Friday

So far this morning he is feeling much better. I got here around 8:30 and he was up and on the computer. He said he slept like a baby last night, so they either didn't come in as much throughout the night, or they did and he slept through it. His pain is much better, and he just scarfed down 2 popsicles and some jello. We are watching Oprah now, and when it's over he wants to go take a shower. He is really hoping for the ice cream, and I'm sure they'll let him move up to the full liquids since he is doing so much better today. Hopefully the doctor will come in sometime this morning/early afternoon and give us an update. I'm not sure how they are going to monitor if his inflammation is going down - they are taking his blood daily, so I'm sure they are using that to monitor it, but I don't know if they'll do another set of x-rays in a couple of days to be able to see everything.

Thursday recap

They have started Rubin on the steroids and so far today he has been able to eat jello, chicken broth, and a popsicle. He has actually had 2 "helpings" of each so that's good. He seems to have an appetite again and is able to eat those without feeling nauseous. Hopefully tomorrow they will progress him to a full liquid diet (he is still currently on clear liquids) and he can add pudding, yogurt, ice cream, and various other things to the mix. He is very ready for that to happen and can't wait for ice cream! I know they are treating him as Crohn's and everyone is pretty certain that's what it is, but I still would like to have the official test results so we know for sure what is going on. It hopefully won't be too much longer before we know.
I'm home tonight with Brayden and will be taking him to daycare in the morning and heading back to the hospital. I feel bad leaving him there alone with no one to talk to and nothing to do, but we need to make sure Brayden has some sort of a normal routine for at least a couple of days. I brought Brayden to see him at the hospital and he did better tonight than he did on Tuesday. He keeps saying "Daddy's too sick" and doesn't seem to really like hanging out in the hospital room, but he stayed for about an hour tonight and did okay. I'll take him back over a few times this weekend. Rubin really misses him.

The "Good" Doctor

Shortly after the GI doctor left, the hospital doctor (the one we really like!) came in to check on him. She had just talked to the GI doc in the hallway to get the update. They have both decided after looking at the barium that it is best to go ahead and start the steroid so the inflammation and pain doesn't get worse. She said that typical steroid treatment includes 5 days in the hospital, and then they send you home with a pill steroid and you slowly wean yourself off. Again, the 5 days is the "typical" time period, so we could be looking at more or less time. She said that he should be able to notice a difference in the way he feels in a day or so, so that's good. It sounds like an actual diagnosis is still days away, but since he is in a monitored setting, they feel comfortable with starting the steroids anyway. The nurse said she will check, but they will probably give him the first dosage at either 12 or 2, and he will get it every 6-8 hours after that.

Doc 2

The GI doc just came back in and said that the barium tests shows severe inflammation in the small intestine, which is exactly what he saw in the colonoscopy. He said there is also another spot in the lower part of the SI that is pretty inflamed. The upper portion looks okay. They are going to start him on the steroid, which should help the inflammation. He just said that they will keep him for a few more days, but when we asked about the 5 days he said that it depends on how well he responds to the steroid treatment. If he responds well to it and it starts to work, he may be able to go home sooner than that. I guess the 5 days is a worst-case scenario and they just wanted to prepare us for that. He said the pain is being caused by the fact that his intestine is so inflamed and swollen, and anytime anything gets near the affected portion, it causes irritation and pain. They still have not confirmed that it is Crohn's because the biopsy and blood test results are not back yet.

Doc

The GI specialist just stopped in to check on him. He still hasn't read the barium test results, so he didn't have any updates. He was just checking in on his pain since they called him about the additional pain medication last night. We asked him about the steroids, and he just said "it depends". I don't think he wants to give us anything definite until he has the test results back. He is going to read the test results and will come back later today.

What day is it again?

I think it's Thursday, right? So far this morning we're just hanging out. Rubin asked the nurse this morning what time they thought the doctor would be here so he will know if he has to be here another 5 days, and they said that it's already been determined that he will be. I guess his charts have already been updated to prepare for that, but without the "official" diagnosis I don't think the doctor wanted to tell us that it's a for sure thing. The GI specialist should be in sometime today late morning/early afternoon and we should get a definite answer from him.
Right now he is comfortable and looks and sounds pretty good. The pain medication they had been giving him was a kind that works immediately, but then wears off after about an hour, but he can only have it every 3 hours. Last night the nurse called the doctor and they are now also giving him Vicodin in between the shots of the other pain meds to keep him comfortable. He has just ordered Jello for breakfast but hasn't tried eating it yet because he's too busy sending emails and working. He is very anxious about missing another 5 days of work, but his boss is awesome and I think she is helping put his mind at ease. I will update again after we see the doctor or if anything else exciting happens.

And I just realized that by posting this, it now takes up more than an entire page of my blog. If you are just now "tuning in", go to the bottom and click "Older Posts" to start from the beginning and work your way up.

Goodnight!

I'm going to sleep. Rubin is watching the Bulls game and I'm sure he will pass out before too much longer. We will see the doctor sometime tomorrow morning. I'll be back to blogging tomorrow...check back for the latest info. Again, thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Goodnight!