Honesty is the best policy.

     This week I have been at home trying to work and take care of Audrey, while Mike has stayed in Chapel Hill with his Dad who is down visiting from Virginia. For the most part, it was an uneventful week filled with phone calls and in Mike's case, a lot of waiting around for doctors! On Thursday, we finally decided to go ahead with another procedure for Mike. If you remember, he had a catheter put in through his abdomen wall straight into his bladder. We did this so that he could have the regular urethra catheter removed and he would be a little bit more comfortable. Also, the tumor in his bladder was preventing the regular catheter from being able to drain properly so there was definitely a need for an "emergency relief valve." Well unfortunately, this valve hasn't been working as well as the doctors would have hoped. It seemed like every few hours they were having to flush saline through to try and unclog blood clots that were forming due to the bleeding. If it were ever to get completely clogged, there is risk of irreversible damage to his kidneys. Keeping that and a few other things in mind, we decided to let the doctors put a tube in each kidney to drain the urine directly, bypassing the bladder completely. The hope is that since the bladder will be dry with no urine passing through, a few things will happen to help him improve a little. Right now, he is struggling to urinate because he is passing blood clots and it is very painful. Since the urine won't be passing through the bladder anymore he won't have to struggle to use the bathroom anymore. Also, urine will thin the blood and make it harder for the bleeding to completely clot off, scab over and eventually stop. We're hoping that now that there is no more urine in the bladder, the bleeding will at the very least slow down. Right now, it has gotten to where Mike is receiving blood transfusions every other day. This has caused him to be on a high level of oxygen with a face mask all the time, since his body is struggling to keep all of the new blood they are transfusing oxygenated. If everything with the lines from his kidneys is working well and there are no complications over the weekend they may let him start chemotherapy on Sunday or Monday.
   As many of you are probably noticing, this cancer has been one step ahead of us at every turn. Unfortunately, it has done a lot of damage and we just can't seem to get on top of it and slow down the growth and stop the bleeding. When I first announced Mike's diagnosis and prognosis in my heavy hearts post, I mentioned that the doctors said that with any luck we could possibly spend another 1-7 years with Mike. Unfortunately, since that time, we have only experienced set back after set back. Although I think we knew it in our hearts, the doctors finally verbalized our fears and have edited that initial prognosis to just a few months. We are all doing our best to keep our chins up, but the past months are definitely taking their toll. Our main focus right now is to enjoy the rest of the weekend and get ready for chemo. At that point we are hoping that they will transition Mike home, but not without a lot of in home care to monitor his blood and oxygen levels. Many of you that know us well know that our sweet baby Audrey is turning one year old on May 25th. We would love to be able to celebrate with her at home, but if that is not possible we will have a family bash right here in the hospital and it will be just as special because we'll all be together. I have tried to stay positive in all of my posts, but I also try to keep my updates as honest as possible. Honesty is always the best policy.