We had another setback today but also some positives, so I'll start with the positive news.
Jimmy's tongue wasn't as swollen this morning as it was yesterday. His mouth was bleeding more today and he still finds it difficult to talk. His white blood cell count has come up to 2.6 from yesterday's 2.3. He was awake a little more today than he has been for the last few days too. And he has a lot of phlegm in his mouth all the time which is good because this means it is working out from his lungs. His breathing seems much more 'gentle' today and he managed sips of water and juice. His temperature also never went above 38. Touch wood, no vomiting or diarrhoea.
Jimmy had a lot of blood in his urine this morning and they are concerned that he has a virus. They have added another antibiotic to the 2 that he is already on and also inserted another catheter so that they can accurately monitor how much urine he is passing and what the blood content is. They used a thicker pipe this time as the last catheter ended up having a blockage. They also took a urine sample and have sent this off to find out what's going on.
He didn't need a blood transfusion today, only platelets. They upped his oxygen again and he is still on morphine. I actually thought he was getting his sense of humour back at one stage because I finished crocheting another purse and showed him and he asked me if it was a hand grenade. It was only later that I realised when he said something else that he was just staring straight ahead and when I asked him about it, he had no clue what I was talking about. The joys of morphine.
In spite of the virus I have definitely seen a slight improvement in Jimmy today. What would be nice is if his pain could ease off a little tomorrow so that they can reduce his morphine dose.
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| The blood content in Jimmy's urine |
To all those who follow this blog from far and wide.....today was a beautiful day in Cape Town. 32 Degrees. I came home to a stunning sunset, the sun is setting at about 7:45pm now. From our lounge and stoep area we have a perfect view of Long Beach. In winter the sun sets on the right hand side of the beach behind Chapman's Peak and in summer it sets on the left hand side going down over Kommetjie. I noticed this evening that she is creeping along and midway now which sadly means we are getting closer to our winter sunset.
3 comments:
Ah Vivienne... the contrasts in life... such a beautiful sunset you posted! Must mean that you and Jimmy will be walking on a beach together to view that sunset in person... in just a few months! I just can't believe how complex his SCT became. Is it because of his IgG type of MM? Did the Drs mention all these side effects he would be having? But as I say that, what he is experiencing is "normal" for the SCT process. Everyone's experience is so different. And yes, keeping that sense of humor is a must! Funny quick story: at my worst time, after my Hickman catheter became so infected and septic, and had to be removed by emergency beside surgery, I would ask my hubby Jim to bring me a spray bottle of (Isopropyl) alcohol to relieve the pain and itching. Well one day when he called before he came by, he asked if I needed him to bring anything. I said yes, "bring me a bottle of alcohol and a gun"... and I laughed... well right at that time, my nurse walked in and absolutely panicked, thinking I was seriously depressed and was going to "do something"! I assured her I was completely joking! Not long after that, I had every kind of Social Worker visiting me daily checking on my mental status! Jim and I laugh about this to this day! So you and Jimmy hang in there, and find things to laugh at, even if they are make believe and drug induced! He'll love that you posted his bloody pee too :) xoxo Julie
(I deleted and reposted as I had some spelling errors!)
Hi Julie,
I loved this story. Funny how when you look back you can laugh at things and I know it's going to be like that for Jimmy and myself too. Prof and the staff in the chemo clinic prepped us quite well for all the possible things that could happen but of course no one can tell you what you will get and to what degree. Cancer treatments can be a real mystery most the time.
Thanks for making me smile tonight
xx
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