February 16, 2009

Tuesday-It was a really long day with lots of meeting and conferences with doctors. The first one did not go over too well. I decided last night to ask them to wait until this morning to tell him about not eating. So he got the news this morning and it was rough. First it was for 3 days and now it is for a week. Cody needs little steps. Our nurse practitioner, Nicole was great. Cody has been dealing with her for quite some time and she was great with him and explained it all to him. He had great questions including the conflicting diagnosis and treatment. We discussed this later in the day with more drs. After he settled down, he took a long shower and then his dad came so we played some games. It took his mind off it for a bit. Then he took a 2 hour nap. He was told by Nicole that she would be back around 4 to check on him. He met with the psychiatrist too and had lots of questions for her. She talked with him alone and came out saying how great he is and what a nice young man I have raised. We discussed the need for maybe some more anti depressants if needed. Then the team came with our dr and we discussed in more detail what the plan is and what the findings are. She kinda made me upset again because on Saturday, Cody ate a chicken nugget and about 5 pieces of popcorn. This did not cause the bleeding but she sometimes seems quick to blame. I let her know we were upset with all the conflicting advice and that at this point, I do not even care what it is because it is treated the same. We know he has to rest his gut for a good 7-10 days. It does not have to be here in the hospital. She is taking it a step further and sending out his slides to Duke for further analysis in case something was missed. It is all pointing to GVHD. GVHD caused inflamed bowels, stomach and colon. So we are treating it with the steroids and we are even reducing them now to ease up on his eating cravings. So we got through today. He had diarrhea during the night, quite a bit but he ate yesterday. It was less today and he did not eat. We will do this and we know it will be tough. He has tackled tougher things this past year and come so far. This too will be behind us. Love you lots my boy!! Stay strong!