Barium or Bust

The doctors came in this morning and said that they are no further along in solving the infection riddle than yesterday. The cultures have come back negative thus far, leaving them scratching their collective head as to what could cause the high fevers. So, next option…another CT scan. Just as Craig is allergic to real cats, the blessed ‘cat scan’ invokes a similar reaction (albeit with different physiological symptoms) for it involves ingesting his beloved friend, Mr. Barium shake. He has had to take Barium 5 times before, and each of those 5 times has invoked intractable vomiting. Always something to look forward to! You can imagine Craig’s enthusiasm when they said, and oh by the way here is a liter of salty barium you have to throw back in two hours—even though the volume alone makes you vomit, let alone the fantastic taste. The nurse called the doc to advocate busting out of Bariumville, but no dice. Over two hours, Jill and I performed operation Barium push every 3-4 minutes. We’d stir him from his drug induced sleepy state—a state that almost prevented him from drinking altogether!---and have him sip a little bit at a time. We’d rotate shifts to keep up vigilance. After two hours, he was able to keep down 700cc’s---a huge improvement from the vomiting episodes before. (The last time he had to push the barium, he vomited after only 100cc’s). Hi-5 to the twinies and a big hi-5 to Craig for keeping it down! Let’s hope the CT scan points us in SOME direction for resolving this mystery infection.  -- E