Part 150 “The hits keep coming”, or, back to the house of blues


Friday morning I awake with the what-has-become-usual nausea. I take a trip to the medical center to see Dr. Bl-. She has just come back from Fort Lauderdale, but takes time in her office to place a drain in my neck to attempt to alleviate my discomfort. She feels this mucous from my throat could be draining into my system and causing the nausea. She looks me over and decides that I need another stay in the hospital due to my illness and due to my apparent state of dehydration. I am instantly dejected, knowing that if I am admitted today I am in for at least the whole weekend (since everyone crucial to my case will be off until Monday).

That day, however, I get some good news. The CAT scan that was done shows no internal leaking in the esophageal area. My swallowing also looks good.

Waking alone on Saturday morning I still have no relief from the nausea, despite a change in meds. The mucous and dry heaves are becoming old, unwelcomed visitors who won’t go home. Dr. Ki- asserts that there may be leakage from my throat site that is contributing to my nausea, and a stent placed in the throat may be necessary in order to catch the drainage.

I have observed that, ironically, as soon as the nausea intensified, my feeding tube quit leaking. I look for a connection, but cannot discover one.

By weekend’s close I am improved a little, but some retching continues. More irony: just when I get cleared to eat and drink, I’m told not to do so at the hospital until this problem is resolved.

Late in the evening I move in the bed and accidentally pull out the j-tube. I push the button until a nurse comes in to assist me, but she refuses to put it back in (liability issues). Instead, we must summon a physician and wait for his orders. I tell my nurse in an irritated tone that if my wife can reposition a tube then certainly a nurse can, but she refuses. Because of the limited flexibility in my left hand that remains from the TIA over a year ago, I am unable to fix the problem myself. Finally the doctor arrives, and with little effort my tube is back in.

Monday morning means the first day back to school for my children. But I am here in the hospital, unable to see them off. Dr. Ki- and the resident Jim appear abruptly in the afternoon intent on placing the stent in my neck to divert the mucous from causing me to be nauseous. I amazingly undergo the fastest and easiest procedure to date. I am the only one in the prep room (causing me to wonder if I have drifted into an alternative universe). A few words from nurses and techs and off I go.

Dr. Bl- would later tell Becah that my entire throat looked great, along with the esophagus, and she thought the tiny hole in my throat would have healed by itself. Dr. Ki- had made the call already for a stent, though, and she would not override that.

Back in my room I am comfortable except for the wires in my nose that drop back into my throat to keep the stent in position. I must often suppress the urge to gag. At midnight I awake, cough and throw up a few times (a mixture of mucous and other strange substances). I celebrate one perk: I am on a clear liquid diet and get my Sprite, which I have been recently craving.

In the early morning hours I watch CNN televising how the Lybian dictator Khadafy is watching his country slip out of his fingers. And I thought I had problems...