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116<br />
Another "The Short of It"<br />
Sunday, February 12, 2012<br />
Because I still am not up to writing "The Long Of It"<br />
I have been home since last Wednesday when the Topotican was started, as a<br />
continuous drip. I am able to swallow <strong>with</strong> the stent, albeit not <strong>with</strong>out pain. The pain has<br />
been controlled <strong>with</strong> Vicodin needing less and less, but still needing it at bedtime. I am<br />
sleeping better, but not well. At night and at other times as needed, Marinol was<br />
prescribed. It is basically synthetic marijuana, supposedly <strong>with</strong>out the psychotropic<br />
effects but <strong>with</strong> the anti nausea properties. So far, it does make me drowsy and does<br />
reduce nausea.<br />
Although I am able to eat, I have no desire to do so. I have to force myself to eat food,<br />
and I am still on the TPN. I have not had a bowel movement in about a week, but I do<br />
pass gas. Sometimes I burp up feculent gas.<br />
Listening to the Grammies tonight, I notice that my hearing is again deteriorating. I am<br />
also noting more neuropathy in my feet.<br />
I continue to have shortness of breath and coughing while trying to speak.<br />
With that parade of complaints, I am still optimistic that this drug, the Topo will kill enough<br />
tumor to allow me a remission, where I can have some snippets of normal life.<br />
I hope to have the energy to post again, likely Wednesday after I see Dr. Flam.<br />
Goodbye Whitney.<br />
We will always love you. YouTubeVideo<br />
Posted by David Shuster at 11:20PM (-08:00)<br />
Dictated But Not Read<br />
Monday, February 20, 2012<br />
<strong>My</strong> dad asked me to update his blog. He has been in the ICU for about the past 24 hours,<br />
and is about to spend his second night there. His voice, wit and personality have come<br />
through beautifully in his blog posts. I cannot emulate those qualities, but I hope to at<br />
least accurately convey the ideas he shared <strong>with</strong> me. If I get some of the ideas wrong, I<br />
hope he will soon correct them in a post of his own.<br />
He first asked me to express his deep appreciation for the support he has received from<br />
all of you.<br />
He then asked me to share his current status.<br />
Since his last post, his energy had declined. He was given a week of chemo as planned,<br />
but then his cell counts became too low to continue. The new plan was to take a week off<br />
and then restart. During this time, he was in significant pain (seemingly from the stent, but<br />
there was some generalized pain). There were plans for him to have the stent removed<br />
on Tuesday and replaced (if necessary) by a smaller stent. The plans were worked out<br />
late in the week, but given the long weekend the surgery was scheduled for Tuesday. He<br />
was given a 72 hour Fentanyl patch for the pain. <strong>My</strong> mom changed the patch on<br />
Saturday, and a few hours into the second patch, he began to experience shallow,<br />
somewhat labored breathing and a drop in alertness. He also had a slight fever in the just<br />
under 100 degree range.<br />
<strong>My</strong> daughter Eva was sleeping over <strong>with</strong> my mom and dad on Saturday night. As he has<br />
<strong>My</strong> <strong>Battle</strong> <strong>with</strong> <strong>Merkel</strong> <strong>Cell</strong> <strong>Cancer</strong>
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