Monday, July 7 - the saga continues

рвота, κάνετε εμετό, vómito, Erbrechen,呕吐 This is Russian, Greek, Spanish, German, and Chinese for the english word vomit. I am tired of writing that word, I am sure readers are tired of seeing it, and most importantly Chris is tired of doing it. It just never ends. Last night after I posted the blog update and again this afternoon after getting back from the hospital she vómitoed again. She continues to lose weight and is now down to 105 lbs. Just 2 months ago she was 121. We spent a great deal of time talking to the medical team about this today. Of course we could not find a common denominator as to a cause (remember this is an art, not a science), but they have been very focused on it as they are truly concerned (although they explained that this kind of occurrence happens occasionally). Everyone has a different reaction to the toxicity of the chemo. Some people have kidney and liver issues, some have skin lesions or bone pain, and some have Gastro-Intestinal problems. So, the new protocol (medical speak for "course of action") is to add another anti-nausea medicine, increase some existing dosages, and change the diet a bit. Just listening to the team propose various options and debate pros and cons is a bit scary, but this is where the faith in their expertise comes in. I question everything, ask a litany of questions, read all about the prescriptions they are giving her, and challenge the team often. I do feel they they have come to respect my involvement as well as my perspective. Slowly I am earning my way into the decision making process, but never will I pretend I know more than I do (as is often the case at work my colleagues would tell you).

So we now have a new set of drugs and pills which we will try. The purpose of the new pill is to move things into her digestive system quicker and thus get it out of her stomach before she loses it. They have a pill for everything, we just don't seem to have the right ones yet.

I met with a family today where their relative has been in the ICU for 4 days now, with very serious issues. I keep hearing these horrific stories and I think how lucky we are that we are not in that bad of shape. Chris also spoke to her friend Jen today (the one who the original article about amyloidosis was written about) who recently went through her second treatment. She has a fantastic attitude, has a ton of energy, and serves as an inspiration to Chris. So Chris sees the bad side of this and thinks how lucky she is, then she sees the good side and knows there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The doctors said there were three things Chris needed before she could get the green light home:
1) stop the nausea 2) get the platelets over 100, and get the edema under control. They do not want to pull the chest catheter until both the nausea and the edema are balanced, as they use this catheter for directly giving her the medicine. This way she can't Erbrechen (see the first line) it.

Her CBC numbers today were:

Measurement / Chris / Normal Range / Result
WBC (white) /3.0/ 4.0 - 11.0 / LOW
RBC (red) / 3.1/ 4.2 - 5.4 / LOW
HGB (Hemoglobin) / 9.8 / 12 - 16 / LOW
Platelet / 67.0 / 150 - 400 / LOW

Chris and I asked them what they would guess the next 10 days might look like. They believe that they will solve the рвота by Wednesday (optimists maybe?), pull the catheter by Friday, watch her over the weekend, and let her go home the middle of next week. So in the worst case, we are here until Wednesday of next week.

The one issue that is starting to come up nightly is the recurring nightmares. Mine, not Chris'.
I keep having these dreams that these two guys names Chandler and Joey are my roommates and we live across the hall from these women who, well never mind. Just suffice it to say that season 10 cannot come quick enough. I am so close to κάνετε εμετό every time I watch it.

Chris continues to really appreciate all the support, prayers, love, and positive vibes being sent her way. She knows that an incredible number of people are thinking of her every single day and she knows that you are all praying for her. You have no idea how much it means to her that people from around the world are pulling for her. I think of it as a 24 hour vigil of hope for her successful recovery.

Thanks to all!!

p.s. apologies for those who don't have international language support enabled on their PC's. I have no idea what will show up when you read this on your PC.