Back to Barnes

Yesterday early morning Dad woke up with a headache. He took some Tylenol and put an ice pack on his head and started feeling better and went back to sleep. When he woke up in the morning, he had a headache again and was vomiting. Mom got a hold of one of the oncologists who wanted him to go to the ER and get checked out. At the ER, they did a CT scan which showed more swelling on the brain compared to his last CT scan although I'm not sure which CT scan they compared it to because he hasn't had one in a long time. They decided to transport him by ambulance to Barnes downtown, mainly because all of his doctors are down here and they have a little bit better technology. Dad said the ambulance ride was TERRIBLE, 45 minutes of bouncing around with a full bladder was not his idea of a good time.

They've increased his steroids for now and he seems to be responding well to that. He's feeling much better, has not had any more headaches and his stomach has settled down. We're still in the hospital, just kind of waiting for the doctors to decide what they want to do. Dad hates hospitals and waiting so he's just ready to go home but he has a private room this time around and has been watching war movies all morning.





5:32 pm-- They finally made the decision to discharge Dad. He will stay on the increased dose of steroids until all of his doctors are able to get together and decide what the best course of action will be. They do not want him on steroids for too long, there are only three types of steroids that cross the blood-brain barrier and once he becomes immune to those steroids, there won't be any that would be beneficial. He's still feeling fine and is just ready to be back at home!