Satomi's Cancer Blog

She had three more swings up into the greater than 104F zone.  Cold wet rags and Tylenol.  Had to change her shirt last time because it was soaking wet.  Here eyes are open but she’s been unresponsive for hours.  She’s only in pain when I need to move her around.  Her breathing has become labored and deeper.  She’s just staring.  Here legs are always cold no matter what temp her head is.  Her circulation sucks.

She’s awake but things just aren’t right with her.  Her limbs are all very cold but her core temperature still swings a bit from 97F to 99F on Tylenol.  Breathing is quick short and labored.  Intermittently she gasps.  Heart rate is still at a marathon pace of 170bpm.  I gave her a few teaspoons of water and she coughed and gagged the whole time.  There are signs that she’s agitated-arm movement, eye blinking, tremors.  I’ll hold off on the Ativan for now.

I know she’s in there.  She puckered when I blew her a kiss and she tried to say a few words although there was no sound.

I don’t know if this is the beginning of something terrible but I won’t waste her consciousness.  I called for her Mom to bring our girls back from her house early and for her family to come.

We’ll see how the day goes.

What the hell?

I went downstairs to eat dinner and watch some TV and when I get back she’s on fire.  That’s not a typo.  She had a temperature of 106.5F.  I just didn’t believe it so I took my temperature:  97.8F.  The thermometer is working fine.  She’s on fire.

I pull the sheet off her and turn on the room fan.  I grab a half-dozen towels and wet them in the bathroom sink.  I wrap both arms and both feet.  I fold a towel and put it on her head.  I fold another one and put it on her tummy.  Then I go to my bedroom frig.

I grab a bottle of ice water and get back to the room.  I pour the ice water onto each of the wet towels to get them really cold.  I am surprised to see that the one on her head is already warm.  I wet all of them down well and prep the Tylenol suppository.

I administer the Tylenol and retake her temperature.  It’s only been about 10 minutes.  Her temp’s down but still too high.  I remove and replace each towel after I put a bit more icy water on them.  I wait a few minutes and recheck.  Lower but too high.  20 minutes pass and now she’s a balmy 100F.  A few more minutes pass:  99F.  I start pulling off the towels.  I don’t want to drop her temp too low.  Arms come off first:  98.5F.  Followed by legs: 98F.  Nice.

I notice that the vein in her forehead is throbbing so I feel her wrist for a heart rate.  It’s beating REALLY fast so I re-take her Blood Pressure and Heart Rate using my nifty automated Costco armband thing:  110/100 at 175 beats per minute.  That’s about right.  Damn near three-times-a-second.

I would normally freak out but her normal at rest heart rate is about 120 bpm.  An elevated reading under duress and with the remnants of Atripine still in her system, I can see it being high.  I’ll check again later tonight.

It’s now been 90 minutes since this all started and her temp is a normal 97.7F with only a towel on her head.  I’ll check again in a few hours.

So Satomi hasn’t shaved her legs in like two-years.  As her husband I know this to be true.

For the past few weeks, some of Satomi’s friends have commented on just how scraggly and log her leg hair has been getting.  When Satomi could converse, she would talk about various shaving techniques and her sensitive skin.  Now that her skin was so thin, she thought “Nair” would be the best option for her.

So I guess they finally got sick of waiting. Satomi’s friends, Irene and Brenda, grabbed the reigns and raided our bathroom cabinet. You all remember them from the infamous trip to the park and the shower.

I know there was talk about Nair but being typical hairless asian women, they had little experience with industrial strength hair removers.  I gave them my opinion (and yes, I do have experience with Nair) and after a brief debate of other alternatives, they opted for a standard shaver and gel.

I pulled together some of Satomi’s shavers but I also gave them mine.  My shaver vibrates and had a new head.  It cuts my whiskers like butter.  It’s what we used for her head.  With the gel cream stuff and a bit of care, it should work great.

So here are our hero’s with shavers in hand, post-shave.

It may be tough to see but the legs are as smooth as a baby’s bottom.  Definitely an improvement from scraggliness.

I gave her a drop of atripine just now.  Damn!

She started coughing 30-minutes ago-a deep, congested, wet and weak cough, almost choking.  It woke her from a sleep.

Her restful afternoon just got flushed down the toilet.  She’s still coughing.  I’m giving her another drop of atripine.  Her mouth is full of thick mucous.  Damn!

I was warned that all efforts must be taken so she wouldn’t end up like this.  The liquid makes you feel like you’re drowning, the coughing is painful and takes away what little strength you have.

I just called the Hospice people and paged the RN on call.

Atripine is supposed to reduce “phlegm”.  I read online that it also is used to treat slow heart rate.  That will complicate things as Satomi’s heart rate is typically 125 bpm  at rest.  Damn!

This morning, I noticed that Satomi’s poo was drippier than usual.  She even poo’d twice in only a few hours.  For someone who poo’s a couple of times a week, this is a lot.  Maybe she caught that stomach bug that was going around.  Damn!

Satomi’s trying to sleep but she coughs every few minutes.  The choking sound is terrible.  All I hope is that she is strong enough to hold out.

I smell something-maybe she poo’d again.  I really frickin hope not.  If she’s coughing and choking, the only way she get’s medication is via the booty.  Diarrhea would make suppositories impossible and accelerate dehydration.  I really hope it isn’t pneumonia.  Damn!

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  I’ll just wait for the RN to call…and hold her hand.

6:15pm UPDATE:  She’s sitting calmly and I haven’t heard a cough in over an hour.  There also is no sign of diarrhea so I think the stomach bug was a false alarm.  Her breathing seems a bit shallow and labored and I do hear a bit of congestion now and then.  Overall I’m happy.  I spoke with the RN on call to verify dosage and other advise.  The RN said to use Oxycodone for cough suppression and 2 to 4 drops of Atripine for liquid control every 2 hours.  I’ll just have to watch her closely tonight.
8:30pm UPDATE:  She groggy but awake.  I give her the normal bedtime medication but I bump the Oxy an extra 0.25mL to 0.50mL and I give her two more drops of Atripine.  Everything else is the same.  She falls asleep.  To be safe, I sleep in her room near her.