Day 15

My counts went up - yea! They're nothing approaching normal but they're getting better. Today should be my last day on antibiotic IV infusion, it has worked very well. I'm still a little swollen but getting better and I may not need a transfusion. Amy and Kevin headed home yesterday, out from under the Blizzard of 2010 but stuck in Dallas on their way to Denver - one step at a time. Rob heads home to Austin this afternoon. I'm hoping we get a release from the hospital to head home to sunny Charlotte very soon. I'm feeling a lot better than I felt on day 7, 8, and 9 and recognize that it will take about 3 months to get back to normal.

Day14

I'm at home since day 11 at Barbara's. They sent me home with a bag of pills to take, including antibiotics for my ecoli bacteria. I went for a check-up yesterday. My arms and ankles are swollen and I have a rash on my chest and back due to an allergic reaction to the oral antibiotic I'm taking. So they switched me to an IV antibiotic and I have to go into the hospital for a 2 hour infusion over 3 days. It already seems to be working better. Also, my numbers went down and not up yesterday, may need a transfusion tomorrow. The doctor said this is a normal occurrence and nothing to worry about. They will go up, just need to keep fighting the fight.

Day 10

Merry Christmas everyone. I just got up and I feel pretty good, maybe today is the day to begin to turn the corner. We'll see what the numbers tell us in a couple of hours. Thank you Lord for seeing us through this, it couldn't have happened without your help.
They identified the bacteria in my blood, it's ecoli and we have it under control. My release date should be tomorrow. They'll give some oral medication and then it's just recovery time over the next couple of months.

Day 9

Merry Christmas eve to one and all. My temperature spiked to 101 overnight, so we're doing more antibiotics and have added blood as well as platelets to the mix because my blood pressure is very low. The blood counts are still way, way down but should start recovering over the next couple of days as my stem cells kick in. Raise a glass of wine to toast you're families, they're the most precious people in the world.
I met with Dr. Weisel and he indicted I have an unidentified bacteria in my bloodstream. If it doesn't resolve, I may have to be on IV antibiotics for the next 10 to 12 days. If they can put a name to it, I may be able to go on oral antibiotics. Here's praying that they figure it out. I have nightmare visions of what Angela,my sister in law,went through.

Day 8

I ran a temperature today which got as high as 103. So they pumped me full of antibiotics. They got the temperature down but will do some more work on me tonight at the apartment. I feel much better this afternoon than I did this morning - like death warmed over this morning. I expect that my numbers will start coming back up some time soon.

Day 7

Well, they cut my Lovenox shots to one a day because my blood counts are so low. Maybe today will be the bottom of this process and we'll begin the climb back up the mountain. I'm optimistic but very tired. I spent the afternoon with John Hughes yesterday, it was good to see John Boy.
We just got our blood counts back, they are going to give me platelets to tide me over. I may have reached my nadir as my WBC is just 0.2 but it could go to zero over night. From there the road to recovery is a few more days. I may be out of here by the weekend.

Day 6

We began Lovenox shots, two a day, one at the hospital and one at the apartment administered by Joanie. She practiced injecting a banana before she tried my abdomen - a very slippery proposition. It worked out well, so far so good. Pierre arrived yesterday, it was very good to see him. He looks fit and refreshed. I hope I start on the upward spiral so I can spend some time with folks outside of the hospital setting.