Change of Plans

We had a call on our cell phone last night saying they could not get the medicine needed for his shot this morning so we did not need to come in. Curt was really complaining about his mouth and said there was some blood. I thought I noticed some blood on the corner of his mouth. I got a flash light and looked way in the back on the left side. I saw a hole in his mouth, some dried blood near his wisdom tooth, and a white spot. I sent an e-mail to Dr. Gross and he answered right back that he was in surgery all day today, but he would see if their Nurse Practioner could see him. They called this morning and said he could come in at 2. After Curt ate his Cream of Rice and went upstairs, he acted like his was going to collapse. I was a little nervous about that and called our friends, the Huffords. They came over within an hour and stayed until we left for OHSU. Angie met us at there. We saw the lady NP who seemed very competent. She asked some questions and looked in his mouth. She was quite concerned and had us look too. There were actually 3 holes. She thought it could be "osteoradio-necrosis" (deteriorating bone from radiation) and a tumor there. You could see some white in one of the holes, which she said was the tumor. She talked to Dr. Gross and they said Curt needed to be hospitalized right away to get fluids and nourishment. Hopefully he would get enough fluids so they can do an MRI on that tumor by his mouth. She didn't think the misery of more chemo would be worth it, but that is Curt's decision. So right now Curt is in the hospital here with lots of people coming and going doing tests, etc. The nurse was able to access his Port right away to start the fluids and take blood samples. Another nurse tried to put the feeding tube through his nose and Curt gagged and gasped for air. She quit and a Resident Doctor came later with a "snake camera" and some numbing substance to help the other nurse. It went down much easier. An x-ray person just came in to make sure the tube was going to the right place. Now they will start nourishment and maybe some other things. They gave him some pain medicine through his Port. A couple Resident Doctors came in earlier to tell us the plan. They will keep the fluids and feeding tube going through his nose until Friday. Then a surgeon will implant a feeding tube in his stomach. They need to watch where they "harvested" his stomach muscle for his operation in 2007. He will need to wait at least a day to see if that is working okay. Then he can return to Corvallis and I will learn how to use the feeding tube. We hope that will be Saturday. There was a discrepancy with his weight. At the ENT office they said he weighed about 139 lbs., but in the hospital they said he weighed about 143 lbs. (which is probably closer). The NP canceled our appointment with Dr. Chui tomorrow morning. Angie went home after 7 and I will go back soon to Angie's and return tomorrow morning. Hopefully Curt will start to feel better.