Back in the Saddle, Again

'I do not like to repeat successes, I like to go on to other things.'
~Walt Disney

Yeah, me too, Mr. Disney, me too.

We came home Saturday, with pain meds and oxygen in tow.  A raving success.  We were happy to get her home as we tried to get back to some semblance of normalcy... though we truly know that will really come once we get the bone marrow transplant and recover from that.  But at least being home felt like a success despite the fatigue Tiffany continues to feel from the pain medication.

Come Sunday and Monday, more of the same.  I started to try to draw down some of the pain medication as Tiffany was having zero pain, and I was hoping to wake her up a bit from the medication induced haze she has been in.  But, per doctors orders, we were to only drop it slowly, so I was trying to do just that.  We had been running on a little bit lower doses until Tuesday when she complained in the afternoon about some pain in her knees.  Not bad, but just a twinge of pain.  Of course this was a little disheartening to me, I was actually hoping that some of the drugs she was taking actually caused the root of the pain to subside, and that the pain meds were simply masking that benefit.  But it would appear that the pain was still there.  Good to know, I guess, but disheartening still the same.  So later that evening, we upped some of the dosage a bit to gain a little better control of the pain.

Tiffany's mom came down to stay with us for a couple of days to help me out.  Dallin, having come home from scout camp on Saturday himself, was leaving on a flight off to Colorado to join his siblings having fun with their grandparents.  His first flight (since he was 6 months old, anyways) and that he was flying alone, I wanted to take him to the airport and see him off.  So Tiffany's mom came and stayed with Tiffany while I took him to the airport and she planned to stay a couple of days to help look after Tiff while I was working.  After dinner, we went out to Jensen Park in cooler weather and had Tiffany walk.  The weather was beautiful and the sunset was picture perfect.  With oxygen and a walker, Tiffany walked a little ways around some of the sidewalks and ended up sitting down on a bench and had a phone chat with the kids.

We came home, prepped for bed, and went to sleep.

About 30 minutes into sleep, Tiffany started to complain about her back.  She has a tumor in her sacrum, which is the lower spine, and we were pretty sure it was acting up - inflamed, growing, something.  The pain wouldn't go away with some additional pain pills, and by 1:00 am we were up to the ER.  This time we went to Davis Hospital, only about 10 minutes away.  Last time we went to the ER, it was a 40 minute drive, and that was 39 minutes too long.  So we opted to go to Davis to get the pain taken care of.

They gave her a shot of morphine, the pain subsided and after a short time we went home, about 3:30 am.  On the drive home, and really as we pulled into the driveway, the pain seemed to be coming back quickly.  But this time, it was not only in her back, but also in her legs. Walking back into the house was a chore.  Based on what the doctors gave her at the ER, we had something similar at home and gave her the pills to hope to help take the pain away.  Knowing pills take a bit to engage, we waited a good hour, and by that time, it seemed to not really do much to take the pain away.  By 5:30 - we had decided to go back to the ER.  This time, the shot they tried earlier didn't work and we tried something stronger, something they gave her last time she went through this, and it took the edge off.  We ended up contacting Dr. Glenn's team, and they had Dr. Glenn call to talk to the attending physician in the ER, and it was quickly decided to move Tiffany back to Huntsman.

So the Layton Fire Department showed up with their ambulance, strapped her into the gurney, and off to Huntsman we went, I followed close behind.

Rather than go into too much detail, the rest of that day was trying to get the pain under control, again.  It seemed the pain was a little bit more severe than it had been the week earlier, and the pain management techniques changed accordingly.

Here we are, Friday afternoon, two and a half days later, still here, still managing the pain, hoping for success.

But like Mr. Disney, we don't want to repeat this kind of success... we were hoping to move on to better things.  But alas, tis not so this time.  Maybe next time.

Cheers,

Nathan





Comments

  1. Oh, shooooooot!! I am so sad and incredibly sorry to hear that! We only had to deal with heavy pain management a few times with Eric, nothing like Tiffany has had - I can't even imagine and my heart just skips a beat to think of how difficult it has been for you guys. Increasing my prayers today... ten fold.

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