Kenny has experienced some relatively good days over the past several months. He stayed on a low-dosage morphine for pain management that also allowed him to retain the ability to be awake and active. I reported in a previous post that he was walking three miles per day (6 x ½ mile). He still tries to get his walks in, but they are getting shorter. During the last three weeks, he has been facing some new challenges. His pain level has increased significantly and we’ve increased his morphine dosage by more than 100%. Even with the doubling of the medicine, his pain rates higher on his pain scale than before. He is learning to live with a higher tolerance.
Another issue is that he has been experiencing problems with urination. After several tries of other fixes, we finally had to resort to catheterization yesterday. The problem is that the colon tumor is pressing on the bladder reducing its capacity and is probably pressing on the prostate which is constricting the urethra. The catheter solves the elimination problem, but it was something that we wanted to delay as long as possible. The process was very painful for him, but he seems to be doing better with it today. With the help of a sleep aid, he got a good night’s sleep…the best he’s received in several weeks. He woke up pretty excited about that. The nurse (who is fabulous) fixed him up with a regular bag to hook to the bed at night and then a mobile bag that is smaller and can be used for his walks. That is a great idea, as he doesn’t want to be bed-ridden.
This is a quick synopsis of how things are going for Kenny now. I will try to continue posting updates as things change.
Thanks for checking the updates. Our family appreciates your prayers.
