It has been another two challenging days since my update on Sunday. I received my IV's yesterday yet continue to have breathing difficulties, coughing, and fevers. My labs yesterday were concerning. My potassium was elevated as was my creatinine (indication that my kidneys are struggling to flush these toxic medicines). Most concerning, my White Blood Count had jumped by 30,000, from around 70,000 to 100,000 (normal is 5,000-10,000). I showed 28 percent atypical lymphocytes. The local oncologist wants to perform flow cytometry and some other testing to rule out a transformation to another, more aggressive leukemia. I feel confident that is not occuring. Fortunately, these tests can now be run on peripheral blood (from veins) versus from bone marrow as it was done in my earlier years with leukemia. He wants to wait until I have completed the IV's for ten days before we perform these tests.
I noticed the area around my PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) line was reddening yesterday and was draining a bit. My arm hurt more and more overnight, so I called my family doctor this morning. She agreed to take a look at it for me early this morning. As soon as she examined it, she said the PICC line must be removed. My heart sank. Not only because of the risks that a PICC line infection poses for me (infection in blood stream) but also because I know that vein access is failing. She and her nurse removed the PICC line and I had to stay for a while to get the bleeding to stop. Then she wanted to culture the tip of the PICC line and order blood cultures - all of this required another 5 failed venous access attempts. I desperately need to improve because I do not know what we will do without the PICC line. I should know more tomorrow about the infection. It is surreal that I can be taking so many antibiotics and still develop these infections.
I left home at 8:30 AM and returned at 10:30 AM from the PICC removal and labs then left again at noon and didn't return until 5:30 from my IV's. Just maintaining this schedule would be exhausting for a healthy body!
My cough and fevers continued today. Friday will conclude four entire weeks of IV treatments with two different drugs. I desperately need to sense improvement. Thank you for your prayers.
1 comment:
I'm prAying for you . You are so strong and persistant to deal with this illness. I love youR posts- you are a talented writer. Thank you for sharing your beautiful thoughts. My father has cll too. God bless you and may you find daily strength in His word. Please keep writing !
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