Hurricane Helene passed us by but our neighbors weren't so lucky. During the night a section of their carport roof was lifted up and twisted around, to bang on their house roof. The next evening Randy and Jonathan from down the road flipped it back on to the carport roof and temporarily tacked it in place with screws.
We went back to Shand's again for another checkup and were so blessed that Randy's numbers are good! Good enough that he got the first of his immunization shots. Since his immune system was completely killed off, he needs to get all the "baby" shots again, like measles, chicken pox, etc. This time they only gave him a pneumonia shot; they are saving the rest for later.
As an extra blessing, we walked over to the Bone Marrow ward and met up with Brittany again. She's the nurse who saw him through his chemo, transfusion, and most of his recovery. She had been promoted to Charge Nurse shortly before Randy arrived in June but she came out of retirement to do one more transfusion, and boy, were we glad she did! She prayed with us, interpreted medical jargon for us, encouraged us, provided comfort items (like those elusive shower shoes) ... anything and everything she could do to make Randy's life better. We will always appreciate Brittany, as well as many other people on the 7th floor.
Since we've been home Randy has continued to struggle with loss of appetite caused by an odd, uneasy nausea. Eventually Dr Dean told us that it was probably because his digestive system was sloughing off what was killed by the chemo. That has been getting a little better, thank God.
We have been self-quarantining since Randy started chemo treatments in February. For someone as social as Randy that is a very long time to be away from the people he loves. Fortunately the journey is made easier with support of others. The texts and calls from friends mean so much. People have sent us cards and gifts, and now are bringing us meals. The local Weight Watcher group that Randy has attended even sent this lovely hand-written quilt!
For several weeks I have had nothing unusual to write about because the days have been the same. Randy has been in a state of extreme exhaustion, trying to come out of it enough each day to eat something and do a little activity. And every Friday we have driven back to Gainesville to get his blood tested again. At the high point in the hospital his ANC was over 6,000. Unfortunately it has been going down steadily and as of last Friday it had sunk to about 1,100, and we were getting concerned.
But today his ANC was (drum roll) 4,590! And his WBC and Platelets are normal, too! So much good news in one day!
Friday the IV in Randy's right wrist was clogged, so they took it out and put a new one in on his left wrist. Unfortunately the next morning his hand was very swollen. So they took that line out and put one into his right forearm. But as the day wore on it really started to hurt. After dinner the nurse tried to find a suitable vein in his left arm but couldn't. A phlebotomist came in and checked his arms a long time before saying nope, she would only stick him if she was confident and she wasn't. So the order was put in for an ultrasound phlebotomist. And at 3:30 in the morning a guy came bustling in, wheeling a portable ultrasound machine and cheerily saying "Good morning! I'm going to turn on the light now!"
He was quite good and placed a needle in a deep vein in Randy's left forearm. Just in time Randy mentioned that he was allergic to the standard dressing and the nurse prepared the other kind. Then she removed the old IV, which really hurt. But Randy had a brand new IV, just in time for his nightly antibiotic drip.
30 minutes later another ultrasound phlebotomist came in and turned on the lights, ready to change his IV needle! No thanks, once was enough.
At one point I asked the nurse about the results of Randy's Saturday evening blood test. His ANC is up to 2,800! The doctor has warned us it will probably fluctuate up and down, but at least now there is some "up"!
