The Tennessee Two Step

9:30 a.m. Looks like we are at the point where we are taking the two steps backward at the moment. After a energetic start Clem has become nauseated again and has been throwing up quite violently. He is drugged now and after an hour of struggling he is back in the bed asleep. Our plan is to let him sleep as long as he can and then get up an try again. So far today his output has been way more than his input. The Doctor visited and gave him some drugs to slow down his ostomy output but his vomiting is very concerning. His IV's have been slowed way down so I would not be surprised if some of his nausea is from dehydration. We are just going to keep trying different ways of keeping fluids in him until something works. If we reach a critical point the staff can always crank the IV fluid back up and give him some help. Maybe they cut it back too severely yesterday.

Clem is very compliant. He sticks with the plan even though there are speed bumps along the way and this is definitely one of those speed bumps. Even after violently puking he got up, bathed, changed his gown and sat in the chair. All of those things are still critical. He is an awesome patient because he truly wants to be better and willing to do whatever it takes.

I know I blog about details that some of you may not want to read. I do this in the event that other colon cancer patients or caregivers are interested in our story and are looking for useful information. I have read several accounts on the web and found that I wanted more details so I could know what to expect and how to prepare. I hope I don't gross you out too much.

As you can tell from my post, this morning would not be a good time to visit. Like I have said before things can change drastically within a moment and I am hoping that after he wakes up that we will be doing the one step forward thing again. I'll keep the blog updated often in case you want to visit this weekend. We will definitely be staying until Monday maybe a little longer depending on the whole input/output thing. Say a little prayer for the man this morning he is having a tough day so far.