Oh this is such a rollercoaster.
He's now in ICU on what I lovingly call Michael Jackson Juice (aka propofol). So he's completely out. He's temporarily on a ventilator because they needed to do another CT scan to get more info and he was too agitated and his heart rate too fast and erratic to get through that procedure without stressing him more.
They were concerned about a pulmonary embolism or possible clot in his leg because of some other symptom he had that I'm not remembering right now. But that came back clear. No cancer in the lungs, no lung disease, just the pleural thickening and scar tissue that he's had for 50 years or so.
More good news is that there are no lesions in his brain. There is a mass in one ureter and the related kidney looks to have a tumor as well. They still believe that this all stems from a recurrence of the bladder cancer. And the liver has lots of "mets" (metastases).
We authorized a central line so he doesn't have to be a pin cushion anymore.
They are going to try to place a stent in the ureter tomorrow since he is already out and fairly stable now (heartrate back around 100 to mid-90's, though rhythym is occasionally off). If they can do it without stressing him they'll also biopsy the mass in the ureter and try to get up to the kidney as well. They're still not sure what to say to us about the liver yet. Probably will know more after the biopsy gets back.
More good news is that his lipase dropped a lot and is now around 1000. Still very high, but better than it was. His liver enzymes are whacked, but that's understandable given how compromised it is. Calcium is still high, but improving. All his other numbers are either normal or only slightly out of range.
My mom and I concluded tonight that my brother's wife is a difficult child. She freaked out on us tonight when my mom suggested a DNR. Started actually LECTURING us! It was all I could do to keep from slapping her. She has only a superficial knowledge of our family history and has spent very little time with my parents or me for that matter, yet she behaves as if she knows it all. Oh, and she's 15 years my junior. I'm just thinkin', sistah, you are way outta line here and you have absolutely no clue how stupid you are right now.
My mom and I have a very realistic grasp of my dad's situation and difficult child-bro and his difficult child-wife of 14 months are just grasping at straws and getting their hopes up I'm afraid in the face of a seriously grave situation that will more than likely not end well. And soon. Of course, mom and I bore the brunt of difficult child-dad's mental problems over the years, so we might be a little biased about what would be best for everyone. But their Pollyana outlook is just making this that much harder to deal with. The last thing you need is someone on their freakin' soapbox telling you how to deal with the tyrant you've been married to for 48 years!
Ugh.
