Henry's Week

[Guest guest]

This week was a different adventure in my role as " caretaker " for my hubby

Henry. Monday, as I posted, he had a good CT scan and visit with our hero, Dr.

Pappas, at Duke Surgical Clinic. But the all-day trip (2 hours each way) and no

nourishment just about did him in.

I was offered 2 cases of a richer formula (Pulmocare) from my next-door neighbor

whose wife passed away after 17 years on TPN from a stroke (sad story, but

unrelated to this Board). I called and spoke directly to Dr. Pappas on Tuesday

and he said go ahead, the pancreas won't ever know it (Henry has a j-tube). The

fat grams are 22 per 8 oz can whereas Boost HP is only 6 grams per 8 oz. We

tried ONE can and something in his body " knew " it! He started sweating and

feeling terrible. Thursday when I got home he was off his tube feeding

completely (even though we were back to Boost) and said he had vomited 25 times

in 4 hours. So, out of the blue, I decided to e-mail Dr. Pappas (found his

address on the web) about Henry's symptoms. When I got to work Friday morning

he called and said I should bring him down to Durham. I talked to my boss

(who's been great through all this) and headed home, getting here at 11. I

didn't call Henry because usually he won't answer the phone, but when I got here

he was better and was so afraid that a trip to Durham would just tire him out

and make him worse.

I called the clinic and e-mailed Dr. Pappas. Lo and behold (this is another

reason he's our " hero " ), he e-mailed me back and gave me his personal cell phone

number! Just in case Henry gets in trouble sometime we can get him admitted

more easily with direct contact with Dr. Pappas. I cannot tell you how much

this relieved my and Henry's minds. I wish all of you all could find a surgeon

who CARES and who doesn't push surgery. His speciality is the pancreas and he

treats his patients with an open mind about whether or not to do surgery. So

far he thinks it won't be needed with Henry. He's working toward " fattening "

him up by gradually getting him off TPN and into eating food. Henry has lost

from normal 140 down to 110 or so and looks really bad, as you can imagine.

Sorry for the long post, but sharing is what it's all about.

Ginny