Hospital Check Dan Brown

Dan is recovering well. Today he was up walking around his pod. He is doing three walks per day around his pod (he is on the 7th floor pod D). He has had great nurses and is getting better every day. There is still a significant amount of stomach pain. They cut a good 4 plus inches on his right side where the illiostomy bag was. He has some staples but the wound looks really good. Today he went for an MRI to look at a possible reason for numbness in his limbs. For the last month or so he has had numbness on his left side fingers and toes. We are thinking it is because he has had to sleep on that side not to disrupt the bag on the other. The good news is the MRI did not show anything significant. So, now we are going to consult with his oncologist to see if it could still be the after effects of the chemo. In the mean time the hospitalist has increased his vitamin intake. He thinks there could be a possibility with his weight loss over the past year and the bag he might not be getting the right nutrition from his diet, plus why not add some vitamins! Nutrition deficiency can cause nerve damage - wow learned something new today. He is still on ice chips and apple juice waiting for his system to start up again. They say it takes time and adding food will not speed up the process. So, we wait with our one apple juice slushie every 8 hours. We are waiting on gas! Yep Gas as soon as he starts passing gas and getting all that air they pumped into him during the surgery out he can start on a full tray of clear liquids. Right now his cheif complaint is that from his two surgeries his belly button is now a little off center. He keeps telling the nurses he won't be able to wear his speedo. Ha ha ha ha dad!