Each day I get home from the hospital I think to myself that today has to have been the worst day so far and then the next day is even worse.
Prof Novitzky did his rounds a bit later this morning so I was there when he came to see Jimmy. He had a look at Jimmy's mouth and then let me have a look with that thing with the light. You have no idea how bad it is. The whole roof of his mouth is one big scab and he has sores all over and his tongue is also covered and there is a lot of pus. Prof said that what we see in his mouth carries on down the throat and his colon. He explained that it is Mucositis and occurs when cancer treatments break down the cells lining the gastro-intestinal tract which goes from the mouth to the anus, leaving the mucosal tissue open to ulcers and infection. The mucous membrane lines all the passages that communicate with air. The part of this lining that covers the mouth is one of the most sensitive parts of the body. He says is it one the most debilitating complications of heavy dose chemotherapy and the pain is excruciating. This can last for between 1 week and 6 weeks depending on the severity and Jimmy is at high risk of other infections now as a result of these sores in his mouth. The vomiting and nausea is a side effect of the Mucositis. He prescribed Morphine for the pain and they upped the dose later in the day.
The sisters bathed Jimmy and changed the bedding while he is in bed as he is too sick to get up, talk, drink or eat. The morphine made him sleepy and he was having funny conversations in his sleep but hopefully he will actually get a good night's rest tonight. They also come every couple of hours and clean out his mouth with little sponges attached to the ends of plastic sticks dipped into something and he is on medication for this now too and the sister says that by tomorrow lunch time his mouth should start to feeling better. He still continues to get platelet and blood transfusions every day.
I must say that in spite of Jimmy's condition I felt much better today and more positive again. I think I have been quietly panicking for the last 2 days that Jimmy is giving up the fight but I realised today how sick he is and there is no point in trying to make him eat or sit up etc. They increased his oxygen as his levels were low again today and also nebulised him more often to help his lungs. The brilliant news is that his white blood cell count has come up from 1.2 yesterday to 2 today. I just hope this isn't a mistake as the readings done on the weekend are not as reliable as when Dorothy does them during the week. If correct then this means his immunity is building up again and will definitely be a help in fighting the Mucositis.
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| Get better soon Jimmy |
Megan FaceTimed me while I was with Jimmy and although he just half heartily smiled at her she was able to see him and talk to him, tell him to be strong and send lots of love. Shame, she was very upset afterwards and cried. She is really looking forward to coming home in 32 days (we are all counting now), even though it's just for a short while. I can't wait !
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