Friday Afternoon

Bill went to his doctor's appointment today and we found out some pertinent information. He only has the upper portion of his lungs usable because fluid encompasses the rest, thus the labored breathing and squeaking. They took x-rays and gave him copies to avoid any hang-ups when he gets his lungs drained. He also is set to get schedule his scans for next week, since we head to the City of Hope on June 1st.

I came home from work today and found out:

*Bill was still in major pain, and he didn't ask the doctor for pain medicine (since his is gone and the insurance won't refill it, yet). I called the office, but figured that because narcotics can't be called in, I'd have to go to Irvine to pick it up... so I just jumped in the car and headed there.

*On the way to the doctor's office I made some calls and tried to figure a way for Bill to have his lungs drained before Tuesday. (The radiology department is closed for the holiday weekend.) The only way is to go to the ER.

*Luckily, his doctor prescribed the exact patch for pain meds that his oncologist at the City of Hope was going to recommend. The hard part was getting it filled, because the pharmacist had a question and needed the doctor to return her call. After two Target trips, I got my hands on the pain patch drugs!

*The doctor today also prescribed oxygen for our house to help Bill with his breathing. It seems that oxygen is not easy to come by, and the need for it must be drastic. I hadn't even had a chance to pursue setting it up when the company called to tell us they would be here at 9:00 tonight to deliver the home tank and two small travel tanks. We ended up getting the delivery around 7:00, though.

*The home health care nurse called and said Bill's blood levels were too high. He now needs to take the strong one every 12 hours instead of every 8. MUCH easier to track!

I think and hope that is the extent of my excitement for this weekend.