One week
It was only a week ago. It’s stunning, in the true sense of the word. One week ago we were happily ignorant of what was going to happen the next day. Wild.
Another nap
Longish day today, tho I’m not sure why. Boys were back in school, so I got a lift in with the lovely M of the Minestrone Soup who was going to a meeting in town anyway. Got to the hosp by 9:45! B had another rough night, lots of wakeups and fitful sleep. 40 deg (that’s around 104F) fever at one point, apparently. I don’t like this fever thing, neither do his docs. He’s getting constant paracetamol and we put wet cloths on his forehead to try to cool him down. Part of the problem is that he can’t get blood if he has a fever, because they have to make sure that he’s not reacting for some reason to the blood itself.
So he didn’t look that happy when I came in, he was tired and a bit cranky. I would be too, being woken up for blood tests, changing IVs, blood pressure, whatevers. I just have the boys who wake me up at night :-).
He had a lot of blood tests today, to try to figure out where the infection that is causing the fever is coming from. There are good and bad blood draws: good ones come from his central line, which means he just sits there and it happens and there’s no pain. Bad ones come from his arms, the poor pincushions they are turning into. It hurts him a lot to get the arm draws done, but he’s very good about it. Today, nurse N tried to get some and it just wasn’t coming out enough from his left arm, so she had to try again in his right arm, which hasn’t really been used for blood. Which is good, I guess, cause maybe it’s less sensitive. His hand is just covered in little pinpricks. Part of it is that he’s losing some weight being in there and not moving around, so there’s not as much fat to cushion the needle, in a way.
He was to go for a few scans (brain, chest xray) to find the infection, but that got put by the wayside because of fever. So he was in the room the whole day, and we didn’t manage to wash his hair. /sigh
I think today was a day of ups and downs, but nothing major. There was a lot of activity, but B didn’t really move. Very odd day, actually.
I can’t find the paper that I wrote down his numbers on, but I think they were:
WBC: 0.3 (up slightly)
RBC: 9.5 (? might have been 7.5, but they are def up from yesterday)
Platelets: 22 (I think. Dr M said that normal is around 20, but she wants him up to 50)
Platelets
So while I was there, he had chemo, antibiotics, a bit of fluids, platelets, more antibiotics, plus the normal pill complement (antinausea, kidney protection, paracetamol) and his mouthwash and eyedrops. One day I will write down everything that he gets completely.
Sorry this is so disjointed…I still need to make cupcakes for P for tomorrow (I’ve been putting it off for a week, this is the procrastinator kicking my butt right now), and my brain is all over the place. And for all of you who have sent cards or dropped them in the letterbox, I’ve brought them all in to him (he loves the ones from the Burke-Kennedys!) and he’s been able to focus on each one.
Today’s Shoutouts: M of the Minestrone Soup for the lift, Jerry and Anna for having P for dinner, Magda cause she’s just amazing, and Grace with the suicidal dog for cracking me up a few minutes ago.
ETA: Just found the paper with the numbers on it:
WBC: 0.3
RBC: 8.8
Platelets: 31
