nausea ad nauseum

Amy didn't sleep well last night. She woke up at 1:00 AM and was worried about Dad, so called to check on him. She finally got a little sleep early this morning. When we got to Ashland, Dad was coughing and vomiting. He had a pretty miserable night. We talked to Dr. Cunningham about transferring to St. Luke's back in Duluth, since that's where the oncology center is that he's been working with, and he has appointments with them tomorrow anyway. He was also feeling better than he had all night (see photo), and thought it would be good to take advantage of that window. So they discharged him and Amy and I brought him over in the car. The doctor on call - Dr. Powell - is Dad's doctor at St. Luke's, so he already knows Dad's history.

We really hope the cancer starts responding to the chemo and receding soon, because Dr. Powell is pretty sure that the cancer is at least part of the nausea, it's still affecting the stomach, and it's probably affecting the bowels too. So it's going to be a challenge to get him out of the hospital if the only things we're able to address are the symptoms.

They gave him an NG (nasal-gastric) tube in the evening, and that got rid of a TON of gastric juices and bile that he had been vomiting most of last week. He felt immediate relief from the pressure and nausea that had been plaguing him and keeping him from sleeping and generally making life completely miserable for the last few days. We left him sleepy and much, MUCH more comfortable. Hopefully that means Amy will be able to sleep tonight too!