Tuesday

Today's blood test showed great platlets but the ANC fell even lower. A couple more days like this and it will be back to zero. Randy is taking this bravely but I am heartbroken. 

The nurses are still encouraging us because the insurance approved the shots to help his bone marrow. It's the same thing he got before they collected his cells for transfusion. 

Over the weekend Randy's appetite disappeared. He only eats a couple of times a day because he knows he should and even then he can't finish most things. He can't have fresh vegetables or fruits; he can't even eat a banana even though it gets peeled. The risk of an infection is too high because we cannot cook germs out of fresh foods and washing may not clean it enough.

Right now Randy's only real immunity defense is his skin, so he must be extremely careful not to get any cuts or scrapes that might let an infection in. He cannot clip his nails or floss his teeth, and can only shave with an electric razor. He cannot have a dental appointment for several months. He's taking antiviral and antifungal meds, just in case something slips in anyway.

His only other defense is wearing a mask. Even walking past someone is risky because they could sneeze or cough, or they could be coming down with a virus they don't know about. 

Randy had a slight bout of the sniffles so he got a swab test for infections. Thank God that was negative!  We think it is probably caused by that Sahara dust drifting over Florida. There is brilliant sunshine and it's very hot but there is a slight haze.

I thank God for being with us because I honestly could not stand this otherwise.

The bright side is that his CVL was removed today. He has been very anxious to get that out, even though it means they will have to draw blood the old fashioned way for the next couple of days. The technician was skilled and efficient so we don't expect any problems from this procedure.