Friday we went to the doctor, because Liz had some persistent hardness in her abdomen which sometimes was painful. Dr Grossmann feels it is due to trouble with her bowels. She hasn't eaten enough hard foods to really need to poop. Also, morphine and oxycodone, both narcotics, tend to make the intestines stop doing their job of moving food through. We used a shot of methylnaltrexate which helped move gas and relieve pressure. (We will probably do that again.) We also added Senna-S to her list of pills to take, which stimulates the bowels.
As a result, Liz has been trying more foods, with mixed results. Friday night she had peanuts, popcorn, and some muffin! She has more of an appetite but some foods still don't stay down. Today she had some mini wheats cereal and milk, very slowly, a few strawberries, some smoothie that she said was too sweet - then the liquid came back very fast when she moved to try to get ready for church. We stayed home.
Liz also now has more redness and visible rash, especially on her face and neck, and forearms. She puts lotion or cream on it often. Her joints in various places hurt more, currently both shoulders, left wrist, fingers on right hand, and ankles. Both rash and joint pain are side effects of the study drugs.
We return to Los Angeles this week on Wednesday the 3rd and come back the ninth. Liz has appointments on the 4th and 8th. After that, she won't need big blood draws. We have an appointment to get her Hickman line taken out on March 19th.
We thank you all for your support and prayers and faith on behalf of Liz. She has been looking at dresses and hair ideas in a bridal magazine - Brad bought it for her. You gotta love a man who thinks like that.
