Something Old, Something New, Something Blue

After a tough weekend with the runs, Monday is off to a dry start. Kind of a dry start. The chemo sickness attacks the mucus membranes in the mouth causing the dreaded mouth sores. Those same sores run through the entire intestinal track, thus leading to the runs. Another theory is possible Graft vs. host disease, or a side effect of the Daptomycin. But Monday saw all that come to and end and two of the three stool tests have come back negative for infection allowing the use of Imodium, but now I no longer need it.

The news today is low blood oxygen levels, which has lead to "moisturized" oxygen tube to the nose. Now I am not only attached to the IV pole, I am attached to the wall via the the O2 source.
Another dose of Lasix today has helped drain off some of the fluid buildup. But there is fluid build up in the lung cavities right now. I have an appointment to have it drained off at 7am tomorrow morning via Thoracentesis. This is a procedure that has been done before with results that are felt immediately. The lungs still sound clear, but the fluid buildup affects both the heart and the lungs so they are working to drain that fluid and free up some space for the two to work.

The mouth sores and scabs are falling off, which is a huge deal to Cathi as it feels so much better. She was able to drink an Ensure protein shake today. This is the one accomplishment today and our step back to normal food consumption.

All this good news was clouded blue by the new fluid buildup and challenges with the lung cavity. They do not think that this is the fungal pneumonia. Her body is working double time with the cell grafting that is going on from the brother's stem cells. The liver is working to flush out platelets and other foreign bodies of being used in the grafting. And the liver counts are normal except one element with a slight rise. The kidneys are running out flat to keep up with the Lasix that keep her flushing fluids out of the body, and they too are only slightly elevated. Blood pressure is high, which is not uncommon.

So all this happening at once, so the old cells mixing with the new cells is making Cathi a little Blue. Each improvement is followed by another function needing attention. But Cathi is keeping her head in it, walking her laps, and giving a few less orders and listening a little more.