As we suspected, Nelson is pressing the hospital staff for an exit-date from the hospital. Now that he’s been transferred from the ICU to a regular hospital room, there’s a new set of physical goals to reach. For example, he needs to be weaned off the high density oxygen without his numbers slipping below 95. And he needs to be able to walk around without his heart rate rising above 120. Nelson is doing everything in his power to meet these requirements, but most of it is out of his control. He did have several victories today, though.

1. The cancerous nodules in both lungs that were “too numerous to count“ have all significantly shrunken.
2. The swollen lymph nodes on both sides of his neck have also gotten smaller. They can’t be felt anymore from the outside.
3. His platelet count is up and all other blood numbers are stable.
4. He needs one less blood pressure medicine to keep his pressure up.
5. Two catheters have been removed, along with one IV line.
6. The lab lady was able to find a vein on her first try for this morning‘s blood draw.
7. Pain meds are no longer being given by IV but only by mouth.

But sadly, today wasn’t only about victories. We received one negative piece of news that both shocked and disappointed us: Despite being on blood thinners, Nelson now has a large blood clot under his clavicle bone area.

When his team gave him the details about this, he became overwhelmed with anxiety. After the doctors left, leaving his mind swirling, he called and told us he couldn’t handle “all this“ anymore, because there was no end in sight. They had asked him questions about making choices for moving forward, and he had been unable to organize his thoughts enough to answer. He seemed on the verge of panic, so we quickly mobilized and were in his room in just minutes.

He was still feeling anxious, telling us he felt like his hospital room had become a prison he could never get out of. But he was relieved to see us, especially his beloved Ann Sophie.

Just before we arrived, they had done a 90 minute ultrasound of his swollen arm, looking closely at the clot. They learned it was not just a small, marble-sized clot but one that reaches into four different veins: the internal jugular vein, the subclavian vein, the auxiliary vein, and the upper arm cephalic vein.

As a result, blood is flowing into Nelson‘s arm and legs but can’t get out. His limbs are so swollen now that he virtually can’t bend them.

The head nurse came in to answer more questions, bringing a print-out to help us understand. Once we saw the scope of the problem, we quizzed her at length about how to “fix it.“ She told us three teams of oncology experts would be arriving tomorrow morning: vascular, pulmonary, and radiation. All of them are familiar with Nelson‘s case, and together with him, they will structure a plan. We hope to be there listening in.

Before we left tonight, Ann Sophie questioned Nelson‘s nurse about his anti-anxiety meds, and they promised to be sure he had enough. Nelson never asks. He just carefully thanks every person who enters his room, telling them what a good job they’ve done and how he’s thankful for their care. This goes for everyone from medical people to food servers to cleaning crews. We’ve watched him bring light and goodness to each one.

Nelson is making a difference in the lives of many at the Clinic. As the old Sunday school song says, “Brighten the corner where you are.“

And despite today’s bad news, that’s what he’s doing.

“You are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)