Harry had another tough week. From Monday through Wednesday, he had constant nausea and was quite ill. Harry's blood numbers continued to drop. His color was off and he was thoroughly exhausted. And on Friday, when the possibility of a transfusion was mentioned, things were so bad, he actually said he wanted it.
Normal Harry 6/18 6/24 7/1 7/8. 7/21. 7/23 7/25 8/1
Hemoglobin 12-16 14.1 13.3. 13.2 13.3 8.7 7.4 7.7 7.3
Platelets 150-350 235 174. 168 170 89 65 78 370
WBC 5000-10000 8750 6300. 6200 3900 2006 1005 1420 640
ANC. Above 1500. 4700. 2770 1460 1150 270 480 50
This transfusion, however, did not bring the energy boost he received from last week's infusion. Harry's color improved. But his ANC is so low, he cannot go out for fear of infections. His body does not have the ability to fight off anything. This meant telling a friend recovering from a cold not to visit.
Anything can land Harry in the hospital. A cold can become like pneumonia for him, and an infection would be like Ebola to him (and, of course, there is also now an Ebola outbreak to add to the worries). So no hugs, kisses or contact. Which was a problem because Raina came home for two days.
Raina had been in Tajikistan on a fellowship for the past six weeks to learn Farsi. She returned late Thursday night (even later than she should have since Lufthansa lost her luggage) and was off Sunday morning for a high school journalism seminar this week in Michigan. Ken, who left for a Hudson conference in India on Wednesday, returned from Bangalore on Sunday morning. And with two international travelers (and the aforementioned Ebola epidemic), I had to enforce disinfecting showers before saying hello to Harry.
The numbers were also so low, that Harry's doctors have decided he needs to take a week off from treatment. Unfortunately, this is not a vacation. It is more like a hibernation. Should Harry's blood counts rise, he may be allowed to take a long weekend away beginning Thursday.
Despite getting a clean MRI last week, the lower back pain continued. We need to find out whether it is a muscle or nerve problem as the MRI showed there was no inflammation in the bone or joints.
The week was not without visitors. Our cousins Leslie & Joe Sandler came by for a visit. Due to Harry's exhaustion, he missed some visitors bearing gifts, such as Rob Davis dropping off tomatoes, the Ingbers who did a Costco run, and Gil Rosen with his miracle Douby juice. And, of course, big thank yous to Charisse again for being with us at the hospital and Lyric for organizing our life.
Normal Harry 6/18 6/24 7/1 7/8. 7/21. 7/23 7/25 8/1
Hemoglobin 12-16 14.1 13.3. 13.2 13.3 8.7 7.4 7.7 7.3
Platelets 150-350 235 174. 168 170 89 65 78 370
WBC 5000-10000 8750 6300. 6200 3900 2006 1005 1420 640
ANC. Above 1500. 4700. 2770 1460 1150 270 480 50
This transfusion, however, did not bring the energy boost he received from last week's infusion. Harry's color improved. But his ANC is so low, he cannot go out for fear of infections. His body does not have the ability to fight off anything. This meant telling a friend recovering from a cold not to visit.
Anything can land Harry in the hospital. A cold can become like pneumonia for him, and an infection would be like Ebola to him (and, of course, there is also now an Ebola outbreak to add to the worries). So no hugs, kisses or contact. Which was a problem because Raina came home for two days.
Raina had been in Tajikistan on a fellowship for the past six weeks to learn Farsi. She returned late Thursday night (even later than she should have since Lufthansa lost her luggage) and was off Sunday morning for a high school journalism seminar this week in Michigan. Ken, who left for a Hudson conference in India on Wednesday, returned from Bangalore on Sunday morning. And with two international travelers (and the aforementioned Ebola epidemic), I had to enforce disinfecting showers before saying hello to Harry.
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| Fatwa on hugging very temporarily lifted: Raina returns! |
Despite getting a clean MRI last week, the lower back pain continued. We need to find out whether it is a muscle or nerve problem as the MRI showed there was no inflammation in the bone or joints.
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| our cousins - Joe & Leslie Sandler (with Douglass!) |
The week was not without visitors. Our cousins Leslie & Joe Sandler came by for a visit. Due to Harry's exhaustion, he missed some visitors bearing gifts, such as Rob Davis dropping off tomatoes, the Ingbers who did a Costco run, and Gil Rosen with his miracle Douby juice. And, of course, big thank yous to Charisse again for being with us at the hospital and Lyric for organizing our life.
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| What Eden & I do for fun these days |
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