Another Math Problem

If an adult human has to set an alarm to wake up EVERY TWO HOURS to take his blood sugar, then eat and/or give himself an injection, how many days will it take until exhaustion causes him to sleep through the alarm and his mate comes home to find him in a hypoglycemic coma?

This is not a rhetorical question. I'm hoping someone can come up with an answer because this seems to be the plan, and his current healthcare providers seem to think that the answer is an infinite amount of days. I, however, calculate it to be within 48 hours of discharge. Granted I'm basing my calculations on my own experience with sleep deprivation. There is a reason it is used as a form of torture.

Yesterday I got a voice mail from a woman who identified herself as Rich's Case Manager at the hospital and they wanted to discharge him the following morning. The problem being that no pharmacy has the medication that must be injected eight times a day so I'll need to be there before the hospital pharmacy closes to get his home going meds, and I'll need to bring a credit card. (apparently they don't trust I will have sufficient funds in my checking account) Hence I was able to deduce that they have worked this math problem to the infinite. Not longer afterwards I get a call from Rich telling me that they are going to discharge him the next day. REALLY?!?!?!? Really....

Here's a math ANSWER for you...43 That is the number of ounces of Scotch it would take to destroy more brain cells than Rich's current discharge plan.

Even the Creator knew to design a newborn human with a stomach that can be filled to a four hour capacity. Why? Because that's the MINIMUM amount of sleep that the newborn and it's caregivers require for survival. It's also why new parents get a few weeks leave from work. Am I missing something here?

When you're dealing with this level of insanity, it's good to have a diversion, so I scurried off to the grocery store. Then I waited in a line for 15 minutes to put $57 worth of gas in my van. Then I defrosted and marinated 5 lbs of chicken thighs so I could grill them the next day so he would have high protein, antibiotic free, hormone free snacks every two hours. I packed up some clothes for him (because EMS took him to the hospital in his jammies) and loaded up the van. Finally I went to bed with my iPod pouring relaxing music into my ears in hopes of staving off nightmare creating panic.


This morning I get a call. His blood sugar dropped to 53 at 2 am following a huge snack just four hours earlier. He's not going anywhere. Later this morning his fasting sugar before lunch was 384.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not faulting anyone here. I understand and appreciate how hard they're working on this. I just worry that they're focused on the science and forgetting the reality of being human. A plan that involves waking every two hours may in fact control the blood sugar, but what quality of life does that offer? Think about it people! Rich is a human being, not just a collection of lab results.

All that anxiety and prep for nothing. I need to stop taking these people seriously.

My heart aches every time I talk to him. He sounds like... like.... oh yeah, like someone who's been awakened every two hours for THREE WEEKS. It's hard to say what he wants more, home or sleep. As I am conflicted between wanting him home and wanting him safe.

My pom-pons are getting pretty ragged, and I'm even nauseated by my efforts to cheer him on. A few days ago he stopped being angry. He no longer cares. He doesn't want me to come to see him after work. He knows I'm tired and stressed and it's an hour and fifteen minutes from work to his bedside and then another forty minutes from his bedside to my bed. When I am there, I crawl into bed beside him and he goes to sleep. Mostly he's too tired to even talk.

My only source of information is Rich and I'm thinking that anyone capable of reading this can figure out that I'd be better off reading tea leaves. I am floating on blind faith at this point.
I keep telling myself that he's not giving up, he's just exhausted.

He didn't see any of his doctors today. But the hospital pharmacist came to see him. I have worked in a hospital, and over many years I have known and heard of people who were patients in a hospital and I have NEVER heard of any patient being visited by the hospital's pharmacist.

When I asked, all Rich could tell me was that he wanted to tell him about all the research they're doing and the things they're trying to tweak. They're going to add prednisone to the octreotide and I'm trying not to wonder if steroids effect cancer cells the same way they effect muscle cells. Then the pharmacist told him, "we've just never seen anything like this before."

AHA!! You wanted to see for yourself! You wanted to meet him. I guess the doctor was right when she told me that "everyone here knows about Rich." I'm starting to think Rich is the Forrest Gump of pancreatic cancer.

My frustration and venting aside, I love these people for working so hard for him and I feel their pain. I pray for all of them constantly. Rich and I have talked about this, and we truly believe he could not be in better hands.

It's not what you know, it's how good you are at finding out.