What a weekend!

Hugh and Diane

Sorry that it has been some time since I last updated. It has been quite a week. Friday the 25th started as any usual day recently. Hugh had an appointment at Huntsman at the pain clinic. The oncologists felt that his pain needed to be managed differently. We finished up there and then rushed to radiation for his appointment. He was not feeling well and his oxygen saturation's were very low so he was started on some oxygen. After radiation, one of our friends brought Hugh home for me so I could try and get in a few hours at work. That afternoon Hugh insisted on me driving us to Jerry's soccer game. Brighton v.s. Lone Peak. There is nothing that Hugh enjoys more than watching our kids play soccer, other than reffing! We sat in the car and watched the game. Hugh was worn out so we had to leave at half-time. Some of our good friends brought dinner over to our house that evening. We were all visiting in our bedroom when Hugh suddenly lapsed into a grand mal seizure. I think that this was the scariest thing that I have ever witnessed from a nursing perspective and it made it that much worse to have it be my husband. I was so grateful for friends being there to help and support. After the seizure, Hugh was calm for about 10 minutes and then he suddenly opened his eyes and became very agitated. Jerry had returned home from his soccer game during all of this happening. Conner and Libby, fortunately were not home. I was talking with a doctor on the phone regarding the situation and we decided that we needed to call 911 to help control the symptoms. The paramedics arrived and Hugh was taken to the University Hospital ER and then later transferred to Huntsman Cancer Hospital. For a moment during the seizure I thought that we were going to lose Hugh. At the time I thought that it was related to the metastasis in his brain. Well, after many tests it was determined that Hugh had a blood sugar of almost 900. Normal is around 120. This is what is called hyperglycemia. The physician at Huntsman explained that when your blood sugar is that high your vessels are basically flowing with glucose. Your body recognizes this as foreign and will start pulling fluids, thus depleting your body of fluids. Your body wants to get rid of all of the glucose and so you start to urinate frequently, thus pulling all of your potassium with it. Due to the imbalance in electrolytes and fluid depletion, one of the things that can happen is having a seizure. Hugh's glucose was elevated due to a medication that he was taking for the radiation and brain metastasis. Hugh was pretty unresponsive and restless for the first couple of days while his body was trying to lower its blood sugars and keep his electrolytes in sync. Today, is a much better day! Hugh was able to eat a bit and actually get out of bed. He is very weak but is able to converse and make much more sense! We have enjoyed poking fun at him though. You always need to laugh! Sorry for all of the details! I find that this is actually very therapeutic for me. This blog allows me to vent a bit. For some, this may be a bit too much information....just read fast! Hugh's glucose is now getting close to the range that the doctors want him in. He has been on an insulin drip to lower it slowly. Today he was receiving the insulin in an injection form. His potassium is finally starting to return to normal as well. As for his poor lung function, this was related to all of the above as well, what they call respiratory alkalosis. This too is improving. As you can imagine, this has taken quite a toll on Hugh and our family. The doctors anticipate that Hugh will be able to come home on Wednesday this week if all goes well. We will have to keep you posted. I want to express the appreciation that we have for all of our friends and family. It is times like this that you have to rely on everyone around you. We know that Hugh's time on this earth is very limited. No one has a crystal ball. Hugh and I feel that we have done everything medically possible and at this point, it is not in our hands any more. I know that the kids and I will be okay because of our family and friends and faith. We feel your prayers and know that you are thinking of us. We will be forever thankful. As a mom, I want to take all the pain away from our kids. I wish that they did not have to go through all of this. We realize that we have all grown from these experiences and have learned and will continue to learn valuable life lessons. A friend shared a thought with me that has now become my motto: "You never know how strong you are until strong is your only option." We can do this. We will keep you posted on what the next few days bring for us. For now, we enjoy every moment that we have. Hugh always says, "we are makin memories!" So, we will continue to make memories with the time that we have together on this earth. Knowing that it is just a spec in time. Thanks to all of you. We could not get through this trial without you.