Jamuary 30, 2008 Update

Dear Fods,

Sorry for the delay in posting and keeping you up to date. We have been very busy. I was discharged on Tuesday January 15th, but the dizzies and hearing loss have continued to this day. I have visited with the ENT specialist who is not encouraging with the hearing. He remains of the view that the hearing loss will be permanent. I hope not! The dizzies have made even simple movement a chore.

On Friday January 18th, we had an emergency trip to the ER -- yes the boys were thrilled -- because one of my pupils was "blown". With the "bleed" in my brain, I was concerned that something was seriously wrong. Off we trundled to the HUP ER on a Friday night. While we were taken to a room quickly, and they were concerned about my pupils, the wait is a wait on a Friday night. I had a CAT scan within 10 minutes but they could not explain why my pupil was dilated. The neurologist came in and examined me and again, could find no other neuro deficits -- and then he vanished for about an hour or so. When he returned with a message from a friend on his blackberry, he asked me if I had a scopolamine patch on -- which I had told everyone before even coming down which helps with the dizziness and nausea -- and then told me that if I had touched the patch and then my eye -- it could cause my eye to dilate. Oh well, no more of those patches. We got home around 2:00 AM and the boys had a beer or two!

On Friday January 25th, I met with Heather and Dr. Porter. Despite all of the above, my counts have remained remarkably high. Today platelets are 62K, wbc is 5, hgb 12! These are the best counts in two years -- and wouldn't you know that I can't hear or walk because of this new problem!

When Heather and Dr. Porter saw me last week and how hard it is for me to get around, they decided that I could start the next round of dacogen at home with Penn Home Infusion. While they have never done this before, so far it has been so much better for me and everyone of my caregivers. Just mild nausea and tiredness -- plus my dizzies and deafness -- which is great I am bumbling around the house with my arms extended outward for balance like ET!

The dacogen is working and Dr. Porter is optimistic, but of course we shall see.

Thanks for all the cards, blogs and calls -- they mean so much to me. I am sorry that I have not returned calls but it is hard to talk on the phone because of my ears.

I love you all.

Debbie

January 13th Update

Dear Fods,

Congratulations to Chuck, Donna and Wyatt on Mackenzie's arrival. We are so excited for you, our prayers have been answered. Mackenzie is blessed to be joining such a wonderful family. We can't wait to see her-- you have to send a picture. My email is debteklits@comcast.net. Remember, we have all the baby beach stuff at the shore house and you are welcome to use it. The beach bubble is especially helpful.

Big congratulations to baby Isabelle. She was christened today. We are sooo bummed that we could not go there. Jessie, Walid and family went and she is the godmother. Hopefully, we will see her again soon.

Beth, sorry to hear about your mom. Hope she recovers quickly. I know being the good daughter that you are, that you are up there every chance you get.

Visitor Allison, I would love to meet you too. Unless I am at HUP -- my calendar is always open. Particularly at the moment. I am so dizzy these days, I can hardly walk let alone drive the car!

COD Eileen. I miss you guys so much and we loved your Christmas picture. You sound crazy busy as ever. We are glad to hear that Aunt Angie is getting better. Hopefully, she is putting on some weight.

May Day -- glad that you are enjoying the boys. It is hard to believe that Patrick is done his first semester. It flies by in a flash. We were looking at some old pictures the other day and we had a roll from that famous good bye party. We look like kids!

Unfortunately, I am still here at Penn. I was expecting to go home on Saturday but still have the spins. Not as bad as before, but I am too unsteady to go home. I am able to keep food down now. I have no hearing in my right ear and they are afraid that might be permanent. The dizziness could last for weeks or even months! They have scheduled a vestibular therapist. He deals with the dizziness and helps people learn how to compensate for it. I am supposted to start this physical therapy tomorrow. Also, I need an arteriogram MRA which will highlight the vessels in my brain because they think they saw something on the left side of my brain during the last MRI. Not to worry. I think that they are just being their over-cautious selves. So now I have to stay until at least Tuesday.

The sinusitis and bronchitis are not getting better and they switched the meds around today. I still think that I could be sitting on my own couch, with a fire and watching TV rather than being stuck here. I am not a happy camper.

I am eating like crazy and Joe is bringing me food from home. Junk food tastes just great. Must be the steroids that are making me so hungry. They have tripled the steroids again.

I hope all is well with you and your families. I hear there are a lot of nasty colds going around -- just look who is talking! I am going to try to walk a little in the hall with Joe's help. I did not get too far yesterday because of the spins but we will try again shortly.

Thank you for all the cards and blogs.

All my Love,

Debbie

Ever Hear of Labyrinthitis??

Dear Fods,

Since our last post, we had a great visit with Jessie and the grandbabies and they went home on New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter I got a very bad cold. The cold developed into a bad case of sinusitis, my ears got plugged and you know the drill with all of that.

On Monday, we went to Penn to start the next round of dacogen, however, when I showed up, they would not start the chemo because of my very bad cold. Dr. Porter arranged for me to see and ENT @ HUP on Tuesday afternoon. By that time, my ears were completely plugged up and I had vertigo so bad that I was getting sick all of the time. The ENT diagnosed me with the labyrinthitis which is a viral infection of the inner ear.

On Wednesday morning, Dr. Porter decided to admit me to monitor me more closely, give me IV fluids and IV steroids. Of course they also did the obligatory MRI and CAT scan. I expect that I will be in HUP until atleast the weekend, but hopefully not much longer than that. While I love all of the nurses here, I do not want to be here anymore.

Tonight is the first time that I have eaten in three days, so maybe that is a good sign. Joe brought me some Potbelly potato soup and I am even eating a little of the HUP food for dinner.

Thank you for all of your cards and blogs.

Debbie sends her love to all.