This past week has been a challenge. Due to the bacterial infection in my GI tract they loaded me with more antibiotics and drugs than I thought one could handle. All done to prevent any further bugs, as well as to treat the out of control bug. Of course, the drugs did their job but also had their own side effects. This past week I got hit with all the side effects one could imagine. I'll spare you the details. On Friday, after a sleepless night I went in to the clinic and said they had to take me off some of these drugs as I wasn't sure whether they were making me better or making me sick. No resistance to my request and the drug regime was modified. And not surprisingly, I'm feeling better.---relatively. Most encouraging to me is that fact that my appetite is gradually returning. I went for 2 weeks where I could not keep anything down and, of course began to fret that I would just get weaker and pick something else up. The nurses didn't seem concerned, as they filled me with fluids, potassium, etc. every day. Anyway, I can actually taste food again and expect that getting some nutrients should help the recovery.
We're still watching the white cells, which are moving upward, but quite slowly. But eventually they will get to normal levels. They are the barometer of the transplanted stem cells engrafting into the bone marrow. I'm recovering slower than expected but the counts continue to move upward so we're told to just be patient. Otherwise the days are quite boring. We typically spend 3 to 4 hours at the clinic where I get infusions of antibiotics, platelets, etc. We're usually sent home with some bottles of potassium that Susan has to change every 5hours. And so it goes.
Julia will be joining us tomorrow for another 5 days, which will be a nice respite for Susan. And as for Susan, I told her today that she is amazing. She is full of energy, always in a good mood and cheers me up every day. Of course, she has made many new friends. The story I like most is the guy who tried to pick her up at church---no kidding. He sat very close to her, tightly held her hand during the Our Father, and then, (in Spanish) asked her to put her phone number in his cell phone. Gotta watch out for these Arkansasans.
Here's to spring bringing us new life.
Dan
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3 comments:
Hi - thanks for the blog. I have checked every morning, including this morning and knew it was a tough week by the silence...checked back just now and was happy to see your blog. Love you all... Arlene
Oh, and about the church / pickup /cellphone thing....Gross!!!! Twangy spanish - what's that all about anyway :)
So maybe the answer for my social life (and it is all about me, isn't it?) is to zip down to Arkansas and go to Mass with Susan? :) Well, we all worship in our own way!
Love to all of you Pattersons!
mari bush and paddy
Way to go Susan. You haven't lost your touch, your beauty or that great attitude about life. You are amazing and we all know who is the "better half" of your marriage. I also believe that congratulations are the order of the day for Julia. If I am not mistaken she will be graduating from CC this month. Way to go Julia. Oh, Dan, glad to here you are feeling better just don't be messing around with any pigs down there in LR,AK.
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