2nd Day In Hospital: Abdominal Paracentesis #13 And Another Night In The Hospital 🙁(November 7, 2024)

Today was an intense one for Ali, and she handled it with the same strength and resilience she’s shown since day one of her fight with stage 4 stomach cancer. It’s hard to explain just how unpredictable each day is… shifting from moments of hope to intense challenges. Every day brings something different, and that rollercoaster can be exhausting, but Ali faces it head-on.

A few months back, things were actually looking pretty promising. The chemotherapy seemed to be doing its job. Ali had more energy, she was moving around with less effort, and the fluid buildup in her abdomen was slowing down. Even better, the tumor was shrinking, she was dealing with way less nausea, and she had an appetite again. Each of these changes felt like a small victory… together, they gave us hope and a sense of momentum that maybe we could keep things on this path.

But around the eighth and ninth chemotherapy treatment, things took a turn. Ali started feeling more pain, and it wasn’t responding to the usual dose of Oxycodone. The doctors had to switch her to Hydromorphone to get it under control. Then her abdomen started swelling up faster with fluid again, reversing the progress we’d been seeing. We had thought we could extend the time between her paracentesis procedures to every three weeks, but we had to revert back to every two weeks. And the volume increased too… she went from draining just 1.5 liters to 3.5 liters again. That’s around seven or eight pounds of fluid weighing her down, and the discomfort was back in full force.

Then there was her appetite, or lack thereof. Eating has been hard for Ali throughout this process, but with the earlier positive results, she’d actually started eating more. Unfortunately, the past month and a half brought a new issue. Any food she ate felt like it was getting stuck, just sitting in her esophagus and making her feel nauseous until she had to throw it up. This lack of nutrition became a serious concern… it’s hard to fight a disease like cancer if you can’t keep food down to fuel your body.

I reached out to her oncology team to update them on all these setbacks, and they acted quickly. They adjusted her pain medication, prescribed something to help with the fluid buildup, and tried a new medication to keep her digestion moving. The pain medication helped a little, but the fluid retention and digestion medication didn’t have much effect.

On Tuesday this week, Ali decided she’d had enough and asked me to call and request an immediate admission to the hospital. She didn’t want to endure weeks or months of trial and error. She wanted answers now and some relief from how close things were feeling to those painful pre-treatment days.

Ali was admitted on November 6th, and today, November 7th, was her second day in the hospital. Ali’s sister stayed overnight with her, so Ali had family nearby first thing in the morning, which I think really helps… especially after a long, sleepless night. Meanwhile, I was at home, handling the morning routine with Avalynn and Liam. Once everyone was ready for the day, I headed over to Vanderbilt to be with Ali.

The doctors stopped by early to say they were waiting for CT scan results from last night to get a clearer picture and decide on next steps. The morning was pretty quiet… mostly nurses coming by to give Ali her medications and check her vitals.

Around 11:00 AM, two doctors came in to let us know she’d need an ultrasound-guided abdominal paracentesis to drain the fluid again. Her abdomen was noticeably swollen, and based on experience, we expected at least 3 liters. They ended up removing 3.5 liters, which was rough, especially since she’d had the same procedure just six days prior. Since the incision from that last procedure hadn’t fully healed, they had to go in on the opposite side. Ali hates needles, and this procedure involves a particularly large one, so I held her hand the whole time.

Afterward, Ali was in a lot of pain. The numbing agent wore off quickly, and the discomfort set in. The doctors adjusted her pain medication, giving her a higher dose with shorter intervals between, which helped a little but also left her extremely drowsy.

Later, her doctor came in with the CT scan results, and unfortunately, the news wasn’t the best. The scan revealed a significant blockage in her intestines. The cancer has inflamed and narrowed the intestinal passage, while fluid buildup is adding extra pressure, making it nearly impossible for food to pass through disrupting her GI tract’s normal function.

The doctor explained they want to avoid surgery if possible, so they’re trying medication and a few non-invasive procedures to clear the blockage. This process could take four or five days, but they’ll discharge her sooner if they clear the blockage without any issues. We’re staying hopeful.

For tonight, Ali’s sister is staying with her again, as she doesn’t have work until the afternoon tomorrow. I’ll be back at the hospital first thing in the morning after dropping Liam off at school, and I’ll spend the day with Ali, working remotely from her room.

That’s where things are right now. Ali is still fighting hard, and we’re all here, supporting her through every twist and turn in this journey.