His skills are limited, but appreciated.  However, suggestions he makes should be used for novelty purposes only.

Dogs are experts at living in “the now” which is a handy skill to have these days.   It was a rough 36hrs for Kathleen.  Last night we were trying to walk off the nausea and the vomiting just suddenly came on her half a block away from home.  Not much fun.  She actually gave quite the fright to a neighbour passing by. As she had eaten a few strawberries just prior … well, things were quite ‘red’ colored on the way back out. ick.   The extreme nausea continued into today and she was really in pretty rough shape when she went in for her radiation treatment this morning with Elaine who looked after her all day while I was at work.  Kath was looking bad enough that the nurse called the doctor and before long the doctor decided to put a hold on things for a week.  More blood tests, and an x-ray to check for a blockage.   Luckily, no blockage, but some dehydration and elevated pancreatic enzymes… again…. Pancreatitis again 😦  Why? Not sure, but she needs a break from the chemo and radiation and things will be re-evaluated next Thursday.  Oncologist #1 wanted to re-admit her to the hospital, but not much point in terms of care management.  Having gone through a few bouts of it now, Kath knows what to do and we have most of the tools at home to deal with it as long as it stays mild… And she promised she would go to emerg if the vomiting got out of control.  But honestly, even then, its just doing the same things we do at home.  BP is 108/68 (low for her), pulse a bit high at 92 (normally mid 80s). Temp 98.2F (good). Pain level 2, Nausea 3, Fatigue 8, blood sugars 7.8….  So stable now and off to bed.  Tomorrow we get to learn how to use an IV hydration kit.  Another tool in the tool box.

—Mike