An Overdue Update

Sorry to be so sluggish getting back to the blog. I did get to leave the hospital yesterday, but they decided at the last minute to give me 2 extra doses of IV meds. Then it took the transport guy a while to get to us and drive me down the 9 floors and wait for Mom to pick me up. I was pretty nauseous on the ride home due to all the high power antibiotics they had just given me. But I got home in one piece just in time for a nice nap.

For dinner I was still pretty queasy, but I had some of my pal Billie's squash soup, bread with butter, and a terrific cake that a friend and former co-worker Michelle sent from a Texas bakery (Cakes by Janie). It was a super rich pound cake with a butter cream pecan topping. All of it was good and hopefully nutritious too. The rest of the evening I spent my time going through mail, paying bills, opening packages that friends and family had sent. I got a so many new treats, it seemed like Christmas.

Last night I had one episode about 1am with fever and chills. But it responded to Ibuprofen so that is why I need to keep the Motrin going round the clock. It took me a while to get comfortable again after the fever, but I drifted off eventually and did fine until 6am.

I am currently sitting in the clinic, my Duke blue recliner, getting my 2 abx through the catheter. I already had my labs drawn and saw both my doctor and my PA. They gave me my numbers.

Plts's 408,0000; white cells 4300 (neutrophils 2365!!!) ; Hgb 8.2 (Talk about Remission with a Capital R)

So the big issue now is to identify the bug in my lung. If the abx and anti-fungal don't cause the pneumonia to recede, then I will have to have surgery to cut out a piece of lung to identify the culprit under a microscope. So first I will have a repeat chest CT on monday at 8am to evaluate the size of the pneumonia. After that a decision will be made about the need to schedule a procedure with a heart/thoracic surgeon. One of my med school classmates is a cardiothoracic surgeon with Duke. Would it not be ironic if he did the procedure if needed?

The other procedure in the near future is another bone marrow biopsy next Tuesday in the afternoon. Have to have ativan for that day. Oh and they want to do at least 1 round of consolidation chemo with high dose Ara-C soonish.

Things are looking up. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions of what to do to get rid of the blahs. Did I mention I am bald again? This photo is of me and my nurse from 9200, the inpatient unit.