... but Maybe a Little Hope

I just got off the phone with Mom and things aren't quite as dire as they were last night, thank heaven. Helpful friends and relatives have been researching Dad's medicine (metoprolol, specifically -- and it took me about five tries with Google to get the spelling right) and have found that it is highly soluble in water (and confirmed with the drug company itself that it's stable in solution), so they should be able to get it into his J-tube. Dr. Hiatt is looking into whether the stomach is needed for the digestion and absorption of it, or if putting it into his intestine in his J-tube would be all right.

Meanwhile, the gastroenterologist came by and decided to try putting Dad's other medications into his G-tube (the stomach line). They turned off the pump for an hour, put the medicine in, and then were supposed to put the pump back on an hour later. Remarkably, the medicine stayed down and Dad reported no upset stomach symptoms at all! And they forgot to turn the pump back on, so it was still off several hours later, with Dad still at a full ration of "food". Mom called the hospital when she got home to remind them to turn it on (she'd forgotten to point it out sooner), since we don't want to push our luck right now. But there is now an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny hope that Dad might be able to start getting his medications long term in some form other than IV, and that would mean he could go to rehab. And in rehab he could start eating real food again and maybe get even stronger.

I know we say it every time, but please keep praying!