After a long day of transfusions, and waiting on ultrasounds, the Blackwell's are tired! Burns hemoglobin dropped again, so he needed a unit of blood today. His creatinine was elevated, and they are concerned it might be due to his immunosuppressants. They drew some tests today, and we should get the results back soon and will adjust the medicine accordingly. They are staying on top of it early, to avoid further damage to his kidneys. We inquired about him possibly receiving one iv antibiotic instead of having to swallow so many pills. Just the thought of them make him nauseous- who can blame him, you should see the number he is on! Hopefully we can get the 'ok' on that.
Yesterday he woke up with a pain behind one of his knees. We thought maybe he just pulled it or leaned on it awkwardly. Today, we showed the PA and it was swollen, and he sent us to get an ultrasound, which unfortunately resulted in hangin out in a waiting room for a few hours- thank goodness for the ability to rent movies on iTunes! They think it might be a blood clot, but with his platelets being so low, they will be hesitant to do much unless absolutely necessary. The PA was going to call us tonight if it came back serious, so knock on wood, I think we are in the clear!
Till tomorrow...
Laura
Hoping that blood clot turns out to be nothing, and that you get to be on a couple fewer pills.
ReplyDeleteBurns, I hadn't thought about this til I saw another unit of blood had gone into you - I have type O+ blood and would gladly donate, or would gladly replace if you want me to. Don't know why I hadn't picked up on that sooner.
I just had cataract surgery about 10 days ago, so they may want me to wait a couple of weeks, but I've been a blood donor for many years, and wouldn't mind doing that at all. If it's best just to donate at the Red Cross and attach your name to the donation, that's fine too. Just ask your folks to let me know.
And meanwhile, we hope you'll be able to stop with some of those pills, stop aching behind your knee, and start watching even better movies from the comfort of your own recliner!
And here are some movie suggestions - "Local Hero" (one of our family's favorites), and "Hopscotch" (another one). Both are old comedies - Local Hero takes place mostly in Scotland, and the Mark Knopfler music is wonderful. Hopscotch is a marvelously funny Walter Matthau flick. We re-view them often. Neither is depressing!
Let me know about blood.
Suzy Cashwell
Burns, I hope that your knee pain and swelling goes down, and that the unit of blood fixes your hemoglobin. I pray that the test results come back with good news, and that your medicines will be adjusted for the good.
ReplyDeleteGreg Thompson