Yesterday into Today - February 9-10, 2011

Yesterday morning my retired friend/coworker, Ron, and his son took measurements for constructing the wheelchair ramp and came back in the afternoon to drop off the materials. They'll be back this morning to begin work. We really could have used it last night. Another retired friend/coworker, LuAnn, made a wheelchair seat cushion. Pete did get to use that yesterday.

Pete had a very busy day yesterday. Several of his friends stopped by for very short visits; Tim and Sara were first, then Nancy and Holly a bit later and my sister stopped by as well. Each stayed only a short time; long enough to break up the monotony of the day but not too long as to tire Pete. Pete spoke with Dr R about a few things, the social worker called to discuss hospice care and Bruce and I picked up the two oral chemos from Costco.

Late in the afternoon I asked Pete if he would like to try out his new wheelchair (with the new cushion) and come out to the table to eat dinner and he was anxious to do so. It was good in many ways, giving him a change of scenery for a while and allowing Bruce and I to change his bed sheets and straighten up a few things in his room. After we finished Pete wanted to just sit in his room in the weelchair for a while.

On Monday, Pete's half-brother, John had stopped in to visit him, and last evening Pete had only been back in his room a short while when his half-sister called and said she would come by after she got out of school. Not long after his father and step-mother came by.

They left sometime while I was on the Sarcoma Alliance online chat, so I know it was after 9 PM. He had been sitting in the wheelchair the entire time and when I helped him get into bed both legs were very cold and he asked if I could do something to warm them up. They felt like icicles so I began massaging them while Bruce brought gently warmed some heat wraps for me to rest agains his legs. Between those and the massage, his legs finally began to get warm.

I went back and forth between the chat and Pete's room, repositioning the warming pads and massaging his legs, until I logged off around 10:30 PM. Pete had been lying on his back watching TV, dozing off and on so when I went in after I finished at the computer he said he was ready for me to help him roll onto his side to be in his "sleep position".

I helped him with that and walked to the other side of his bed as he began to position his pillows. Suddenly he began to make a series of loud, gutteral sounds. His face and upper body were pressed into his pillows and his body was rigid. He was having a seizure. I ran back and rolled him onto his side. His hands were pulled up to his chest and his eyes were rolled back. Bruce dialed 911 immediately. This lasted maybe as long as a minute and he slowly began to relax as I spoke softly to him and massaged his back, shoulder and arm. About a minute more and he began to mumble and asked what had happened.

I reassured him and Bruce took over for me so I could call Pete's father. The whole family arrived just minutes before the first aid squad. He was transported to the local hospital emergency room where they drew blood and took him for a CT scan of the brain. They put a call into Dr R and after consulting with him administered IV Keppra; they released Pete around 3 AM.

Bruce and I were able to get him from the car into the wheelchair, then into the house and into bed. Once he was settled he fell asleep. For the second night in a row I moved my foam sleeping mat into his bedroom on the floor and fell asleep myself.

I was up and about around 5 and woke him at 7 because he had some medications scheduled to be taken. Ron and his son arrived as promised at 9 and started on the ramp. They had it done shortly after noon and were on their way.

I had faxed the prescription the ER doctor had written for oral Keppra to Costco and drove over there to pick it up around 10:30. I wasn't back home very long when there was a knock on the door. I thought it was Ron and was surprised to see a woman standing there when I opened the door. She introduced herself as Sally from Costco. As she handed me an envelope she told me that everyone was praying for Pete and that more would be coming over the next day or so from other Costcos.

The seizure may well be the result of a fairly recent increase in the dosage and slight change in the compounding of one of Pete's medications. Seizures are high on the list of  frequent side effects of this particular drug.