A Difficult Journey

by karenulijohn

Harvey was admitted to the hospital today, Sunday, May 27th at 12:30 AM.   

After a week in Pittsburgh, PA visiting my ailing brother and his family, Dawn and Dirk drove me back to Lincoln Saturday morning.  Harvey was so happy to see us, and we had a lovely visit, recounting tales of our visit back east.  His caretaker through the week, Diane, was still there when we arrived and said that she had had a very difficult time getting him to wake up in the morning.  That sleepiness persisted throughout most of the day, and he seemed to be confused and was not able to understand simple commands.  I kept telling him to eat his soup, and he would just smile and close his eyes.  As the day wore on, I noticed that he had begun shaking and I asked him if he was cold.  He replied that he was, so I wrapped him up in an afghan.  It didn’t seem to help, and I noticed that sometimes he seemed almost rigid.  He felt a little warm to the touch.  I finally called 911 when I couldn’t get him to respond to me at all.  

After myriad tests, blood draws, EKG, and chest XRay, and a core body temperature of 105 degrees F, they began treating him with strong antibiotics and fluids.  In addition, he had gone into Atrial Fibrillation again and the drugs that they gave him to bring down his heart rate also served to lower his blood pressure to dangerously low levels.  Dr. Kovacik, the ER doctor, was very kind and persistent in trying different drugs to try to achieve, what appears to be the unachievable.  After several hours, he came in and asked if anyone had talked to us about hospice.  He could see from the look on our faces that the answer was “No,” although we had discussed palliative care.  The chest Xray revealed that Harvey’s cancer has spread to his lungs now, and further, the blood draws showed that he is septic.  

Dr. Kovacik was sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but he said that Harvey’s condition was grave. He went so far as to tell us that there was a possibility that he could take a turn for the worse and pass during the night.  My decision to stay overnight at the hospital had already been made at that point, but who knew that I would be spending the night sitting in a hard chair in the ER.  No beds are available until after 7:00 AM.  I just can’t leave him!