Outta There!!

Dear Fods,

They put the pic line in yesterday afternoon and put me in line for discharge. Just had to wait for radiology to read the x-ray to insure that the line was properly placed -- few hours -- and then we were ready to go. However, they next decided to run in a bag of platelets to tide me over so we left HUP around 7:00 PM.

On the way home I had a hankering for pizza and we stopped and got a pepperoni pizza that I was inhaling while we dropped the new scripts off at CVS. Had another rough night last night with the coughing and sweats but at least it was in my own bed. Today we are waiting for Penn Home Infusion to deliver the supplies and for me to get a dose of vanco to help control the cellulitis. It looks much better than before the vanco.

Quiet rainy day here -- Joe took off today to help me ease back in and to get trained by Penn Home Infusion on line care, etc. The pic line is in my left arm and I cannot care for it one handed.

Thanks for all of your cards, blogs and prayers.

Deb sends her love to all.

Woah is me...Special Guest Posting

Hi everybody, Debbie here with Jessie typing for me. I woke up this morning all excited that I could possibly go home. The doctor said yesterday that as long as I did not have a temp for 24 hours and my WBC came up to 3.5, I could go home ignoring the fact that I had this nasty cellulitis (inflammation of the skin caused by infection) cooking in my right arm from a needle stick. So I patiently waited for the doctor to make his daily rounds – which did not occur until this afternoon. I said, “Here I am, my counts are good and I’m ready to go home.” He took one look at my arm and gasped, “You can’t go home with an arm looking like that! We need to get infectious disease in here and you need a central line put back in so that we can administer IV antibiotics for a week!” (vancomycin). Mind you, I’ve been showing everybody this arm for the last few days and no one seemed too upset by it. I’ve been keeping warm compresses on it, but must admit it was getting pretty painful and I can no longer bend my arm. Like the mature, medical professional that I am, I started to cry. “I wanna go home! Why can’t I go home on vancomycin by mouth?” The doctor said for an infection such as this IV antibiotics are the only thing to do the trick. So instead of moving forward, I feel like I’ve taken 20 steps back. They are going to place a pic line in my upper arm tomorrow, which is a long-term central line. Lo and behold, after all this wonderful news, the nurse takes my temperature and my fever is back. So my goose is cooked and I’m here until at least Tuesday.

Jessie’s been here with me this afternoon and spoiled me with a pedicure and even snuggled with me when I got a little weepy. I am much better now because I agree my arm looks like it could soon fall off. This is where I probably need to be for now. With all the platelets and IV sticks I’ve had these last three months, my veins are tired. The pic line would provide access for lab draws and antibiotics as I need them so it seems like a good move.

Thank you so much for your funny and caring blogs. They always make me smile and realize how blessed I am to have every one of you in my life. I hope everything is well with all of you and your families. Good luck to the college freshmen, Laura, Meredith, Caroline, and Patrick, such wonderful times await you. I’ll be thinking of you during the next few weeks as you head off to school.

I guess I should look on the bright side. Now that they’ve stopped the chemo, I think a night at the Mainland is in order, with a nice Cosmo. Hope to talk to you all soon.

Love,

Debbie

P.S. Also, good luck to the moms and dads whose kids are off to college. It is such an emotional time. I cried the whole way home from James Madison after dropping Jessie off. I could see her doing cartwheels in my rearview mirror as I drove off (somewhat true story)…I’ll be thinking of you parents too…

August Special Guest Posting

Dear Fods,

Hey everybody! Here I am at HUP-- this is Debbie and Joe is typing. I have been here since Monday with a bad case of bacterial sinusitis with no WBC to fight it. I had a rough couple of days with a throat so sore and swollen that I could hardly swallow. They actually scoped me three times to make sure that my airway would stay open. Fevers were up to 103 for a few days which did not ease my fear that I might somehow end up in ICU. But with three different antiobiotics running, platelets, fluids and very careful monitoring, I think that I am now on the mend. Doctors are saying that they are not sure why the neupogen didn't help to keep my WBC up. Either it is because of the overwhelming bacterial infection in my sinuses and my throat or the leukemia may be raging again. I also now have a cellulitis in my right arm from a an IV stick that is painful but I still feel way better than I did on Monday when they admitted me.

So it is one day at a time for now and I am hoping to get out of here on Sunday or Monday. My counts will need to come up and stay up and I will need to be fever free before they will let me out of here.

Needless to say, the clinical trial that I was participating in was stopped on Monday. As a result, I am feeling much less nauseous and my appetite seems to be coming back. I even ate a little hospital food last night for dinner! We are not sure when the clinical trial will be resumed and I should get a bit of a break at the end of the summer which will help me to get my strength back.

Thanks to everyone for the blogs, cards and visits.

I love you all.

Debbie

August 15th Update

Dear Fods,

Debbie's stay at HUP will continue for a few more days. She has undergone X-rays, CAT scans, Scopes, blood tests, etc. to continue to rule out pneumonia, fungal sinusitis, etc. over the past days. So far, there is no pneumonia or fungal sinusitis -- but they are taking her down for another CAT scan tonight @ 8:30 PM to check on a swollen gland in her throat. Needless to say, Debbie is very tired of being checked, poked and prodded, but glad that all of the results have been negative so far.

HUP continues to run Major League antibiotics (just in case), saline and pain medications until they figure this problem out. She continues to run a low grade fever and feels sick on and off. Her counts are still way low and hopefully as they recover so will she. As is her custom, she will not even look at the HUP food which complicates longer term stays.

Thanks to Marian and Eileen for visiting today. Debbie enjoyed the company. Mike was able to stop in before work and Debbie had a full day. I will take a short day tomorrow and should arrive around 3:00 PM.

Thanks to all for keeping up the blog and your cards. We are taking them down to Debbie every day.

Debbie sends her love to all.

Better to be safe...

Hello dear FODs, mom spent the weekend with a hacking cough and a low grade fever. She called HUP this morning to ask if she could have an antibiotic and they asked her to come in so they could evaluate her. They drew labs, and found that mom's WBC was .9, HGB was 8.7, and platelets were 2k. This after four days of neupogen shots - we don't have an explanation for that just yet.

Mom had a temp of 101.7 so HUP chose to admit her. While waiting for her room, mom received 2 units of blood, platelets, and the team began the IV antibiotics. HUP plans to keep mom through Thursday to monitor her symptoms. Mom is convinced she has sinusitis and bronchitis - with no WBC this could quickly turn into pneumonia. The docs have a chest x-ray ordered for this evening and a sinus x-ray in the morning. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.

Thanks so much for your love and prayers.

Jessie

Join Team Teklits at Light the Night 2007

I can't believe that Fall is right around the corner - football, apple cider, pumpkin patches...and Light the Night 2007! I bit off a bit more than I can chew this year and became a team captain for Light the Night. Thanks to Cathy G. for giving me the idea! I'm working to create a fundraiser next month to generate some interest among my DC friends and family. Is anyone interested in walking in DC this year? It is a breathtaking event - and a gorgeous time of year to visit the city. Visit our team walksite at Light the Night. Thanks for your interest and hope to catch up with you soon!

August 6, 2007 Update

Dear Fods,

Thanks for continuing to keep in touch with us. We were able to make it to the shore again this weekend although Debbie was not feeling well for most of it. Mike came down on Friday night from his office and we followed up on Saturday morning. Derek joined Mike on Friday night and the boys had a good time -- enough said.

We arrived in time to prepare a much needed breakfast for the beleagured boys and we were on the beach by noon. Saturday night we "laid low" and ordered from Picinnis. Our neighbor Donna brought a nice poppie seed cake over on Saturday night and we all enjoyed her kindness. Thanks to Donna for that.

On Sunday the winds were howling but Mike and I went down for a sand blasting before suggesting the upper deck to Debbie. Mike went home around 1:00 and we went back to the beach later in the day for another hour. Picinnis was again in order for Debbie for dinner and she loved the ravioli. Donna K. brought Debbie some tea and we thank her for that.

Debbie started to notice some problems with her skin during the evening on Sunday and she thought that a trip to Penn would be needed today. We stopped in on the way home and she did need platelets (she was @ 3K so go figure). We saw Bob and Mo while we were there and finally got home around 5:00 PM.

Debbie has been laying low since we got home and hopefully her counts will get back up by the end of the week.

Thanks to all for helping with the rides, cards and blogs.

Debbie sends her love to all.