Day 9

Well, for a change Dad slept okay last night, except for having to get up 3 times in the night to go to the bathroom. That's what happens when you are loaded with IV fluids and drinking lots of water.

Dad had his labs drawn this morning, and they weren't great--which meant he would have to come back in the afternoon to get another round of IV fluids.

Dad made it to work, but it didn't last long. He made it until around lunch and then his back pain became too much to bear. He made it home to try and rest before his next round of fluids. The afternoon wasn't much better. They tried to 5 times to get an IV and were not successful. That put a hold on his IV fluids for today. He will have to go back tomorrow to try again.

When we talked this afternoon he was still in some pain. He was trying massage and heat, which helps some, but doesn't completely alleviate the pain.

Today is his only dose of dex for the week. Dr. Kazhdan is concerned that the dex is causing his back spasms. She cut his dose in half and rather than the 4 days he is only getting one dose. The studies have shown that this regimen is still effective, but not as effective as what he was getting before. The key is to manage his symptoms and find the happy medium between being effective and not causing any harm. The dex could be causing the harm right now with the higher dose he was getting.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. A successful IV day for Dad and better labs. Pray.