IT WAS A TOUGH NIGHT

When we went in to see Nancy last night her smile was gone, and we knew immediately that something was wrong.  She was struggling with terrible back pain and no position she was in seemed to alleviate the pain in her back.  The nurse finally gave her a pretty strong dose of morphine and told us it would take about 15 minutes to kick in.  By the time we were ready to leave last night she was still in a great deal of pain and I asked the nurse if there was any possibility for one of us to remain with her through the night.  She said that would be fine with her and that she would tell me if she needed me to leave at any point along the way.  I drove Ann back to the apartment so I could freshen up since I had not left the hospital for a couple of days and when we got there I called the nurse to find out how Nancy was doing.  She told me she was asleep and seemed to be resting okay.  Ann convinced me that it would be better for me to get a good nights sleep there before returning this morning so that I wouldn't become sick myself and against my better judgement I stayed.

This morning when we saw her we knew instantly that she was still not okay.  In terrible pain she described on a scale of 1 to 10 as being way beyond a 10.  Knowing Nancy's high tolerance for pain we knew this was not good.  The nurse told us she could not give her any more morphine until 12 o'clock, but by 11:30 Nancy was wanting the nurse to call her doctor she was in so much agony and she couldn't follow her treatments while she was in so much pain, or when she was so drugged.  At that point the only way to help her with the immediate pain problem was to give her a strong dose of morphine early and this is what was done.  When I left her just now the morphine was beginning to take effect and she was doing well enough for me to leave her with Ann so I could come here to post and get some breakfast.  We will be able to remain with her until at least 2 o'clock and if they'll let one of us stay longer we will.  

Oh my, it is so hard to see her suffering, but she is still breathing on her own and she says there is no chest pain.  She is down to 2 liters of oxygen which they tell us is excellent, so at least we know there is nothing wrong with the new lungs.  I am certain she is exhausted from getting so little sleep and I know she is frustrated that she isn't able to do the treatments she needs due to so much pain and the drugging effects the pain meds have on her.  

Please continue the prayers for her and don't be overly concerned if I do not post as often as I wish I were able to.  I cannot take the computer into the ICU and I will want to be in with her as much as they will allow.  Hopefully solutions will be found soon to take care of the problem so that she can get some much needed relief and continue her treatments.  We all know what a fighter Nancy is!  I am just so grateful that Ann and I can be with her as much as we are able to be as her knowing we are there makes a huge difference for her.  If this situation continues  I will remain here again overnight tonight...this time I will follow my instincts and do what I need to do for my own sanity's sake.  I know this is just one of those "valleys" Nancy always talks about, "it's in the Valleys I grow".  Personally I'm not so certain I can accept that, but if it works for Nancy that's all I care about.  

Hang in there everybody, we all knew there were going to be days like this and we'll get her through them one minute at a time if necessary!  We'll see that smile again and when we do, we'll all know we're back on track!

Love to all,

Nancy's Dad

Vance