Back to the U hospital, to that damn room with the view. . .

Bob was moved back to the U hospital late this afternoon. Has had this ongoing nausea/bloating thing going on, since post-surgery, but has gotten worse, not better, over time. So bad that he hasn't been eating much at all these past few days, absolutely no appetite. God knows he's given it the ol' college try, but nothing, not even food brought in from home or take-out has sounded good.

I got to the rehab unit late this morning, and found Bob sitting in his wheelchair, plastic tub in his lap, looking utterly miserable. Said he's been nauseous since he got up, has thrown up once already, has been dry heaving since, bringing up nothing but foul looking/smelling bile. I asked Bob's nurse if she could get a doctor in to see Bob right away. This has gone on too long, he's not eating, feels like shit, it's interfering with his therapy. . . and maybe, just maybe it was too early to send him to acute rehab, with all the layers upon layers of shit going on with him . . .

Doc comes in (same hospitalist who saw Bob post-surgery), exams him, listens to us, orders an abdominal x-ray and then says, yes, she thinks he should go back to the U, where he can be followed more closely, figure out what's going on for sure. Could be a bowel obstruction, could be an infection, could be both or something else entirely. On top of this, his incision keeps draining copious amounts of fluid, just won't stop, dressing has to be changed several times a day (they keep telling me this is "normal." Today, I finally say, this is not normal. Someone needs to address that, too. And the swelling in his right leg/foot.

So he's back at the U, back in a room with a view of the river. Now the trees are really turning. In a week or so, they should be full color. I had to run home, let the dogs out, feed them, clean up the lake of pee in the kitchen that Gaia's been leaving daily . . . need to get her to the vet, soon . . .then back to the U. Bob's in his room, back up on 6B, doc is in with him, getting the lowdown. I ask if he's seen the x-ray results. He looks for the results on the computer, says nothing showed up on the x-ray that seemed out of order. I asked if an x-ray is the best diagnostic tool to show anything amiss. He said a CT scan would be better, but it would require contrast, taken orally and/or by enema, and they don't want Bob taking anything by mouth right now. "The path of least resistance" is what he wants to do. Let the stomach rest from any kind of food, digesting, go from there. Yeah, but this has been going on way too long. It's not like it's a sudden development, I say . . . since surgery, he's complaining of this . . .

11:30 p.m. At home, I got a call from Bob's nurse. They're taking him down for a CT scan of his abdomen tonight. . . she calls back maybe half hour later, says that the CT scan confirmed there's an obstruction of some kind. Not many more details than that right now. More tests tomorrow.