A nutritionist named Kristen came in to explain TPN (Total Parental Nutrition) to Mom. Someone new always seems to come in just when she has fallen asleep (Mom unfortunately volunteered to allow nursing students to work with her - so they are always coming in to try procedures with their instructor). TPN administers the necessary calories, proteins, and vitamins to Mom so that she is adequately nourished. The next step in her nutrition will be to remove the NG tube to see how her bowels can handle nutrition. After they will try soft (low in fiber) foods.
Then nurses took Mom for another walk - she did an entire lap around the Connor Center. Mom likes to walk here - there are "no dogs in the hospital." They also removed the catheter from Mom, which will force her to use the restroom - Mom is a little anxious about having to get up from bed.
Dr. Berkowitz came in to talk Mom. He said it is important for her to be well nourished to restore her strength and fight the cancer. They should have the pathology report tomorrow and hopefully start chemotherapy on Monday despite her current pain. The reason is that in order for her health to improve they need to reduce the tumor - the sooner the better. There is generally 21 days between each round of chemo and it takes a few weeks for one's body to respond to chemo anyway. Her goals for today are to walk to keep up strength, prevent fever, and let her chest clear. They did start the anti coagulation medicine.
A few minutes later a nurse came in to remove her peripheral IV, which means one less tube in her body.
Stephen
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