Update on Dan - January 12
Hi to everyone out there who's been checking in on Dan's blog page. This is Mark Boys, Dan's buddy from his days in the Loveland School District.
Dan asked me to update the blog because he's back in the hospital, this time in Cincinnati at Bethesda North Hospital, and unable to post. There's a lot to update you on; here's the short version:
On the Wednesday before Christmas, Dan was working at Kinko's with his laptop computer. When he prepared to leave and lifted his bag into his car, he heard a weird POP in his neck. When he got home, he began experiencing intense headaches. After a few hours of pain, his family convinced him to head to the emergency room. Doctors and staff there discovered that spinal fluid was leaking through the glue that had been used to seal up the area where he had surgery at NIH. This fluid was just sort of hanging out underneath the scar on his neck. It caused him intense pain. Apparently it is akin to when a woman in childbirth gets a "spinal headache" due to a botched spinal tap. They attempted to remove it with a syringe, but after doing so more fluid leaked out.
So, Dan began his stay in the hospital, which has now extended to three weeks. At first, Dan was able to administer his own pain relief for the headache using a PCA, a little button he pushed (it looks like the buzzers contestants use on Jeopardy) to send drugs speeding to ease his aching head and neck. That was good until this week, when a Staph infection was discovered in the PCA line. So, now Dan is not only fighting this intense infection, but he is back to waiting on nurses to give him the proper doses of pain meds for his pain.
Unfortunately, Dan is also dealing with problems in his bowels (he may shoot me later for telling you this, but I'm willing to take that risk). Doctors in Cincinnati seem to think that one of his tumors has suddenly grown or shifted or something, and it is cutting off the use of his large intestine regions. That's bad news, because there's stuff building up in the small intestines. There's only one real possible option of dealing with that problem right now (a colostomy bag). Dan's father, Tom, is hesitant to head that route, so he's contacting doctors at NIH to get them in on the loop with all this.
So, that's what is going on. These last few weeks have been very trying for Dan's family, and Dan is wanting so badly just to be able to start the road back to recovery from surgery. It seems like every time he takes a step toward getting out of the hosptial, something else comes up. I know that Dan and his family would really appreciate your prayers for them, especially that the doctors can communicate effectively (between Cincy and NIH and just between all the doctors in Cincy....there seem to be eight or more specialists all working together), that the Staph infection will dissipate quickly, and that the situation with the intestines will be resolved with minimal invasion.
You can feel free to send emails to Dan (dans.tumors@gmail.com), but I'm not sure if I'll be able to read them to Dan. He's pretty much sleeping all the time right now. But at the very least I can print them off and take them to his parents. Dan is so amazing, because he's in such bad shape, but whenever someone comes to visit, he gives them his best energy, his full attention. Always asking how others are, thanking them for their visit. I mean, who is like this guy?
I'll be sure to post again when I know more.
Mark
Dan asked me to update the blog because he's back in the hospital, this time in Cincinnati at Bethesda North Hospital, and unable to post. There's a lot to update you on; here's the short version:
On the Wednesday before Christmas, Dan was working at Kinko's with his laptop computer. When he prepared to leave and lifted his bag into his car, he heard a weird POP in his neck. When he got home, he began experiencing intense headaches. After a few hours of pain, his family convinced him to head to the emergency room. Doctors and staff there discovered that spinal fluid was leaking through the glue that had been used to seal up the area where he had surgery at NIH. This fluid was just sort of hanging out underneath the scar on his neck. It caused him intense pain. Apparently it is akin to when a woman in childbirth gets a "spinal headache" due to a botched spinal tap. They attempted to remove it with a syringe, but after doing so more fluid leaked out.
So, Dan began his stay in the hospital, which has now extended to three weeks. At first, Dan was able to administer his own pain relief for the headache using a PCA, a little button he pushed (it looks like the buzzers contestants use on Jeopardy) to send drugs speeding to ease his aching head and neck. That was good until this week, when a Staph infection was discovered in the PCA line. So, now Dan is not only fighting this intense infection, but he is back to waiting on nurses to give him the proper doses of pain meds for his pain.
Unfortunately, Dan is also dealing with problems in his bowels (he may shoot me later for telling you this, but I'm willing to take that risk). Doctors in Cincinnati seem to think that one of his tumors has suddenly grown or shifted or something, and it is cutting off the use of his large intestine regions. That's bad news, because there's stuff building up in the small intestines. There's only one real possible option of dealing with that problem right now (a colostomy bag). Dan's father, Tom, is hesitant to head that route, so he's contacting doctors at NIH to get them in on the loop with all this.
So, that's what is going on. These last few weeks have been very trying for Dan's family, and Dan is wanting so badly just to be able to start the road back to recovery from surgery. It seems like every time he takes a step toward getting out of the hosptial, something else comes up. I know that Dan and his family would really appreciate your prayers for them, especially that the doctors can communicate effectively (between Cincy and NIH and just between all the doctors in Cincy....there seem to be eight or more specialists all working together), that the Staph infection will dissipate quickly, and that the situation with the intestines will be resolved with minimal invasion.
You can feel free to send emails to Dan (dans.tumors@gmail.com), but I'm not sure if I'll be able to read them to Dan. He's pretty much sleeping all the time right now. But at the very least I can print them off and take them to his parents. Dan is so amazing, because he's in such bad shape, but whenever someone comes to visit, he gives them his best energy, his full attention. Always asking how others are, thanking them for their visit. I mean, who is like this guy?
I'll be sure to post again when I know more.
Mark
posted by Dan at 8:29 AM
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