Let's Play "Stump the Doctors"

Here we are on Day 15 and Clyde is in the hsopital again. This is her second visit as an inpatient since the transplant. On Tuesday evening, she had a temperature that peaked at 104.8. Yikes! After Tylenol, her temp came down to around 99 but she didn't feel very well.

Several rounds of testing failed to reveal the cause of the elevated temp. Clyde had thought during her last hospital visit that she had a slight sinus infection. She was given some antibiotics but still the temperature came up. The medical team has tested for H1N1 and the more common flu but both results were negative.

Tests of her blood show that her white blood cell count has risen dramatically in the last few days. It's believed that the cells that are present are actually my cells beginning to prosper in her blood stream. After her battle with Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome last week, she was taken off the immonosuppresion drug Tacrolimus. Perhaps that opened a window for the Graft versus Host Disease to make an appearance. There are other symptoms present (that we won't cover in great detail) that also support the GvHD diagnosis, but nothing is for sure at the moment. Some GvHD is desired as that is how the transplant works against the cancer in her body. The medical team assures her that it is controllable when it arrises but it can be a serious problem.

For now, she is feeling better than yesterday but still not herself. I'm getting reports a couple of times a day. Testing continues and I will update as soon as there is some news.

In the meantime, keep a good thought.

Be well.