The new theory making the rounds is that I might have RSV. Since it's been an eon since I was a baby and I have very little real experience with them, I couldn't say whether it is or isn't. I have been warned that I'll probably catch it and that I wouldn't like it. If that's what this is, then I can confirm that I haven't enjoyed it.
Now a personal favor: If one of my buddies could Tivo The Price is Right tomorrow, June 10, I'd be ever so grateful. I can not tell you why, so you must trust me. Nancy, you know I love you.
I've put a call in to my local nurse with a question about my elevated white blood cell counts and neutrophilia. I suspect I know the answer, but I just need confirmation.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Day +374
Still here and still coughing.
I am feeling more like myself and the cough is mostly due to post nasal drip. It's most prominent in the morning and at night. In fact, I've been waking up a few times a night in the midst of a coughing fit.
Chris is upset that I can't take a really deep breath without having to cough. I keep trying to explain that a really deep breath tickles my throat, triggering a cough in response. It's not because my lungs hurt, or can't fill to capacity, it just feels like I've swallowed a bag full of hair clippings.
During times like these, the internet is not your friend. I actually wouldn't mind if it went down until this cough clears up. Maybe just the medical sites. I have been recited all of the different ailments that a non-productive wet cough could be. Hunta virus, anyone? How about bronchitis? Pneumonia? Here's my absolute favorite: the common cold. Not that! Anything but that.
Yes, I'm cranky. You would be too, if you felt like the lens of a microscope was only seconds away from swooping in on you. I'm sick of all the long faces. I know I'm not being fair, and that the people closest to me just want me to be well because they love me. I'm just one of those crazy solitary people who likes to be left alone while recuperating. I've always been like that. Being babied has always made me feel claustrophobic and I tend to lash out because of it. There, now you know my dark secret: I'm imperfect.
Chris talked to one of the nurses at my local office and the cultures that were taken at the hospital have all come up negative. We may never actually know what caused this little hiccup, but if it looks like a duck and it sounds like a duck, then it's probably a cold.
My temperatures are a little closer to normal and only fluctuate between 98.4-99.5. I don't know what this is, but I'm determined that it won't sideline me for very much longer.
Still here and still coughing.
I am feeling more like myself and the cough is mostly due to post nasal drip. It's most prominent in the morning and at night. In fact, I've been waking up a few times a night in the midst of a coughing fit.
Chris is upset that I can't take a really deep breath without having to cough. I keep trying to explain that a really deep breath tickles my throat, triggering a cough in response. It's not because my lungs hurt, or can't fill to capacity, it just feels like I've swallowed a bag full of hair clippings.
During times like these, the internet is not your friend. I actually wouldn't mind if it went down until this cough clears up. Maybe just the medical sites. I have been recited all of the different ailments that a non-productive wet cough could be. Hunta virus, anyone? How about bronchitis? Pneumonia? Here's my absolute favorite: the common cold. Not that! Anything but that.
Yes, I'm cranky. You would be too, if you felt like the lens of a microscope was only seconds away from swooping in on you. I'm sick of all the long faces. I know I'm not being fair, and that the people closest to me just want me to be well because they love me. I'm just one of those crazy solitary people who likes to be left alone while recuperating. I've always been like that. Being babied has always made me feel claustrophobic and I tend to lash out because of it. There, now you know my dark secret: I'm imperfect.
Chris talked to one of the nurses at my local office and the cultures that were taken at the hospital have all come up negative. We may never actually know what caused this little hiccup, but if it looks like a duck and it sounds like a duck, then it's probably a cold.
My temperatures are a little closer to normal and only fluctuate between 98.4-99.5. I don't know what this is, but I'm determined that it won't sideline me for very much longer.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
I'm laying low and trying to conserve all of my energy for fighting this crazy infection. I've decided to treat this illness with as much sleep as I can. I know it frustrates Chris because he equates my sleeping with being really ILL. I keep trying to explain to everyone that I don't feel like I'm fighting sleep off, but rather choosing to sleep in order to give my little cells a chance to do some maintenance.
I'm going to spend the rest of the day babysitting a large pot of blackbean soup and translating a knitting pattern into an excel spreadsheet. Don't fret, my trusty thermometer will be at my side.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Fish Sandwich Part II
Day +370
WBC 14.7 K/uL (!!!)
RBC 4.10 M/uL
HGB 12.9 G/dL
PLT 496 K/uL
ANC 12.4 K/uL (!!!)
(I'll skip explaining the Fish Sandwich reference. If you are interested check out the search box at the top of the page.)
So everything looked great yesterday - The levaquin was doing its job and Ann's fever was gone. We expected that her WBC would drop back down to normal levels as the immune response her body was having to whatever she was fighting started to pass. Nice and simple in theory...at least until last night.
Just before going to bed, Ann had a small coughing fit, so I asked her to take her temperature. A few moments later, her digital thermometer started sounding the "Trouble" alert indicating a temperature over 100F. Specifically 100.3F, which was close enough to the 101 F limit that MDA told us would trigger a trip to the ER. Ann looked crushed, but we dressed and headed off to the ER in Baton Rouge anyway.
When we got there it was pretty much the same drill as last time except for the large number of armed Louisiana State Troopers standing guard on two of the examination rooms. The ER nurses talked about the ER being in "lock-down", so I presume that the Troopers had brought someone(s) in custody that needed treatment. The Troopers didn't look friendly or happy so we didn't ask.
Just like last time Ann got sent to the front of the line. We were put in a private room and waited for our doctors and nurses to come in. I always feel a little sorry for new medical professionals who get to deal with us for the first time. They get overloaded as Ann and I rattle off her history, time lines, diagnosis, complications, current perscriptions, drug interactions, and recent CBC differential numbers. That's about 1 million times more thorough than they expect from most patients they see, I guess. The doctor we saw last night actually asked me where I studied medicine and what my specialty was...Crikey! I corrected him fast and I could see his astonishment when I told him I was a Mechanical Engineer.
So Ann had to endure the same battery of tests as last time. Chest x-ray, looking for pneumonia; result negative. Nasal swab, looking for influenza A or B; results negative. Urine cultures, looking for UTI; result pending. Blood cultures, looking for sepsis; result pending. CBC and smear results were the same as the day before-- lots of mature neutrophils, and no pre-cursor or blast cells in sight. So the conclusion seems to be the same: A bacterial infection of some sort.
Ann's baby stem cells are reacting to the invading bugs by "dog piling" them. Billions and billions of nuetrophils are being cranked out by her new marrow every couple of hours, and they are literally throwing themselves at the enemy looking for anyway they can to kill the germs off. Eventually one of the neutrophils will "figure it out" and pass it on to the rest of it's cohort.
After leaving the ER this morning we discovered that Ann has passed a milestone, too. Because she still had a fever this morning of 100.7F, we called to check with MDA and our local doctor on what to do. We were pretty surprised by the answer...nothing. As in "do nothing, unless it gets really bad".
Well OK, not nothing: MDA the bastion of cancer research and treatment, the place that has the most qualified professionals in the nation, the people I would trust implicitly with Ann's life has suggested...(Pause for Dramatic Effect)...Tylenol. Until they have evidence of something more serious in Ann's blood they are just gonna let this one ride and see how the baby stem cells cope.
Looks like the training wheels are off and the baby stem cells are cycling on their own now.
WBC 14.7 K/uL (!!!)
RBC 4.10 M/uL
HGB 12.9 G/dL
PLT 496 K/uL
ANC 12.4 K/uL (!!!)
(I'll skip explaining the Fish Sandwich reference. If you are interested check out the search box at the top of the page.)
So everything looked great yesterday - The levaquin was doing its job and Ann's fever was gone. We expected that her WBC would drop back down to normal levels as the immune response her body was having to whatever she was fighting started to pass. Nice and simple in theory...at least until last night.
Just before going to bed, Ann had a small coughing fit, so I asked her to take her temperature. A few moments later, her digital thermometer started sounding the "Trouble" alert indicating a temperature over 100F. Specifically 100.3F, which was close enough to the 101 F limit that MDA told us would trigger a trip to the ER. Ann looked crushed, but we dressed and headed off to the ER in Baton Rouge anyway.
When we got there it was pretty much the same drill as last time except for the large number of armed Louisiana State Troopers standing guard on two of the examination rooms. The ER nurses talked about the ER being in "lock-down", so I presume that the Troopers had brought someone(s) in custody that needed treatment. The Troopers didn't look friendly or happy so we didn't ask.
Just like last time Ann got sent to the front of the line. We were put in a private room and waited for our doctors and nurses to come in. I always feel a little sorry for new medical professionals who get to deal with us for the first time. They get overloaded as Ann and I rattle off her history, time lines, diagnosis, complications, current perscriptions, drug interactions, and recent CBC differential numbers. That's about 1 million times more thorough than they expect from most patients they see, I guess. The doctor we saw last night actually asked me where I studied medicine and what my specialty was...Crikey! I corrected him fast and I could see his astonishment when I told him I was a Mechanical Engineer.
So Ann had to endure the same battery of tests as last time. Chest x-ray, looking for pneumonia; result negative. Nasal swab, looking for influenza A or B; results negative. Urine cultures, looking for UTI; result pending. Blood cultures, looking for sepsis; result pending. CBC and smear results were the same as the day before-- lots of mature neutrophils, and no pre-cursor or blast cells in sight. So the conclusion seems to be the same: A bacterial infection of some sort.
Ann's baby stem cells are reacting to the invading bugs by "dog piling" them. Billions and billions of nuetrophils are being cranked out by her new marrow every couple of hours, and they are literally throwing themselves at the enemy looking for anyway they can to kill the germs off. Eventually one of the neutrophils will "figure it out" and pass it on to the rest of it's cohort.
After leaving the ER this morning we discovered that Ann has passed a milestone, too. Because she still had a fever this morning of 100.7F, we called to check with MDA and our local doctor on what to do. We were pretty surprised by the answer...nothing. As in "do nothing, unless it gets really bad".
Well OK, not nothing: MDA the bastion of cancer research and treatment, the place that has the most qualified professionals in the nation, the people I would trust implicitly with Ann's life has suggested...(Pause for Dramatic Effect)...Tylenol. Until they have evidence of something more serious in Ann's blood they are just gonna let this one ride and see how the baby stem cells cope.
Looks like the training wheels are off and the baby stem cells are cycling on their own now.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Day +369
The sore throat showed up late to the party this morning. I'm taking it as a sign that the infection is making one last grasp for control. The cough syrup makes me very sleepy, but it takes care of the cough which I'm sure Chris is grateful for. I cough like a machine gun in my sleep and it usually wakes everyone up. This, I inherited from my dad.
I had to run a few essential errands today and I tried to keep every one's exposure to me at a bare minimum. Every one I know always picks up a vicious infection whenever they're around kids for even a short period of time. I figured that I'd play it safe and assume that I was as deadly as a two year old.
Squeeze had her follow-up appointment at the vet school today and I'm happy to report that her blood cultures came back more or less normal. Her kidney levels were a little elevated, but they always come back that way. The vet said that she was as normal as could be expected considering her age. Poor guy had to handle her after she had a very explosive bout of diarrhea in her carrier on the way to the office. I was so flustered because of it and worried about her and worried that I wasn't supposed to be exposed to such things because of oocysts and other fun toxicities. I managed to dispose of her puppy pad without getting any bacterial delight on myself and Greg was kind enough to clean her up, as well as her carrier.
Unfortunately, the vets weren't able to get a urine specimen from her because as they said, her bladder is the size of a walnut and there was nothing in it. Of course, she made a bee line for the litter box when we got home to relieve her tiny bladder. I'll have to bring her back in next week so that they can try again. They just want to be sure that they took care of the bladder infection. There's a chance that the bacteria can get into her kidneys which would complicate a lot of things. Poor girl, I know how it feels. She's sleeping on the couch, immersed in tiny kitty dreams.
Aside from a nap, that was the extent of my day. I managed to finish knitting my gift and will put the finishing touches on it tomorrow. After that, Chris is in charge of logistics.
Tomorrow is our fourth wedding anniversary and I'm bummed that I've been sidelined by this yucky thing. However, I am eternally grateful that I got another year with the love of my life.
The sore throat showed up late to the party this morning. I'm taking it as a sign that the infection is making one last grasp for control. The cough syrup makes me very sleepy, but it takes care of the cough which I'm sure Chris is grateful for. I cough like a machine gun in my sleep and it usually wakes everyone up. This, I inherited from my dad.
I had to run a few essential errands today and I tried to keep every one's exposure to me at a bare minimum. Every one I know always picks up a vicious infection whenever they're around kids for even a short period of time. I figured that I'd play it safe and assume that I was as deadly as a two year old.
Squeeze had her follow-up appointment at the vet school today and I'm happy to report that her blood cultures came back more or less normal. Her kidney levels were a little elevated, but they always come back that way. The vet said that she was as normal as could be expected considering her age. Poor guy had to handle her after she had a very explosive bout of diarrhea in her carrier on the way to the office. I was so flustered because of it and worried about her and worried that I wasn't supposed to be exposed to such things because of oocysts and other fun toxicities. I managed to dispose of her puppy pad without getting any bacterial delight on myself and Greg was kind enough to clean her up, as well as her carrier.
Unfortunately, the vets weren't able to get a urine specimen from her because as they said, her bladder is the size of a walnut and there was nothing in it. Of course, she made a bee line for the litter box when we got home to relieve her tiny bladder. I'll have to bring her back in next week so that they can try again. They just want to be sure that they took care of the bladder infection. There's a chance that the bacteria can get into her kidneys which would complicate a lot of things. Poor girl, I know how it feels. She's sleeping on the couch, immersed in tiny kitty dreams.
Aside from a nap, that was the extent of my day. I managed to finish knitting my gift and will put the finishing touches on it tomorrow. After that, Chris is in charge of logistics.
Tomorrow is our fourth wedding anniversary and I'm bummed that I've been sidelined by this yucky thing. However, I am eternally grateful that I got another year with the love of my life.
Monday, June 2, 2008
still Day +368
I developed a wicked case of the hiccups after dinner which was compounded by a fit of uncontrolable coughing. So, I broke down and took some of the cough syrup that my doctor prescribed me. I was completely caught off guard by the nose searing flavor of concentrated orange evil that spread across my tongue. It did the trick and stopped my cough and also exorcised the hiccups out of me.
I now feel like I've been darted and am off to find a cave to hibernate it.
I developed a wicked case of the hiccups after dinner which was compounded by a fit of uncontrolable coughing. So, I broke down and took some of the cough syrup that my doctor prescribed me. I was completely caught off guard by the nose searing flavor of concentrated orange evil that spread across my tongue. It did the trick and stopped my cough and also exorcised the hiccups out of me.
I now feel like I've been darted and am off to find a cave to hibernate it.
It's not a party until someone throws up
Day +368
WBC 12.3 K/uL (!!!)
RBC 4.37 M/uL
HGB 13.9 G/dL
PLT 484 K/uL
ANC 8.4 K/uL (!!!)
It all started Saturday with a cough, which became a tickle in the throat, then a fever. I never honestly felt under the weather, but a cough is a cough and so I started monitoring my temperature. It went up steadily until Sunday, when it peaked at 100. I had a doctor paged at my local hematologist's office and he phoned in some levaquin to get the ball rolling. My doctor was kind enough to shoe horn me in today for a few tests including blood work and a chest x-ray.
My white blood cells were elevated and to put my mind at ease, Dr. Bienvenu ordered a slide so he could have a look at what was going on. The cells turned out to be mature neutrophils and not blasts which put Chris's mind at ease. My lungs were clear as far as the x-ray went.
As Dr. Bienvenu put it, I probably caught a kiddie bug. Kids must be the most resilient creatures on earth to keep bouncing back from these strange infections. I know I have the immune system of a one year old, but it's fighting to keep a 33 year old illness free. The body is a traitor as you wave good-bye to your twenties.
As a preventative measure, I have to take valtrex twice a day for the next week and as a salve to my irritated throat I get to take a prescription cough syrup. Hello narcolepsy.
I had a very lovely "birthday" replete with cards from friends and a surprise dinner with Chris. We had a nice dinner at the Maisonette Brandt followed by hot fudge Sundays at home. Honestly, the secret to my heart is a cake purchased from a grocery bakery. Yes, I know what the frosting is made of and yet my palate yearns for the overt sweetness layered over dry yellow cake. No, I would not eat shortening out of a can, but I might consider it if you mix in some icing sugar. I'm just saying. If there is communal cake and icing is missing, it's usually because of me.
I have another birthday coming up in October, so there's still another chance at cake. I know I can just buy myself one, but I'd feel weird about eating the entire thing.
I'm getting plenty of rest and filling up on fluids while I frantically try to finish a gift for some friends who just welcomed their new daughter over the weekend.
Such is life.
WBC 12.3 K/uL (!!!)
RBC 4.37 M/uL
HGB 13.9 G/dL
PLT 484 K/uL
ANC 8.4 K/uL (!!!)
It all started Saturday with a cough, which became a tickle in the throat, then a fever. I never honestly felt under the weather, but a cough is a cough and so I started monitoring my temperature. It went up steadily until Sunday, when it peaked at 100. I had a doctor paged at my local hematologist's office and he phoned in some levaquin to get the ball rolling. My doctor was kind enough to shoe horn me in today for a few tests including blood work and a chest x-ray.
My white blood cells were elevated and to put my mind at ease, Dr. Bienvenu ordered a slide so he could have a look at what was going on. The cells turned out to be mature neutrophils and not blasts which put Chris's mind at ease. My lungs were clear as far as the x-ray went.
As Dr. Bienvenu put it, I probably caught a kiddie bug. Kids must be the most resilient creatures on earth to keep bouncing back from these strange infections. I know I have the immune system of a one year old, but it's fighting to keep a 33 year old illness free. The body is a traitor as you wave good-bye to your twenties.
As a preventative measure, I have to take valtrex twice a day for the next week and as a salve to my irritated throat I get to take a prescription cough syrup. Hello narcolepsy.
I had a very lovely "birthday" replete with cards from friends and a surprise dinner with Chris. We had a nice dinner at the Maisonette Brandt followed by hot fudge Sundays at home. Honestly, the secret to my heart is a cake purchased from a grocery bakery. Yes, I know what the frosting is made of and yet my palate yearns for the overt sweetness layered over dry yellow cake. No, I would not eat shortening out of a can, but I might consider it if you mix in some icing sugar. I'm just saying. If there is communal cake and icing is missing, it's usually because of me.
I have another birthday coming up in October, so there's still another chance at cake. I know I can just buy myself one, but I'd feel weird about eating the entire thing.
I'm getting plenty of rest and filling up on fluids while I frantically try to finish a gift for some friends who just welcomed their new daughter over the weekend.
Such is life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)