October 27, 2007 Update

Dear Fods,

As noted in Jess' last post, Debbie had a good weekend and came off of the antibiotics and steroids on Sunday. Not too surprisingly, Debbie spiked her first temperature on Monday and has basically had a pretty rough week since those meds ended. She had high temperatures every night and last night she peaked at 104.5. She has a new rash developing on her back and arm -- and we all know that this is not a good sign.

We went to Grand View this morning to have bloods drawn and, as usual, the tests are inconclusive. While Debbie has a WBC of 2.8, her Platelets are low @ 13, her Bands are High @ 14, her Sodium, Potassium and Calcium are all low. Something is "cooking" in Debbie and it is going to take some time to find out what it is. We were hoping to get admitted to Grand View for some IV antibiotics, but that did not work out today.

The people at Grand View, as usual, were fantastic. We went to the Emergency room and were taken back in 5 minutes. Labs were drawn and results were delivered within the hour.

Debbie was on the cusp of being admitted to Grand View and there was a bit of a disagreement between HUP and Grand View as to what to do?? This time Grand View had the more conservative view and was willing to admit Debbie to start some IV antibiotics while HUP thought that was unnecessary. Of course the HUP doctor calling the shots was the Oncologist on call -- never met Debbie or has any familarity with Debbie's file -- not to mention the fact that she sounded like she was age 12! In the end, it was decided that Debbie would not be admitted but that she would return to Grand View for platelets later in the evening. Mike and Debbie are there now.

One big difference between Grand View and HUP is that the platelets had to be delivered from Philadelphia to Grand View rather than having a full vault of platelets at Penn. On the other hand, we did have a chance for a nice late lunch / early dinner at an Italian restaurant on the way home, Deb took a nap and when Grand View called, Mike took her back for the platelets. While still an 8-10 hour day, it is much more pleasant at Grand View than at HUP.

We will be meeting with Dr. Porter on Wednesday and the intention is to discuss the next phase of treatment/comfort for Debbie. Her current symptomatology is close to what she had 2 years ago with her high fevers, stomach discomfort and rigors. The first two are back and probably the 3rd is just around the corner. The bath tub is running many times a night and she is not getting much sleep. We need to decide if we stay with HUP or move the next phase of the treatments to Grand View.

Thanks for all of your blogs, cards and calls. They mean the world to Debbie and help her continue on.

Debbie sends her love to all.