Sunday, July 8, 2012

Stuck...

Hi everyone:

Kathleen is still cooling her heels here at the hospital. In spite of what seems to be a never-ending flow of blood and platelets--and with more to come--Kathleen's blood counts continue to either (a) refuse to budge, or (b) budge in ways we don't want them to. This morning, her platelets are at 5 (still a real worry), and her hemoglobin is at 7.8 (up only 0.3 from yesterday).

The urine cultures taken the other day came back negative for any infection; although the blood results aren't back, we're pretty confident they too will come back clear. This isn't as good news as, "Where'd the cancer go?", but it's something, right?

When Patty and I arrived this morning, I chided Kathleen for not cooperating in making her numbers rebound, especially since I've established "rules" with her about bad blood counts in the past. I think she's planning to do better today, when she's scheduled to receive two more units of irradiated red blood cells and one unit of platelets. Kathleen is uneasy about the blood, because she's now had three unpleasant febrile reactions to transfusions, the latest while Don was visiting last night.

Kathleen seems to be in great spirits today, all things considered. She seems energetic and cheerful. She's expecting a ton of visitors today--siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews and friends. We'll try to grab a few more photos. Kathleen's very hopeful that she might escape after her infusions today, although Patty and I are doubtful (and a little nervous, given that her numbers are so low). We'll all keep our fingers crossed that Kathleen responds to these latest rounds and earns her parole--if not today, then no later than tomorrow.

More info when we have it...

Love,
Brian

1 comment:

  1. Thinking of you all so much! Stay strong and positive! This "life is not fair" thing that has been stuck in the back of my mind is really getting annoying and I don't like it. So, get home soon Kathleen!

    Love, Denise

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