Pneumonia!

The lab results we got in preparation for vitamin C treatments had one alarming finding: Ken's sodium and chloride were dangerously low. It had fallen even lower by the time we got to ER, where I took him after administering a tablespoon of sea salt. I had thought his confusion was due to the effects of medications; we had spent some wild nights with him getting up by himself--he even fell once; Isaac found him and carried him back to bed. When he was confused, Ken had no pain and amazing strength and stamina. It took 2 nights in the hospital to bring his sodium level up. While we were there Ken developed pneumonia, probably from inhaling something he should have been swallowing; the strong opiate drugs can have that side effect. He qualifies for hospice services so I signed up for that so he could come home with the IV and get more services. Hospice does not mean we are giving up, although the hospice philosophy is to aid comfortable dying. We are hoping they have to kick us off because his cancer goes into remission. The first thing Ken did was take off his fentanyl patch, because it was too strong. He is now on liquid morphine and is taking much less. He actually has less pain! The nausea is gone, too, and he is mentally with it again. Oxygen, breathing treatments, and an antibiotic are addressing the pneumonia. The antibiotic caused his mouth to become very sore from a yeast infection. We've started the IV vitamin C treatment and he says he feels better. Here's a story about vitamin C treating pneumonia: http://www.laleva.org/eng/2010/10/vitamin_c_saves_man_dying_of_viral_pneumonia.html The IV vitamin C must be derived from tapioca or beet, not corn. Here's more info about this cancer treatment: http://csn.cancer.org/node/211225