Yesterday's outing involved the first outpatient visit to the Infectious Disease doctor's office and infusion center. They were incredibly busy, having to fit five days of appointments and procedures into three.
The drill is to see the doctor or PA, then have a vancomycin level and other blood work drawn, and the PICC line dressing changed.
The following day, Fred drives back to pick up the "medicine balls" full of antibiotic that are correctly dosed for the week.
This morning, one of the nurses called to say that we have to go from a once-a-day schedule to every 12 hours because my vancomycin level is very low. We chose midnight and noon as it complements our outrageous lifestyle.
The kicker for me, though, is that my white count is 17,000.
The ID doctor said yesterday that if the pain does not let up in my right shoulder -- from which the prosthesis was removed and a cement spacer put in back at the end of August -- that he was going to recommend operating *again* and removing the spacer. I had a temp of 100.5 -- I stopped checking it when I got home from the hospital -- thinking, dreaming, of smooth sailing.
My cultures still have not grown and he finds that somewhat ominous -- to him this means either a rare bug, fungus, or TB, though the fungus and TB should not have been so very difficult to grow. He has asked the lab for 5 more days.
Where and how did I pick up a rare bug -- in my bones, no less? My understanding of the immune system does not seem to be growing, either. No, I have begun to cling to simplistic notions.
Wherever and however this happened, I hope I had a good time.
As always, more props to Fred. How much can he take? What can I do for him? Does he think of me and wish... well, wish what any normal person might wish?
your blog is feel good......
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