Couldn't get to the blog earlier - just another manic monday...... good song title...... hoping for a Ruby Tuesday..... literally!
Ed's whites have crashed, unfortunately. He continued to feel worse yesterday and last night. I knew things were changing when he asked me to pull out all the stops with the meds and load him up! I contacted Dr. Menco around 8 PM last night and he told me to go ahead and give Ed more pain and anti-nausea meds, so I did. He was pretty miserable.
Ed had an appointment for Tuesday late afternoon for blood work but I wasn't feeling comfortable with waiting another 2 days even though Ed was feeling a little better this morning. We went in to Dr. Menco's office at noon and the blood work revealed his white count has dropped from 47,000 on Friday to less than 600 today. Anything below a thousand is basically the same as zero, so Ed is under strict instructions to avoid unnecessary contact with everyone, do vigorous hand washing and eat a neutropenic diet to minimize bacteria exposure, etc. He just needs to lay really low and ride this out until his white count starts coming up on it's own - the Neulasta just isn't able to compete with the aggressive chemo he's getting. Dr. Menco reminded him of the seriousness of the last infection and we really need to keep our fingers crossed that the next week will be infection free. Even a fever of 99 means we make a phone call or go to ER if it's after office hours. Dr. M also gave him increased pain meds and Ambien so he'll sleep at night and I hope that helps him rest more quietly.
Ed's next appointment is Thursday to check his blood again.....meantime no news is good news, but I'll let you know how successful I am at keeping him contained -- I've stocked up on disinfectants, bubble wrap and duct tape! Keep your prayers and good thoughts coming his way.
You will pull through this Ed!! Just this Sunday I renewed my all-church prayer request for you, so there a lot amazing prayer warriors praying just for you. You may be amazed yourself with the results! Good luck Liz with the duct tape and bubble wrap. Doesn't WD40 come into play somewhere here?
ReplyDeleteHi Ed so sorry to hear about this setback - though it was a bit expected, it still doesn't make it any easier -- stay in your bubble (wrap) and get through this brother -- and think about charging those motor home batteries (and re-charging YOURS)!
ReplyDeleteLove you man, TC