Courtney is finally home and hospital free – at least for the next seven nights! It was such a great sight to see her and the kids together again after more than two weeks. The look on their faces when they saw her walk in the door was priceless. They all had a nervous look to their exuberance, not sure what to make of a bald mommy. They all quickly overcame the uncertainty of Courtney’s new look, and quickly started showing her things they had made and telling her all they had done while she was away.
As far as Courtney’s physical condition is concerned, the past two days have been superbly uneventful. She did have a couple of fevers Saturday night and into Sunday (none last night or today!), that made us question whether or not she would get to come home today, but, other than that there is really nothing worth noting. Her blood counts are almost completely within normal. Her WBC’s and neutrophils are within normal, as are her platelets and hemoglobin. After more than 30 days of abnormal results, it’s really nice to finally see some normalcy.
Last night was difficult as Courtney had to say goodbye to her sister Tracy as she left early this morning to return to Italy, where her husband Shawn is stationed with the Army. She really enjoyed having her around this past week. It had been over two years since they last saw each other, and they had a good time reconnecting. It’s just too bad that it couldn’t be under circumstances that were more fun. It’s hard saying goodbye to the ones you love, especially when you’re not sure how long it will be until you’re able to see them again.
Tonight will be the first night in over a month that Courtney won’t be woken up at 4:30 AM to have blood taken, nor at 7:00 AM to have her vitals checked. We’re hoping she gets a really good night of rest in her own bed without the disturbances. She’s had a long day and really needs it.
Her main battle this week will be trying to regain some of her strength that she lost while confined to her hospital bed for so long. It’s amazing how quickly muscles atrophy when not used. She was unable to go up our stairs or pick up Aidan today. I think she’d really like to be feeling better physically before starting the next round of chemotherapy. This week she’ll have to balance getting plenty of rest while doing what she can to use her muscles and build them back. I have a feeling this next week will fly by. For once I wish we could slow down the clock – at least for the next seven days.
Courtney
taken 8/4/07
Courtney and her kids
taken 8/4/07
Monday, October 22, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Day 29 - I Will Be Here
Courtney's first full day in the hospital, free of tubes and IV's, has left me little to say or update regarding her treatment. She did start a new medication that had interesting side effects that affected her vision, thoughts and speech. She's supposed to take it for the next 21 days, but is going to ask for something else if the side effects persist.
Her WBC's are still increasing steadily upward, approaching the normal range. Her neutrophils were actually within the normal range as were her plateletts!! Also, her day was fever free. If she keeps this up, 48 hours from now she will be sleeping soundly in her own bed.
Today was, for the most part, a great day of visiting with family and friends. My sister Molly arrived this morning for the weekend. Also, Courtney's brother Chris came back to town, this time with his wife, Leticia, and their two precious children, Lindsey and Christiana. Courtney spent most of the day with her parents and had a really nice visit with Leticia.
I took the kids, my mom and sister to the second garage sale held for Courtney. It's still so overwhelming to see all the people giving so much of their time to help us! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support!!! Later, I was able to take the three girls one at a time to our local fire station for flu shots. It's so much easier when they can't see the others getting theirs. The flu shots are one more thing that will help Courtney and ease some of her fears of coming home. She gets hers tomorrow.
We really had a lot of fun today. It's always so bittersweet to have a good day without Courtney around, knowing that she's stuck in the hospital and knowing that she would give anything to be with us. I can wait for the day that we can go back to having our normal family fun.
On the way home from visiting her in the hospital tonight, I listend to a song for the first time in a long time. It's on a CD that I made for Courtney shortly after we were married. The lyrics were significant then, but their significance today brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't resist putting it here, to share with her and with all of you who have been here for us.
Steven Curtis Chapman - I Will Be Here
Her WBC's are still increasing steadily upward, approaching the normal range. Her neutrophils were actually within the normal range as were her plateletts!! Also, her day was fever free. If she keeps this up, 48 hours from now she will be sleeping soundly in her own bed.
Today was, for the most part, a great day of visiting with family and friends. My sister Molly arrived this morning for the weekend. Also, Courtney's brother Chris came back to town, this time with his wife, Leticia, and their two precious children, Lindsey and Christiana. Courtney spent most of the day with her parents and had a really nice visit with Leticia.
I took the kids, my mom and sister to the second garage sale held for Courtney. It's still so overwhelming to see all the people giving so much of their time to help us! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support!!! Later, I was able to take the three girls one at a time to our local fire station for flu shots. It's so much easier when they can't see the others getting theirs. The flu shots are one more thing that will help Courtney and ease some of her fears of coming home. She gets hers tomorrow.
We really had a lot of fun today. It's always so bittersweet to have a good day without Courtney around, knowing that she's stuck in the hospital and knowing that she would give anything to be with us. I can wait for the day that we can go back to having our normal family fun.
On the way home from visiting her in the hospital tonight, I listend to a song for the first time in a long time. It's on a CD that I made for Courtney shortly after we were married. The lyrics were significant then, but their significance today brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't resist putting it here, to share with her and with all of you who have been here for us.
Steven Curtis Chapman - I Will Be Here
Friday, October 19, 2007
Day 28 - Remission!!
This morning Courtney had bone marrow biopsy #2. The first one was done almost four weeks ago to help us determine what type of AML Courtney has. Today's was done to tell us whether or not the chemotherapy put Courtney into remission. We found out earlier this evening that it did!!
The pathologist had actually told us that we probably wouldn’t have results until tomorrow, but Dr. Jordan’s partner came in with the results this evening. The timing of this news came as a big surprise – one we welcomed with open arms.
The biopsy, while obviously painful for Courtney, went quite smoothly. She was able to get some rest afterward. Later in the afternoon, Courtney had her Hickman catheter removed. The doctor was going to numb the area a little before pulling it out, but after seeing that it might come out easily, he just gave it a good tug and out it came. So, for the first time in four weeks, Courtney is sleeping tube free. She has absolutely nothing attached to or hanging from her body. After weeks of trying to sleep through nights with incessantly beeping IV pumps, I’m sure Courtney is relishing the thought of a restful night free of disturbance. I’m sure her sister, Tracy, is too.
Speaking of Tracy, she went to the bone marrow transplant clinic in Dallas to have blood drawn to check to see if she is a match for Courtney. Since Courtney hasn’t been to the clinic, Tracy took four vials of Courtney’s blood with her. She was told the process of determining whether or not her marrow is a match to Courtney’s could take a full week. It’s nice to finally of the process of finding a donor moving forward. Thank you Tracy!!
Truly amazing. After one simple phone call last night, 10 women from our church showed up at 11:00 this morning to help clean and sanitize our house. They did a tremendous job in just a little over an hour. The house acutally smelled like a swimming pool (I love that smell) when I got home! Once again we are grateful beyond description for the love and support we’ve received these past four weeks.
Four weeks!! Exactly four weeks ago today, Courtney was diagnosed with Leukemia. Today she found out she is in remission. We can’t believe it’s actually been that long. While each day has been rather lengthy, the weeks have seemingly flown by. Though we are along way from being done with this, we feel like we’ve taken a giant step forward in the right direction! Thank you for answered prayers!!
After some discussion with her Doctor, it was decided that Courtney would wait until Monday to go home. Courtney is actually relieved to have a couple of extra days to recover before going home. These two days will give her a chance to gain more strength physically and emotionally before being removed from awesome care of the doctors and nurses. After four weeks, we can wait a couple of extra days. Especially days without beeping IV machines.
The pathologist had actually told us that we probably wouldn’t have results until tomorrow, but Dr. Jordan’s partner came in with the results this evening. The timing of this news came as a big surprise – one we welcomed with open arms.
The biopsy, while obviously painful for Courtney, went quite smoothly. She was able to get some rest afterward. Later in the afternoon, Courtney had her Hickman catheter removed. The doctor was going to numb the area a little before pulling it out, but after seeing that it might come out easily, he just gave it a good tug and out it came. So, for the first time in four weeks, Courtney is sleeping tube free. She has absolutely nothing attached to or hanging from her body. After weeks of trying to sleep through nights with incessantly beeping IV pumps, I’m sure Courtney is relishing the thought of a restful night free of disturbance. I’m sure her sister, Tracy, is too.
Speaking of Tracy, she went to the bone marrow transplant clinic in Dallas to have blood drawn to check to see if she is a match for Courtney. Since Courtney hasn’t been to the clinic, Tracy took four vials of Courtney’s blood with her. She was told the process of determining whether or not her marrow is a match to Courtney’s could take a full week. It’s nice to finally of the process of finding a donor moving forward. Thank you Tracy!!
Truly amazing. After one simple phone call last night, 10 women from our church showed up at 11:00 this morning to help clean and sanitize our house. They did a tremendous job in just a little over an hour. The house acutally smelled like a swimming pool (I love that smell) when I got home! Once again we are grateful beyond description for the love and support we’ve received these past four weeks.
Four weeks!! Exactly four weeks ago today, Courtney was diagnosed with Leukemia. Today she found out she is in remission. We can’t believe it’s actually been that long. While each day has been rather lengthy, the weeks have seemingly flown by. Though we are along way from being done with this, we feel like we’ve taken a giant step forward in the right direction! Thank you for answered prayers!!
After some discussion with her Doctor, it was decided that Courtney would wait until Monday to go home. Courtney is actually relieved to have a couple of extra days to recover before going home. These two days will give her a chance to gain more strength physically and emotionally before being removed from awesome care of the doctors and nurses. After four weeks, we can wait a couple of extra days. Especially days without beeping IV machines.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Day 27 - Homeward Bound
Courtney’s oncologist, Dr. Jordan, visited her this afternoon, bringing with him very good news. Her WBC’s and neutrophils are high enough for her to go home! However, her infectious disease doctor said he wants to see her go 24 hours without a fever before going home. She had a slight fever early this afternoon. So, if she is fever free after today and if she’s feeling up to it, she could feasibly be coming home Saturday!
This news came somewhat as a surprise. While we knew all along that 1000 neutrophils was the benchmark for going home, and while we knew she was rapidly approaching that mark, we were apprehensive to even consider going home so soon thinking there had to be more criteria. Especially considering how bad Courtney had felt so recently. So, with the tremendously great news comes anxious anticipation.
After being so sick for so many days, Courtney is understandably nervous about being away from the hospital and away from most of the people who have done such an amazing job at taking care of her. The wonderful doctors and nurses have essentially been Courtney’s lifeline for the past four weeks, keeping her infections at bay and her pains at a minimum. She fears not having them (and their drugs) around when she might need them. So, while she undoubtedly is looking forward to being in her own home and in her own bed and with her children again, she’s somewhat worried about becoming sick again in the process. We are going to do everything we can between now and then to alleviate her fears by sanitizing the house and making it in tip-top condition for her homecoming.
So here’s the plan:
Tomorrow morning she will have her second bone marrow biopsy. This is a big one, as it will tell us whether or not she’s in remission. We’re hoping the results will be ready tomorrow afternoon. Also, tomorrow, Courtney will have the Hickman catheter removed. Her platelets were above 70,000 today, so the doctors are finally confident about removing it without excessive bleeding.
Thursday, October 25th, Courtney has an appointment at the Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic at UT Southwestern in Dallas. They will do an assessment to determine if she is a viable candidate for a transplant. Basically they will perform a thorough evaluation to make sure she can withstand the physical and mental stresses associated with a transplant. It’s a fairly risky procedure that they don’t take lightly.
Monday, October 29th, she will likely be scheduled to return to the hospital and it’s friendly staff for her next round of chemotherapy, called Consolidation. Dr. Jordan said that he’s planning on three rounds. Each round consists of six days of chemotherapy followed by a few days of recovery. He said that the recovery period during the consolidation is different than the induction recovery that she just endured. He didn’t specify the number of days she’d be in the hospital for each round, but it’ll be at least 7 days and likely 10 or more. After each round Courtney would go home for a week.
An important aspect of all this is that neither the consolidation chemotherapy nor the bone marrow transplant will occur if she isn’t in remission. If the bone marrow biopsy shows that she still has leukemic cells, she will more than likely start over with another round of induction (a repeat of the past three weeks). That would be a crummy setback to say the least. So, now you all know what to pray for. Your prayers and support have helped to get us this far! We are along way from the end, so please don't stop now!!
This news came somewhat as a surprise. While we knew all along that 1000 neutrophils was the benchmark for going home, and while we knew she was rapidly approaching that mark, we were apprehensive to even consider going home so soon thinking there had to be more criteria. Especially considering how bad Courtney had felt so recently. So, with the tremendously great news comes anxious anticipation.
After being so sick for so many days, Courtney is understandably nervous about being away from the hospital and away from most of the people who have done such an amazing job at taking care of her. The wonderful doctors and nurses have essentially been Courtney’s lifeline for the past four weeks, keeping her infections at bay and her pains at a minimum. She fears not having them (and their drugs) around when she might need them. So, while she undoubtedly is looking forward to being in her own home and in her own bed and with her children again, she’s somewhat worried about becoming sick again in the process. We are going to do everything we can between now and then to alleviate her fears by sanitizing the house and making it in tip-top condition for her homecoming.
So here’s the plan:
Tomorrow morning she will have her second bone marrow biopsy. This is a big one, as it will tell us whether or not she’s in remission. We’re hoping the results will be ready tomorrow afternoon. Also, tomorrow, Courtney will have the Hickman catheter removed. Her platelets were above 70,000 today, so the doctors are finally confident about removing it without excessive bleeding.
Thursday, October 25th, Courtney has an appointment at the Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic at UT Southwestern in Dallas. They will do an assessment to determine if she is a viable candidate for a transplant. Basically they will perform a thorough evaluation to make sure she can withstand the physical and mental stresses associated with a transplant. It’s a fairly risky procedure that they don’t take lightly.
Monday, October 29th, she will likely be scheduled to return to the hospital and it’s friendly staff for her next round of chemotherapy, called Consolidation. Dr. Jordan said that he’s planning on three rounds. Each round consists of six days of chemotherapy followed by a few days of recovery. He said that the recovery period during the consolidation is different than the induction recovery that she just endured. He didn’t specify the number of days she’d be in the hospital for each round, but it’ll be at least 7 days and likely 10 or more. After each round Courtney would go home for a week.
An important aspect of all this is that neither the consolidation chemotherapy nor the bone marrow transplant will occur if she isn’t in remission. If the bone marrow biopsy shows that she still has leukemic cells, she will more than likely start over with another round of induction (a repeat of the past three weeks). That would be a crummy setback to say the least. So, now you all know what to pray for. Your prayers and support have helped to get us this far! We are along way from the end, so please don't stop now!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Day 26 - The Best Medicine
Courtney’s day started off as planned with an ultrasound of her gall bladder and liver. Her sister, Tracy, related the following:
The morning was filled with a good dose of laughter. I can’t tell you how nice it was to see this. Her laugh was the best thing I’ve seen in a long time. It might have been somewhat drug induced, but it was genuine. And just 48 hours earlier, no amount of drugs were going to help produce a laugh from her. The laughter alone made today a better day.
Her CBC results also made today a better day –
WBC = 800 (Still rising)
%Neutrophils = 57%
Absolute Neutrophils = 500 (half way there!)
%Blasts = 1% (While we’d rather see zero, no need for alarm yet.)
I got to her room today just as the gastroenterologist was paying her a visit. He said that her bilirubin levels were back to normal and that the ultrasound showed nothing to be concerned of. In fact, he gave her a clean bill of health with regards to her liver (no hepatitis) and gall bladder (no blockage or gall stones).
Shortly after the GI doctor’s visit, her primary care doctor, Dr. Bolagi, showed up. He’s visited her on all but two days since she’s been in the hospital. He was glad to see her sitting up in a chair, eating food and in relatively good spirits. He said he was glad to see better blood results. He also said the edema (swelling throughout her body) should improve as her eating improves and as they cut back on her fluids. He said that while he could give her albumin, he’d prefer to let the body beat that on its own, rather than introducing more substances into her body.
Around noon, Tracy cut Courtney’s hair even shorter. She gave her a really short bob that was quite cute. I had actually brought the clippers with me, but Courtney decided to try to save the little hair she had while she had it.
It wouldn’t last, however. And by the end of the day, it had become evident that the best thing to do would be to shave it all off. Easier said than done. I can’t imagine that Courtney ever planned on showing me the true shape of her head. I doubt that many women would want their husbands to see them that way, or even see themselves that way. It’s hard to say good-bye to something that literally is part of who you are and who you always have been. It might be just hair and it will grow back, but those facts only slightly mitigate the difficulty of removing a woman’s hair. Lots of tears were shed. I think the hardest part for Courtney wasn’t so much the actual shaving as it was having to face the fact that she’s having to shave because she has cancer.
Yet, despite the swelling, despite not having seen her children for 11 days, despite having to spend her 27th straight night in the hospital, despite her swollen feet and ankles that reminded her of Princess Fiona’s from Shrek, and despite the loss of her hair that she spent the past year growing out, she managed to have a few little laughs and some genuine smiles at the end of a very emotional day.
I must say that Courtney has a very cute melon. I had to remind her that it wasn’t her hair that first caught my attention 10 years ago. It was her beautiful eyes and gorgeous smile that had me smitten from day one. And cancer hasn’t touched those one bit.
“I have to tell a funny story from this morning...she was transported downstairs to the ultrasound room, had her scan and she and I were waiting for them to bring her back upstairs. A girl and a guy came in and said hello and that they were ready to take us back upstairs to her room. Courtney looked at both of them and said "I will give you $20.00 to take me home" and they laughed. She looked at me and then said "I will give you a $100.00 to take me home" and they laughed again and said they just couldn't but it was tempting! So she looked at me again so I said "I'll throw in 100 bucks to the pot to take her home!" and Courtney said "she can throw in more than that!!" Well, none of it worked and we are back in her room but we smiled and giggled. Oh, one more thing, once she woke from a catnap and realized she was in her room she looked at me and said "Why didn't you pay them more?!””
The morning was filled with a good dose of laughter. I can’t tell you how nice it was to see this. Her laugh was the best thing I’ve seen in a long time. It might have been somewhat drug induced, but it was genuine. And just 48 hours earlier, no amount of drugs were going to help produce a laugh from her. The laughter alone made today a better day.
Her CBC results also made today a better day –
WBC = 800 (Still rising)
%Neutrophils = 57%
Absolute Neutrophils = 500 (half way there!)
%Blasts = 1% (While we’d rather see zero, no need for alarm yet.)
I got to her room today just as the gastroenterologist was paying her a visit. He said that her bilirubin levels were back to normal and that the ultrasound showed nothing to be concerned of. In fact, he gave her a clean bill of health with regards to her liver (no hepatitis) and gall bladder (no blockage or gall stones).
Shortly after the GI doctor’s visit, her primary care doctor, Dr. Bolagi, showed up. He’s visited her on all but two days since she’s been in the hospital. He was glad to see her sitting up in a chair, eating food and in relatively good spirits. He said he was glad to see better blood results. He also said the edema (swelling throughout her body) should improve as her eating improves and as they cut back on her fluids. He said that while he could give her albumin, he’d prefer to let the body beat that on its own, rather than introducing more substances into her body.
Around noon, Tracy cut Courtney’s hair even shorter. She gave her a really short bob that was quite cute. I had actually brought the clippers with me, but Courtney decided to try to save the little hair she had while she had it.
It wouldn’t last, however. And by the end of the day, it had become evident that the best thing to do would be to shave it all off. Easier said than done. I can’t imagine that Courtney ever planned on showing me the true shape of her head. I doubt that many women would want their husbands to see them that way, or even see themselves that way. It’s hard to say good-bye to something that literally is part of who you are and who you always have been. It might be just hair and it will grow back, but those facts only slightly mitigate the difficulty of removing a woman’s hair. Lots of tears were shed. I think the hardest part for Courtney wasn’t so much the actual shaving as it was having to face the fact that she’s having to shave because she has cancer.
Yet, despite the swelling, despite not having seen her children for 11 days, despite having to spend her 27th straight night in the hospital, despite her swollen feet and ankles that reminded her of Princess Fiona’s from Shrek, and despite the loss of her hair that she spent the past year growing out, she managed to have a few little laughs and some genuine smiles at the end of a very emotional day.
I must say that Courtney has a very cute melon. I had to remind her that it wasn’t her hair that first caught my attention 10 years ago. It was her beautiful eyes and gorgeous smile that had me smitten from day one. And cancer hasn’t touched those one bit.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Day 25 - More Better News
It was far from good, but it was a better day. Except for the lack of sleep. I only got to spend an hour and a half with her today, but from what I could tell and what she could tell me, she’s improving – ever so slightly.
The not so good news: Her hair continues to fall out. When I arrived this afternoon, she was wearing a hat for the first time. She looked really cute in it, especially since it was a Spurs hat. Thank you, Susan. – She’s still puffy from the edema. This seems to be caused by low albumin in her blood, likely due to her lack of protein consumption. They can give her albumin intravenously to help, but haven’t. I’m sure they have their reasons, but I don’t know what they are. – She still doesn’t like to eat, since everything tastes ‘crappy.’ Unfortunately, this is a side effect of the chemotherapy, and we’re not sure when the effect reverses. – Like I mentioned above, she hasn’t slept much the past 24 hours. Tracy said she woke up every hour last night, and didn’t sleep at all today. Hopefully she’ll rest well tonight. – It’s been ten days since she’s seen her children. This is really starting to take its toll on Courtney. Fortunately, she’s been fairly out of it for most of the past week, but during moments of lucidity she misses the kids more than anything else.
The better news: She’s experiencing less intestinal pain. This has been really bad the past week, but seems to be improving slightly each day. This helps her to have a better appetite, but it’s still hard for her to eat because of the ‘crappy’ reason stated above. – She was more alert today than she had been the past few days. This is an indication that she’s having to rely less on some of the medications that mentally impair her. Although, I’m not sure how alert she wants to be. If she could sleep through all of this, she would.
The more better news: Her CBC.
WBC = 600 (Doubled)
%Neutrophils = 44% (44% of 600 is better than 46% of 300)
Absolute Neutrophils = 300 (three times better); goal is 1000
Good news: Kids are all healthy.
Other news: Courtney is scheduled for an ultrasound on her abdomen, specifically her gall bladder (I think) tomorrow. This is to check to make sure there are no infections. They’re doing this because her blood work showed high levels of bilirubin. This could be a side effect of the chemotherapy, but they want to make sure it’s not due to problems with her gall bladder. Blockage of the bile ducts can be a cause of high bilirubin levels. They want to rule that out with the ultrasound.
Let’s pray that tomorrow’s ultrasound turns up nothing and the new day brings with it even better news.
The not so good news: Her hair continues to fall out. When I arrived this afternoon, she was wearing a hat for the first time. She looked really cute in it, especially since it was a Spurs hat. Thank you, Susan. – She’s still puffy from the edema. This seems to be caused by low albumin in her blood, likely due to her lack of protein consumption. They can give her albumin intravenously to help, but haven’t. I’m sure they have their reasons, but I don’t know what they are. – She still doesn’t like to eat, since everything tastes ‘crappy.’ Unfortunately, this is a side effect of the chemotherapy, and we’re not sure when the effect reverses. – Like I mentioned above, she hasn’t slept much the past 24 hours. Tracy said she woke up every hour last night, and didn’t sleep at all today. Hopefully she’ll rest well tonight. – It’s been ten days since she’s seen her children. This is really starting to take its toll on Courtney. Fortunately, she’s been fairly out of it for most of the past week, but during moments of lucidity she misses the kids more than anything else.
The better news: She’s experiencing less intestinal pain. This has been really bad the past week, but seems to be improving slightly each day. This helps her to have a better appetite, but it’s still hard for her to eat because of the ‘crappy’ reason stated above. – She was more alert today than she had been the past few days. This is an indication that she’s having to rely less on some of the medications that mentally impair her. Although, I’m not sure how alert she wants to be. If she could sleep through all of this, she would.
The more better news: Her CBC.
WBC = 600 (Doubled)
%Neutrophils = 44% (44% of 600 is better than 46% of 300)
Absolute Neutrophils = 300 (three times better); goal is 1000
Good news: Kids are all healthy.
Other news: Courtney is scheduled for an ultrasound on her abdomen, specifically her gall bladder (I think) tomorrow. This is to check to make sure there are no infections. They’re doing this because her blood work showed high levels of bilirubin. This could be a side effect of the chemotherapy, but they want to make sure it’s not due to problems with her gall bladder. Blockage of the bile ducts can be a cause of high bilirubin levels. They want to rule that out with the ultrasound.
Let’s pray that tomorrow’s ultrasound turns up nothing and the new day brings with it even better news.
Day 24 - Hospital Fun
At 4:30 this morning, like clockwork, a nurse came in to take Courtney’s blood. This is fine, because after this we can usually sleep until 9:00 or 10:00, relatively undisturbed. Not today. At 6:00 a nurse came in and told her that she couldn't eat or drink anything except a nasty tasting barium drink. Huh? Did we miss something? Apparently the doctor ordered a CT scan without letting us know. It would have been nice to have some warning and understanding as to why you're being woken up at 6:00 and told that no matter how thirsty you are (Courtney was very thirsty) you can’t drink.
She had to drink about 24 oz of the barium/juice mix which consisted of about 3 oz of barium. I think it would have been easier just to drink the barium straight (not sure if this is an option) and wash it down with the juice. Mixing it with juice just made for having to consume a greater quantity of bad tasting fluid. The weird part is that Courtney asked if she could just have some water and was told ‘No’. But then the nurse said she could dilute the barium drink mix with a little more water or juice. What’s the difference if she drinks some water by itself or mixed with the barium? Anyway, as her nurse left her with her 'drinks', she asked if Courtney needed anything else. Courtney answered, "No, but would you like juice? Only 25 cents." It's so funny when she can hardly speak, yet be so witty. Well, she did a good job of getting it all down on an empty stomach. I kinda started feeling nauseous just watching her drink them. Almost as soon as she was done they wheeled her down to the "dungeon" for her abdominal CT scan. I went down with her and was told to stay in the waiting room. I waited for about 20 minutes before asking if she was almost done, only to be told she was already back in her room. Apparently she was done in under 5 minutes. Great communication. I got a sheepish apology from the Radiology receptionist. Poor Courtney was too out of it to say anything or to even know what was going on. She didn't like the scan because she said it sounded like she was in a blender.
The other surprise this morning was when her lab results came back. Her nurse said all that had been ordered was the blood chemistry, which only consisted of the minerals (potassium, calcium, etc.) and protein. The CBC was not specifically ordered like it had been every other day, so it was not done. Her nurse did come back before noon to draw more blood to run a CBC. She also said that she would make sure that the CBC became a standing order and would be done daily.
Results of the day:
The doctors are still trying to decide what to do with the Hickman catheter. They are leaning towards removing it, but just aren’t sure what to replace it with.
The CT scan of her abdomen showed nothing unusual. This is good.
Her blood results came back with the following:
Hemoglobin = 7.2 (she needed and received blood today)
Platelets = 12000 (Needed platelets today)
WBC = 300 (Better than 100)
%Neutrophils = 46% (This is the percent of WBC’s that are Neutrophils, the most important ones for Courtney. This is better than yesterday’s 16%)
Neut. Abs. = 100 (First time to show any. This is 10% of the goal of 1000!!)
So we hope this means she’s on the mend. She said more than once today that she feels better today than she did the past couple of days. Pray that the trend continues. The other good news of the day was the Courtney’s sister, Tracy, arrived this evening from Italy to stay with her for the next 6 days and nights. Courtney was really excited to see her! Lots of tears when they embraced.
She had to drink about 24 oz of the barium/juice mix which consisted of about 3 oz of barium. I think it would have been easier just to drink the barium straight (not sure if this is an option) and wash it down with the juice. Mixing it with juice just made for having to consume a greater quantity of bad tasting fluid. The weird part is that Courtney asked if she could just have some water and was told ‘No’. But then the nurse said she could dilute the barium drink mix with a little more water or juice. What’s the difference if she drinks some water by itself or mixed with the barium? Anyway, as her nurse left her with her 'drinks', she asked if Courtney needed anything else. Courtney answered, "No, but would you like juice? Only 25 cents." It's so funny when she can hardly speak, yet be so witty. Well, she did a good job of getting it all down on an empty stomach. I kinda started feeling nauseous just watching her drink them. Almost as soon as she was done they wheeled her down to the "dungeon" for her abdominal CT scan. I went down with her and was told to stay in the waiting room. I waited for about 20 minutes before asking if she was almost done, only to be told she was already back in her room. Apparently she was done in under 5 minutes. Great communication. I got a sheepish apology from the Radiology receptionist. Poor Courtney was too out of it to say anything or to even know what was going on. She didn't like the scan because she said it sounded like she was in a blender.
The other surprise this morning was when her lab results came back. Her nurse said all that had been ordered was the blood chemistry, which only consisted of the minerals (potassium, calcium, etc.) and protein. The CBC was not specifically ordered like it had been every other day, so it was not done. Her nurse did come back before noon to draw more blood to run a CBC. She also said that she would make sure that the CBC became a standing order and would be done daily.
Results of the day:
The doctors are still trying to decide what to do with the Hickman catheter. They are leaning towards removing it, but just aren’t sure what to replace it with.
The CT scan of her abdomen showed nothing unusual. This is good.
Her blood results came back with the following:
Hemoglobin = 7.2 (she needed and received blood today)
Platelets = 12000 (Needed platelets today)
WBC = 300 (Better than 100)
%Neutrophils = 46% (This is the percent of WBC’s that are Neutrophils, the most important ones for Courtney. This is better than yesterday’s 16%)
Neut. Abs. = 100 (First time to show any. This is 10% of the goal of 1000!!)
So we hope this means she’s on the mend. She said more than once today that she feels better today than she did the past couple of days. Pray that the trend continues. The other good news of the day was the Courtney’s sister, Tracy, arrived this evening from Italy to stay with her for the next 6 days and nights. Courtney was really excited to see her! Lots of tears when they embraced.
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