Pain Management

On Thursday afternoon, Emily's pain was so severe that her doctors recommended she go to the ER. They admitted her to the hospital and the first order of business was to find her a pain killer that would actually work, unlike the Advil and Oxycodone she had been taking. She was also dehydrated and extremely tense, both of which were exacerbating her symptoms. Once the docs were able to dull her pain with Dilaudid, they focused on relaxing her body so she could get even more relief from the new drugs in her system. She decided that it was wise for her to spend the night in the hospital to try to get some much needed rest while being monitored by the staff. On Friday she was seen by a barrage of specialists who offered many ideas about the source of her pain and how they could relieve it, but all were a bust. After another chest CT, it was determined that there was indeed fluid in her lung which was pressing on her trachea, but it could not be drained because the tumor had caused the lung to collapse.

The nurse requested that she stay another night in the hospital because they needed to work out a pain management plan for her that would be appropriate for use at home. Saturday was spent trying a couple of different medications, none of which did anything but make her a complete zombie who could still feel a great deal of pain. She hopes to be released from the hospital on Sunday with a new plan in place to keep her comfortable. I will try to keep the blog updated with new information as it comes to me.

My Perspective

As an observer of Emily's ongoing cancer treatment, this has been a particularly difficult couple of weeks. If there were one word to sum up the experience of these past 10 days, it would be pain. Physical pain for Emily and emotional pain for those of us who love her. It is upsetting for me to watch my sister dealing with this adversity and to know there is nothing I can do to ease her burden. Most of you already know that Em has decided to go on medical leave from her job in order to focus solely on her health due to some recent complications. She has been experiencing significant pain in her back and shoulder, which we had initially attributed to fluid in her lungs but after a chest CT, we discovered that the tumor in her lung had grown. Her two primary doctors are divided on her prognosis with one offering dire predictions and the other saying it is her tumor dying and she may feel horrible for a while, but it is part of the healing process. She certainly has been feeling horrible, there is no doubt about that! But through all of this crisis, she remains committed to her recovery and plans to stay the course of treatment that she has chosen. She has managed her cancer up to this point and plans to continue with renewed vigor. If there is one thing she has shown us all during the past 3 years is that she has unbelievable determination and the strength of character to follow through with her choices.