Since Tuesday, due to a reaction to a drug he recieved on December 2nd, both of Jeremy's hands have been swollen and the pain has been so great that he hasn't been able to take care of himself. On the 0-10 pain scale, when his hands are just resting in his lap, he's at a 2-3. When he tries to move them, he's at a 6-8. Jeremy and his caretaker called the cancer floor at the hospital because the pain and swelling were out of control. The doctors were afraid Jeremy might have a blood clot in his arms, so they told him to go to the ER. They went in at 10:30 that night, and didn't leave until 4:30 the next morning. While he was there, they gave him four doses of Dilaudid, which is a powerful painkiller that has worked well in the past, but it didn't touch the pain this time. The doctors also did an ultrasound on his arms to rule out the blood clot possibility - which thankfully, came back clot-free! Before he left, they put his arms in slings to immobilize them for a bit.
The next morning, just hours after leaving the ER, Jeremy had his usual appointment at the Infusion Treatment Area. They administered steroids which alleviated some of the pain and swelling -- which meant he could hold his phone and call Liz! Since then the pain has been under control enough so that he can feed himself and hold a drink, but it will be another week before it completely goes away.
