Unwrap Tomorrow

There was a lot of bleeding from the remaining tumor tissue in his mouth yesterday. We tried a couple of conventional drugs, which worked very temporarily. It was exhausting and frustrating for Killian. Diane from Integrative Therapies happened by just as bleeding in the mouth started anew. We had already discussed and had sanctioned by the oncologists in charge using Yunnan Paiyao to stop bleeding. This herb, a form of "false ginsing" was used in several Asian wars and is known to be quite effective for even hardcore gunshot wounds. It worked almost right away. When the Head/Neck on-call doc came by, we told him what had happened and what we used and he kind of freaked out. Killian stopped him dead in his tracks, saying, "you HAVE to open your mind to other kinds of medicine, man!" We explained this had been sanctioned by the oncology department. Turns out, he had never heard of the Integrated Therapies program. He left, interested enough to write down the name of the herb and relieved that it didn't come from some rogue alternative medicine person off the street. I told him he should be very proud that his institution has such a program.

The Yunnan Paiyao is still working, and there has been no bleeding today. Killian saw some visitors this afternoon and then ran out of steam. Timing is everything these days. Speaking of which, THANK GOODNESS for Candle Cafe's timing. They stocked Killian (and us) up with amazing and nutritious food to sustain and stregthen our diminished forces. Killian keeps getting trays of hospital food, although we've told them not to bother as it will be wasted. We look at what they send, out of some macabre curiousity. Twice now, they've sent this mysterious mound of green stuff that we speculated might have already been digested. Curiousity got the better of me, and I actually put some of this green stuff in my mouth. It was pureed peas, with dessert-level sugar added and some extra overcooked peas added for texture(?) or visual interest (?) or I don't know what. Whoever is in charge of nutrition here is perpetrating the food equivelant of the Peter Principle -- rising to the top through outstanding incompetency.

We're all a bit nervous about the Head/Neck doctors taking the wrap off tomorrow. But, that's the next step, so we will get through the night and BREATH...