar levels are out of balance, and he'll probably have to stay at the hospital for a few more days. He didn't get much sleep last night, because he also had "incisional" pains; the cuts in his abdominal muscles and skin are probably "knitting". His sense of humour hasn't left him, though. "The honeymoon is over" he said, "my body has finally realized what's happened". The hospital team seems to be getting his sugar levels back to where they should be, and there appears to be no post-operation infection (no fever). We hope for a quick return to normal recovery

Progress

Hello, all

We've just come back from our visit with Derek at the hospital, and we're happy to report more improvement on Derek's part. He is eating a variety of (semi-solid) food, i.e. Cream-of-wheat, boiled egg, a little toast, some chicken and rice and banana. He also has a good appetite. We walked some more today. Derek is off all the external tubes. The ileostomy is doing its job, but Derek says that he has no control of it; the bag just fills up. With the way he's progressing, it is a good possibility that he'll come home tomorrow (Wednesday), or Thursday. He'll have a special diet, of course; the ladies in our house look forward to cooking for him and keeping him comfortable. There will also be a home nurse to change bandages, and possibly administer medications.

There is still a long way to go, but all of us (including Derek) are certainly relieved that things have gone well so far. I think Derek will be back on his blog in a few days.