Day +47-Whites Lower + Food + UPDATE

BE SURE TO CHECK IN ON FRIDAY FOR A SPECIAL EDITION

 
Food has not been on Deb's radar. The hospital food is no longer a novelty and Deb will hardly even look at it.She has lost about 25 pounds and my goal is to get her to chow down on food...any clean wholesome food. That involves bribery, cajoling, begging, sneakiness: in other words, 100 percent of effort to get a bite into her.

On our hospital room shelf I am running 'Vern's grocery'. I have a stash of possible foods I can bribe her to eat from time to time including her favorite Cokes and Ginger Ales., and fruit.

Yesterday while Deb and Emma were visiting, Deb began emoting about foods she desired. First on her list was some good guacamole and flour tortillas. So, I called the high-end Mexican restaurant that normally makes it at tableside and placed a to-go order. Deb said she ate all she wanted of it.

Then she expressed a desire for some tuna fish salad. That's an unusual request for Deb, but if she will eat it, I will make it! So, off to the condo to do a few loads of laundry, then up to the grocery for my ingredients. I made the tuna salad, got some fresh fruit, some pita bread and crackers, some iced tea and brought the picnic back to Deb. She enjoyed it so much! I put the leftovers in the frig and at sunrise Deb asked if she could have some for breakfast. So, I fetched the leftovers and she enjoyed the ice-cold tuna salad and fruit for breakfast. 

Anything to get some nutrition in her!


Everyone Has a Story:
As I go about life I observe people and try to comprehend their stories. One older lady has my attention right now and I'm watching her trying to understand what's happening in her life. In the multi-story parking garage she stays in her beat-up parked car. I park near her everyday. She has been living in her car almost all the last week-ten days. She is a chain smoker and drinks Cokes all day and night which she places on her dashboard. Her dash is covered end to end in coke cans. She occasionally goes into the hospital for a few minutes, then back to the car. Wonder what her story is?

+++++++++++++++++++++++

The doc made rounds and we discussed the fact that it was time for whites to recover and they only keep going down. With the holiday this week, the normal Thursday doctor conference  has been moved to Weds. He said he and Dr van Rhee will probably discuss what is next for Deb including a possible 5th stem cell transplant. 

Deb is still having some symptoms which are causing him to order another CT Scan, some stool and urine and sputum samples, and of course, more blood tests.

Deb is very weak and has a fall cushion beside her bed with a portapot there beside the bed. Her speech is hindered by a drawn mouth so that she is sometimes hard to understand. Of course, her hearing requires her hearing aids to be in and even then she has communications issues.

Blessings!
 

Check back later

Platelets -(Normal range 150-500) a whitish colored component of blood. Low platelets=higher Woozy factor!
CRP -(Normal range = 0.0-10) An indicator of relative health. Lower is better. When the number creeps up, Deb could be getting sick.

Day  White Count  Platelets  CRP

0         0.04               29              12.8
1         0.07               15              77.0
2         0.03               42            140.3
3         0.07               27            144.1
4         0.23               52            206.0
5         1.21               33            168.2
6         2.32               26            214.0
7         2.29               11            209.3
8         2.84               25            230.2
9         2.32               12            234.1
10       2.66               24            220.1
11       2.50               15            196.0
12       2.54               28            186.0
13       1.98               18            181.0
14       1.22               28            199.9
15       0.95               20            138.6
Stem Cells on Day 15
16       0.83               32            129.4

17       0.86               22            121.4

18       0.70               12            110.3 

19       0.55                9             159.2

20       0.75              14             162.9
Admitted to hospital Day 20

21       0.36              26             127.9

22       0.53              13              86.2

23       0.34              28              59.6 

24       0.29              14              95.8 

25       0.38              28            114.5

26       0.40              17            129.1

27       0.37              29              87.0 

28       0.41              24              72.6 

29       0.35              12              73.3 

30       0.59              30              95.4

31       0.37              17              84.5

32       0.19              35              80.5

33       0.25              25              94.3 

34       0.05              24            117.0
Stem Cells on Day 34 

35       0.17              20            109.5 

36       0.16              10            102.9 

37       0.18              28            111.5

38       0.11              10            140.5 

39       0.10              21            117.0

40      0.13               11             111.2 

41      0.19               25             100.4 

42      0.10               14               97.1

43      0.13               24             108.5 
44      0.12               18             119.4 

45      0.07               31             103.6 

46      0.06               19               81.7 

47      0.04               23               85.8