5:00 PM Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Sorry for the delay posting today - Dr. Menco didn't come in until almost 2:00 today and I just got to a computer to post.  It was a very rough night - probably the roughest night he's had so far.  Spiking fever, diarrhea, nausea, rigors (the nurse told me it's the term for uncontrollable shaking/shivering).  He went from laying on the cooling blanket (which Ed has decided could replace waterboarding as a form of torture) to a 104 fever 2 hours later, to the fever finally breaking around 3:00 AM and then the shaking and shivering until about 4:30 AM.   It was a long night of up and down and giving him crushed pills, IVs, putting in 2 more IV lines in his arm and hand and having 5 different IV bags going at once.  It was a very scary few hours.  Everything finally started turning around at about 4:45 AM and his temp went down to 99.9 and as of mid-afternoon it was still responding to the ice packs under his arms and the crushed Tylenol mixed with water.  He was feeling so much better today fever wise, but his platelets didn't take and he's getting more this afternoon and he'll get more blood later as well when they can disconnect something to get an available line.  Dr. Mazur came by and said it will be another day before they can insert the PICC line because of his low platelets, so he'll stay on the PPN for another day and hopefully things will improve tomorrow in the platelet department.

The staph infection is still there and Dr. Menco and Mazur both said it will take 7-10 days of IV antibiotics to erradicate it and 2 weeks before the drainage tubes will come out from the port removal.  Dr. Menco is postpoining a decision on his next chemo schedule until after we see another abdominal scan.  We're on the day-by-day schedule now instead of the 3-week plan for chemo.  Dr. Menco's words: "his whites are at rock bottom right now, so there's no where to go but up!"

It was such a relief to see him feeling better today, although he is pretty exhausted.  I'm at the office right now, and when I get back to the hospital in a little bit, I'll get the laptop back out and post an update before I go to bed.  Thanks for your prayers and texts today.   They obviously have helped!