July 11, 2003
All,
Good evening again. Today has been a relatively calm and uneventful day, especially compared to yesterday. After sending my update last night, I developed a significant fever. This prompted several reactions on the part of the medical staff. They started me on what they call a neutropenic protocol, which involves the use of powerful antibiotics intravenously. They simply gave me Tylenol to bring the fever down and it worked great. I was also experiencing some pain in my right shoulder and neck around the catheter. They gave me a different painkiller for that. When they gave me the IV antibiotics I developed something known as Red Man Syndrome. This is characterized by hives breaking out all over. My scalp was incredibly itchy. The charge nurse happened to come in just then and immediately ordered IV Benadryl. The problem went away almost instantly. However, I did notice a lot of hair coming out also when I was scratching my head. It looks like my hair loss is beginning :-). I still have plenty left at the moment, but I should soon be a good candidate to try out as the Pillsbury Dough Boy. I didn't have any transfusions today, so I was able to get quite a lot of work done pretty easily. I was also able to walk a lot better today and got in almost an hour. I am betting that I will have a RBC transfusion tomorrow.
On the medical front, the doctor is still very pleased with my progress. He said I must have a lot of vitamin K in me which is counteracting the Coumadin. I have to stop eating dark green vegetables. The antibiotics for the neutropenic protocol are Rocephin and Vancomycin which are administered once a day about 15 minutes after Benadryl. I had a fever again this afternoon, again treated with Tylenol effectively. My temperature at the moment is elevated but not considered fever at the moment. My lab results remain pretty much the same. Recovery has not yet begun.
Lab Results |
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Blood Cell Type |
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|
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| WBC | 4.5 | .5 | .5 | .4 |
| RBC | 4.30 | 2.21 | 2.65 | 2.47 |
| HGB | 13.9 | 7.6 | 8.9 | 8.2 |
| PLT | 130 | 35 | 31 | 42 |
Have a great weekend everybody!
Ted Wilcox
tw@wilcoxent.com