I have forgotten to mention in all the hustle about Tom that life is still going on at the Andrews household. Cody is in the final countdown of his senior year two weeks left....and he's ready for it! Kyle has a hand full of classes and he will have completed his college Sophomore year. Katie is in the midst of Track & was honored while Tom was in the hospital during the Scholastic award 2015 reception. I think that she has achieved a great Freshman year!
During these past couple of weeks I have seen a big change in Tom's character. He seems not to be able to focus or remember things that came easily prior to his hospitalization. He also struggles to engage in conversations, which may be the meds or a nurse pointed out to me, maybe part of his Jaundice...who knew? Tom has been so involved with the Boosters and is not able to physically or mentally handle the aspects that he did flawlessly before. Thank you to so many hands who have stepped up to help keep this organization running as Tom had envisioned/hoped for. Our little community had a nice reception on Saturday to thank Tom for his service for the Boosters. It was emotional and he did a great job keeping himself together as so many people came to participate and give him warm words of appreciation. Also during this time Tom lost his sister Lori. It was hard for him, but yesterday we attended her memorial to pay our respects and to support her three children. Life has given us some pretty hard blows lately!
Tom and I went to U of M on Tuesday to discuss what could be done with Tom's liver/jaundice situation. The car-ride itself was hard for Tom to handle & it didn't help that I grabbed the wrong prescription so he didn't have any pain medication. He was at a pain level of 8 during the day. It was discussed whether it would be beneficial for Tom to have a metal stint placed and if they could get rid of the external drain. This part is being referred to the GI's and there is still some discussion there at the U of M. Tom needs to have an MRI, but we requested that it be done in GR. Once the MRI is complete the treatment can proceed. It looks like Tom will have 5 Radiation treatments. He may need to have a steroid prep first as there will be some swelling that could further squeeze his bile duct before the tumor begins to shrink. All this should be in place by next week. Before we left on Tuesday Tom was poked yet again as the doctor ordered a full liver blood work.
We pulled into the drive at 5:00 pm and by 5:15 we had another call from the U of M doctor stating that Tom needed to head back to U of M and come to the ER as his INR levels were high. I explained that we had just gotten home and wondered if we could go the the ER in Grand Rapids. She stated that he would need a Vitamin K shot to help stabilize his blood. I asked the doctor to call Tom's GR Oncologist and have them call us with the procedures. She said that she would. Tom said that he didn't want to go to any hospital for the day and that he was just worn out. After about 3 hours I decided that maybe there was another consult and that it was not as critical as explained to me. On Wednesday night the same doctor from U of M called back and asked if Tom was admitted to ER. I told her no that we never received a call to be admitted. She explained that his INR numbers were high and that he was a high risk if there was a trauma and also that he could spontaneously internally bleed. I talked with Tom and we decided to wait until office hours to get to the bottom of this miscommunication the following morning.
Today I called the office and explained the situation. Tom was sent to get his labs done in hopes that the level had been lowered. However this was not the case. This afternoon Tom was called and told to head to ER. We are now waiting to see what the plan is. I am hoping that this will be an in & out procedure, but nothing has been that simple with Tom before.
I know my prayer warriors are out there and are probably ahead of this request to keep praying for a clear path for Tom's treatment. I want to again thank everyone for all the help that have given our family. It has been overwhelming to us. I am not one to ask for help, but I am getting it anyway with home cleaning, meals, and gift cards for our traveling expenses. Thank you thank you thank you angels for all your assistance! I am trying to be better to ask for help though this goes against my comfort zone.
But as for me, afflicted and in pain-- may your salvation, God, protect me. Psalms 69:29
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