So, I am writing this post from a hospital room! Gwen has been here since 6am. She has issues, y’all. What started as similar symptoms to what she had this summer (esophagitis) has turned out to be something different!
Today’s adventure landed her in the ER with dad at 6. They hung out for 13 hours in the ER! Gwen was nauseous all morning (ask dad). They have her approximately 5 different meds for that before that was under control. And the one that finally worked knocked her out so good she doesn’t remember getting her blood drawn!
She feels like there is a small, yet soft marble in her throat.
Long story short, during the 14th hour, Dr. G. called the ER to speak to her and diagnosed her over the phone with thrush. This makes sense with her symptoms and with the recent medications the doctor had put her on (she was trying to overcome a really bad cold). The chest x-Ray and MRI they did today look good with the exception of some signs of sinusitis.
About 5 minutes after dad’s 13 hour shift with Gwen in an ER bay with a non-functioning TV, we got word that Gwen was getting a real room with a real bed! See?
Now she’s feeling more comfy and can eat soft foods (like the lousy sugar free jello she hates and some not-so-good soup) and can watch some TV. Sorry, dad. She’ll also get some meds to treat this thrush and hopefully be on the mend! Let’s hope she keeps down the food.
Hello friends! It has been nearly a month since our last post! A lot of our Northern readers have gotten a chance to see Gwen recently, but perhaps some of our Southern friends are feeling out of the loop!
A while back, I was thinking, “Hey, it’s summertime…Gwen and I will be at the lake together…I will be so much more well informed and capable of updating the public…and I will be able to have so many more pictures! Lots and lots of them!” Yeah, so that hasn’t really happened. We are here together at the lake. I can inform you of that. Any pictures shown are from other people.
Gwen has been training for the November 5K. If you haven’t seen it on her Facebook page, you can get more info here: Lunge Forward 5K
She is up to about 1.3 miles! She is also training for our Lake George NanoMan, but I have yet to see her train for the swim…this doesn’t count:
The Orilios were able to travel to our hometown (Cazenovia) to attend our cousin’s high school graduation. They grow up so fast.
Sister Kristen, cousin Rachel, cousin Tara, Gwen (look at all that hair!)
Justin, Gwen, and Callie went down to Utica this past weekend so Justin could run in the Boilermaker road race. A whole slew of folks wore Orilio sweat bands on their wrists in support of Gwen.
And Justin and his brother were featured because they are so amazing on the Boilermaker Facebook page and also seen in a commercial for the race.
And then came Monday. Maybe it was because it was a Monday or maybe it was because it was the 13th… But Gwen awoke early in the morning not feeling well. She finally got out of bed around 3:40 a.m. (I know this was the time because this was when Lachlen also decided he was done sleeping for the night – perhaps as a sign of solidarity).
Gwen was having a lot of pain traveling from the top of her stomach to her throat and some nausea. Several hours later, she was in more pain and was starting to get sick, so Justin took her to the nearest medical center as soon as it opened. They gave her a shot for the nausea and some meds for heartburn and sent her on her way. Gwen had a call in to Dr. G. in Raleigh and was feeling worse instead of better.
Dr. G. sent her to the ER as a precaution. She wanted scans and blood work done. The result was esophagitis. The ER doctor would not speculate the cause.
Not to worry, friends. I have researched and discussed with the family and we are here to do the speculatin’ for all y’all with the caveat that we are not doctors!
There are many types of esophagitis. We think the type Gwen has is:
DRUG INDUCED ESOPHAGITIS
This can happen if certain medications remain in contact with the lining of the esophagus for an extended period of time thus causing an inflammation of the esophagus. So either the medicine got stuck, or some came back up into the esophagus from her stomach. So, about 16 hours and some morphine later, she was on her way to feeling better!
We just hope Callie looks this happy when she finds out Momma and Dadda are going to be gone for the next several days on a much needed trip!
gwenfightscancer 