Janet News

Sat, 10/20/2012
Things are going well in many areas. We need to get her small intestines working being the main worry at the moment, but we are seeing progress there too. They were very silent with no output at all just before we came to Reno.

Now we see increasing amounts of gurgling and noises and some ostomy output. That is a huge increase over none. Also, she can now drink small amounts clear fluids and in a little while, they are gone. In the Bad Old Days, the stomach secreted juices, but nothing could go into the small intestines. It just built up in the stomach until it caused heartburn and had to be drained.

Now, usually, she can drink a little water and when we drain an hour or two later, just to see how much is in there, it is empty. Both the water and any secretions are gone. So, parts of the small intestine are OK, but somewhere in the middle, something is still blocked.

But, we are using special massage on the area. And a machine that rocks her legs from side to side, while she lays on her back. It causes a gentile rocking of her bowel that the bowel seems to like and gurgle. The original purpose is to help her lymphatic system to clear out waste products.

Also, they are doing reflexology at the Clinic and doing electrical stimulation of some acupuncture points, and other things.

The biggest news is that we started her on TPN, Total parenteral nutrition, late Friday the 19th. We do this at home, so we had to be trained. There is a preprogrammed pump in a small backpack with a bag of protein, carbs, fats and vitamins that are slowly pumped in to her IV. Slowly at first. One liter over 24 hrs, but in several days it will evolve to 2 liters or more over 10 hrs. When in full gear, this will supply her nutrition needs and help her body to build back the tissue lost to malnutrition and help her immune system to work much better. Boosting the immune system is a major tool used at the Clinic to help her.

This getting TPN was a bureaucratic nightmare that I will spare you. The paperwork is not completely done yet, but she is getting the TPN and that is the main thing. A nurse was just here to watch Dave change the IV to make sure that we remembered our training from yesterday. He got A’s. Of course.

We still like Reno Integrative Medical Center a LOT. They do various tests including a look at a tiny drop of her blood where you can see the live cells moving around and all of that looks very good. T cells, white cells, and many more things. So, our main project at the moment is to help her small intestine to get happy again. Then she will be able to eat again.

We have also decided to spend the Winter here in Reno. We need to be here for the treatment obviously and after the daily treatments, there are the monthly 3 day visits. Plus, while we are at 4,500 ft elevation, the weather is still very warm and sunny so far and historically, Reno is a very sunny place. We struggled with the clouds last Winter.

So, for now, we will move from our motel to an Extended Stay America, nearby in a nice part of town.

That’s the news for now.

Dave & Curly

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