Cornell's Mountain

Yesterday Cornell was moved to a new room. He left the ICU to room #3111. He has spent the last two days waiting. the month of June has been a blur, and yet it feels like waiting is all we've got done. He has to have the blood thinner out of his system,  meanwhile his platelets have dropped and his glucose levels have been out of control. All of that has to be regulated before surgery. Tomorrow he has an appointment to do "staging" for his targeted radiation. So that may or may not include actual radiation treatment. It's quite possible they'll send him home because insurance won't pay for him to wait at the hospital. Then we'll bring him back when the blood thinner has left his body. 

  A mask was made yesterday. It is formed to the exact shape of Cornell's face. It will immobilize him during the targeted radiation surgery. Any movement during the treatment has less desirable outcomes.   The targeted radiation will have minimal side effects. He is in room 3314. Visiting hours are 9 am-9 pm. Only 2 people are allowed to come visit at a time, but you can tag team from a waiting area that is just outside of the neuro-intensive care unit. Small children are not allowed in. The nurse said it was to avoid traumatizing them. There are many patients in critical condition. Cornell has his phone. You can check with him before hand, rather than get there and be disappointed that he is out for labs or treatment. His condition is not as alarming currently. After his surgery to remove the bigger tumor on his spinal cord, that could change. 

Cornell is going to the ER at the Huntsman Center (University of Utah), and he will be admitted to the hospital. They will prepare him for radiation treatment maybe tomorrow, while waiting for a blood thinner to be out of his system. Then they will do surgery to remove the tumor near his brain stem/spinal cord. So, in about 5 days.  His immunotherapy, in Pocatello, will be postponed until he has finished the radiation/surgery in Utah.

     Around the second week of April, we started noticing that Cornell's balance was off. He mis-guessed and sat on the floor instead of a chair. By the third week of April, he really had a hard time walking straight unless he could run his hand along a wall or hang on to another person. We heard lots of personal accounts of a struggle with vertigo and how it eventually resolved. In May, Cornell went to Physicians immediate Care where they checked his vitals took blood and gave him helpful hints and exercises to help with vertigo. Meanwhile, I got a cane for him. Cornell was able to use it to go about doing his work, still someone accused him of being drunk.       By the end of May, Cornell was having an increasingly difficult time walking and doing his work. The world was swimming. Going up and down the stairs took concentration and time.       In June, I bought a walker and Cornell was glad to have it. We went back to Physicia...

     We received a call from the Huntsman Cancer Institute this morning to schedule an MRI and a consultation for Monday morning 6:30 a.m. Then return Thursday so a mask can be made for Cornell for further treatment. We are waiting for insurance to approve that. We should know what the treatment schedule will be after that.  Our Huntsman visit last Monday wasn't as helpful as we hoped. They were prepared to do tests that have already been done. It was a lack of communication. But, Wednesday we met with doctors in Pocatello. Cornell's cancer is melanoma. He had a growth on his back removed followed by treatment, about 5 years ago, but apparently it wasn't gone but moved to a new location (s) and has been busy.      In Pocatello next Tuesday and Wednesday, Cornell will have a port inserted in his chest below his collar bone, then receive immunotherapy through the port. Possible fatigue, diarrhea and itching are some of the possible si...