update

Hey all, I did not get any glue put into my lung today. They put the probe into my lungs and figured out that the leak is coming from the upper left lobe which is the relatively healthy lobe so they did not want to fill that up with glue. They said that they would give it a few more days to see if it will heal on its own. I am still on the schedule for surgery for Monday. We'll know more tomorrow. I will keep you all informed. -Eric

next steps

The leak continues in my lung with no end in sight. The doctors have come up with an idea that will potentially prevent the need of any surgery to remove all or part of my left lung. They will put a probe into my lower left lobe, on this probe there will be a balloon which will inflate the lobe. Once the lobe is inflated they will be able to identify the location of the leak and apply some glue over the leak to plug the hole, and allow it heal. The success rate of this procedure is not great, and there are risks associated with this procedure, but the risks are low. At this point this is the only option we have to potentially avoid surgery. If this does not work, then I have been penciled in for surgery on Monday morning. -Eric

what's up

It has been a busy month. It started with us taking the kids to Disney World. The trip was great! The kids had a great time, the parents survived, and I felt good the whole time. We were blessed, and we really enjoyed our trip.
Two days after returning from Disney World I got sick. I did not think much of it since it's typical for me to feel a bit under the weather as I am still under going chemotherapy. My doctor thought otherwise, and wanted to check me into the hospital for some testing. I did not want to go in since I thought it was nothing, he convinced me otherwise. Upon checking into the hospital , and running some tests, they discovered some infection and fluids in my lungs that required immediate attention. Surgery was scheduled for the next morning to remove the infection/fluids. Upon performing the surgery they discovered that the lower left lobe was collapsed and nothing more than a ball of cancer, and the upper left lobe was completely collapsed. While attempting to clean out the infection/fluids from the lungs they discovered a hole somewhere in my lungs. They installed four tubes in my lungs to drain the fluids, and inflate the lungs. And they put me on continuous antibiotics to clean out the infection. They had to remove one of my ribs during the surgery to get better access to my lungs. I now have a very large scar (~ 30 staples) on my left side, not to mention the holes where the tubes are inserted. I can't leave the hospital until the hole has been plugged. The idea is that if they can get the fluids out and the lobes inflated the lung walls will seal itself against the plural cavity and seal the hole. I have been in the hospital for one week now as they try to seal off the hole. It is slow going and the doctor says it could take another two to three weeks in the hospital to seal off the hole, if they can do it at all. If the hole cannot be sealed then surgery will be required to either remove the lower left lobe, or both the upper and lower lobes. The surgery is risky so we will give the lungs more time to heal themselves before going with that option. There is a lot of pain associated with the rib removal, and the tubes in my lungs. They are controlling the pain with pain medications, and the infection is being treated with antibiotics. The worst of it is the waiting, and staying in the hospital. Monica has been able to stay with me in the hospital nearly every night. She is awesome. I could not do any of this without her. My brother has taken the kids to his house for the week. This is a great distraction for them, and it gives Monica and I some time to resolve this issue. The nurses have been great, the food is good, but the length of stay at the hospital is tough. Another three weeks here may kill me, if the cancer does not. Thanks to all who have helped us, or offered help. And thanks to those who have kept us in their prayers. Take Care -Eric

Did you hear that? ... I did.

I lost most of the hearing in my left ear about a year ago. I had numerous appointments with an ENT, antibiotic treatments, an ear tube put in, but no improvement; and no explanation for the hearing loss. We went in for second opinion with another ENT last week. I was getting tired of pretending that I could hear what people were saying. (huh, what did you say?) After the new ENT did an examination and a complete cleaning of the eardrum. (I make this sound trivial, but it actually hurts quite a bit) I could hear better. Underneath the crusted over eardrum he found a hole in my eardrum. Not sure how it got there, but due to this hole the sound is not properly transferred through the eardrum to the nerves. So even though I can hear better with all the crud cleaned off, the eardrum is still damaged and my hearing is still far from perfect. Options include surgery to patch the hole, a hearing aide, or do nothing. There are pros and cons to each option. We're mulling these over and will be visiting the ENT again in about a month to decide which way to go. In the meantime I am enjoying my improved hearing. As I drove to work the other day I stuck finger in my good ear and sang loudly all the way to work, it sounded sweet. The guy in the car next to me probably thought I was nuts. Take care. -Eric

Pleural Catheder/Hospital Stay and other fun stuff

Looking for a Romantic idea for date night with your spouse? Try draining fluids from your chest cavity together, it doesn't get any more romantic than that, you can even include the kids, although they think it is pretty gross. On Friday we drained off anohter1-liter bring the total so far to 9 liters. (More on this later).
Early Saturday morning I woke up in a lot of pain, headache, neck ache, and pain in my chest and left side. This was not a major concern immediately, as I was still recovering from the Pleural Catherder insertion so I took some pain killers and went back to bed. I was up two more times that night in pain an trying different pain killers was not working. About 6 am I woke up Monica and told her I had a problem. We decided to try a Vicodin. Again no response. We started to discuss calling the doctor. As we discussed out options I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, had a fever and was very very dizzy and a light headed. I headed for the bathroom as I felt nauseous but I only made half way there be I colpased to the floor and was out cold. Fortunately Monica was there to catch me and guide me to floor. Apparently I was out for few minutes. I don't remember falling or anything that happened in the few minutes that I was out. Monica quickly measured my blood/oxygen levels and immediately put me on oxygen. When I came to, I was feeling a bit better an wondering why I was laying on the floor. We made a quick call to my doctor a he told us to get to the hospital right away. We prepared the kids to be by themselves for a couple of hours, and we left. I was coherent but very weak and wozzy, and in a lot of pain. We spent about 12 hours in the ER. They were pumping me full of Morphin and other pain killers to mitigate the pain, but they only seemed to work temporarily and then the pain would be right back. They took two CT scans, one of my head, the other of my chest. They decided to take more fluids off my lungs (they took off 0.7 liters this time). My blood pressure was very low and they could not get it up to acceptable levels. They started me on antibiotics thinking it was some sort of infection, blood test results were still pending. After 12 hours they finally got me a room in the Cardoivascular Unit. A downgrade from the ICU unit where they originally wanted to put me. The bed was much better there. The antibiotics and the pain killers were finally starting to work and I was feeling a bit better. The hometeachers came by and gave a blessing. We arranged for the kids to stay with friends Saturday evening and Monica planned to stay with me in my hospital room that night. Just as the home teachers left the fire alarm in the hospital went off, that was an alarming few minutes as I wondered if I would need to run bare-butted into the parking lot or not. I was feeling better by the minute and as Sunday came around my hometeacher came back with the Bishop and he commented on how much better I looked. Still very tired and still with very low blood pressure, my shortness of breath was exaserbated. We took off anohter 0.4 liters for fluids from my lungs. We did more blood tests, a heart scan, and received consults from a lung doctor. My oncologist stopped by daily with update reports. The final blood test showed that the infection was likely surfactal, meaning it did not come from the fluids, but from the outside in. The antibiotics are working well and winning the battle. They let me out of the hospital Monday afternoon. I will be on bed rest for couple of days. In general I feel much better, the pain is nearly all gone. My blood/oxygen levels and looking better, but I still have headaches, although that could be a separate issue. The lung doctor recommended taking off more fluids daily over the next few days, so we took of another 0.5 liters last night. (That brings the total to 10.6 liters removed since November of last year for those you that are keeping track. Some quick math shows the following.

Fluid removal:
Total removed so far: 10.6 liters.
Average amount removed per day 0.07 liters.
Average amount removed per week 0.522 liters.
Average amount removed per month 2.23 liters.
Extrapolating forward:
Average amount removed per year 26.57 liters

That's alot of fluids.

It was an exciting weekend. A bit too exciting, for my liking. But as I like to say it builds character right?

Thanks to all those that helped with the kids this weekend and to all those that wanted to help but did not get the chance.

Take care, I hope you are all well. -Eric

Pleural Catheter

I had a pleural catheter inserted yesterday. The catheter was inserted in my left side about half way down my chest and it comes out just above my waist. The intent is that now we can drain excess fluids from the pleural area at home, rather than making frequent visits to the hospital for additional thorancentisis procedures. The insertion of the catheter went well. However now that the drugs have worn off, I am in some pain. Moving around is tough since every movement seems to affect the torso. Hopefully things will heal quickly. In testing out the new catheter they removed 1-liter of fluids, so I think the total amount removed over the last 4 months is up to 7-liters. Monica was trained at the hospital on how to do the fluid extraction so she will take on the new role as in-home nurse, although she has already been doing this anyway, it's just one more thing for her to do. I am starting to feel a bit artificial. I have an implant in my throat to help me talk, a port in my chest to insert fluids, and a catheter in my chest to extract other fluids. I am just missing an on/off button. Take care. -Eric

more updates

The thoracentisis went well. They extracted 2-liters this time (remember that the first time they extracted 1-liter, and the second time they extracted 1.5-liters). The technician said there is likely another 2-liters in there, but they can only safely remove so much at a single time. I can't believe I have 4-liters of extra fluids around my lungs. Imagine inserting two 2-liter soda bottles between you ribs and your left lung, it's no wonder I have shortness of breath. I will be discussing with my doctor whether or not we should have more extracted in the near future, it would be nice to get to "empty". I came home and did the stair test. If I can make it up the stairs to the bedroom without feeling like I need to pass-out, then things are good. I made it up the stairs, no heavy breathing and no shortness of breath. It felt good. And remember that I still potentially have another 2-liters of fluids in there. If you are ever at the Northern Colorado Medical Center and need something to eat. I recommend the roast beef. All good for now. Take care. -Eric