More Challenges

The day started off with a bang, blowing my nose at 6:20 AM. I started a nose bleed that took 40 minutes to get under control because my platelets were down to 14K. They gave me a couple of platelet transfusions during the day and I saw an ENT doctor at 5 PM who cauterized the bleeder nicely.

Except for the Platelet count my numbers were today: WBC 1150, HCT 27.9, ANC 968. They would have been considerably higher except the order for the stimulating factor (GCSF) had only been written for ten days ending on the 21st. I immediately questioned this last night when the nurse told me there was no GCSF ordered. I knew from my last transplant they had given it to me for days past recovery of the white count. But the Fellow on call who is unfamiliar with the patients on this ward refused to call the attending to see if this was indeed correct.

That was straightened out on rounds this morning but apparently they only give the GCSF at 9PM. That may or may not bear on the latest revelation. Because of continued temps up to 39 C (102.4F) they sent me for a CT scan of the chest which revealed multiple small septic nodules throughout the lung and 2 infiltrates (pneumonia) on the left side. I actually feel pretty good. My oxygen saturation is normal, I'm not short of breath, and all blood cultures since the first set that showed the staph have been negative. They got more aggressive omitting the antibiotic that the staph was clearly resistant to and replaced it with one that it is sensitive to. So now I'm finally on 2 anti-staph drugs.

Am I being tested or what?