Hospital Update... Day 2

Day 2 of our hospital stay got off to a very rough start.  Alli got sick at about 3am and was super nauseous.  The NG tube that they put in... which was about the worst thing of yesterday... was on the larger side and kept triggering her gag reflect through the night so she never got any really good sleep either.  Not the kind of night we had wanted after talking to the resident yesterday.  After she got sick they also turned the tube off for the rest of the night to regroup in the am. 


I started writing about all the gory details of the day but to be honest it was kind of a blur of doctors and nurses coming in, us explaining what is going on, etc.  The cliff notes version is after the blood work, CT scan, reviews by the resident, the attending (who is a melanoma oncologist), the dietician, and a GI resident the best thinking is that Alli has a case of immuno-related pancreatitis that was most likely caused by the immunotherapy inflaming her pancreas. 


They are attacking this on multiple fronts to try and get Alli back to feeling well.  She is back on steroids to help dampen the effects of the immunotherapy is having on her pancreas.  They also continue to provide her the nausea meds that have worked the best to try and stave off the nausea and have added a patch that stays on 24/7 as well.  They did turn the feeding tube back on but with a different feed solution and have also had her on hydration none stop since this morning. Finally they also put her on a liquid, low-fat diet.  All this trying to make life as easy as possible on her pancreas to calm it down. 


Fingers crossed, knock on wood, any other superstition, she has been feeling better as the day went on.  The nausea isn't gone but has been fairly mild.  She has gotten more used to the NG tube... not sure she would have bet on that early this morning... and has been getting feed slowly since afternoon.  She has also been able to have some chicken broth and jello as well and keep that down.  We may be in here for a few more days but lets hope this keeps going in the direction we are going now.  She may get to exchange her NG tube for a smaller version that is kept in while she is at home to help make sure she is getting enough nutrients in her diet until she is eating a full diet again. 


More to come but as with last night please keep the good thoughts and prayers coming!


-B