February 6

Dear Family,
The last news about Mom that Val sent out indicated that Mom has really not been feeling well during this round of Chemo recovery. She has felt pretty crummy so far this week, but thinks she might be turning the corner. She had a good night's sleep from Sunday to Monday--the first in several days. On Monday she still had a low grade fever. Also, her albumin level was low meaning that she is not getting enough nutrition. The doctor said that the pain she has been feeling in her chest and all around her torso could be the result of a Nulasta shot she received on January 26th, the day she finished her second round of chemo. The Nulasta stimulates the bone marrow to start producing blood cells; however, it can make the bones ache from working so hard. I asked about the possibility of Mom's picc line being infected but that was ruled out. Mom did need to get platelets and two units of blood on Monday. She started feeling worse as the day went on and felt that there wasn't enough room inside for all the fluids they were pumping in her. She still ached all over and was not sleeping well.
On Tuesday morning she was still achy and felt puffy and swollen. She doesn't have any fluid in her lungs and her fever was down so that was good. Her albumin was still low and Mom is having a really hard time eating so they started her on a TPN drip (Total Parental Nutrition) which should give her the nutrients she needs. Also the doctor ordered Zofran (nausea) and Oxycotin (pain) to be given on a regular schedule in order to keep the pain and nausea under control. After Mom took the Oxycotin, she went off to La-la land and slept all day. Jason and his roommate gave her a blessing in the evening and then she conked out for the whole night and slept soundly.
This morning when I saw her, she was still feeling doped up from the Oxycotin and didn't want to take it any more. The doctor ordered the dose to be cut in half but Mom still chose not to take it unless she really feels in pain. She doesn't like the way it makes her feel at all. She was still pretty sleepy but is starting to feel a little better. At least the Oxycotin allowed her to get a really good night's sleep after not being able to sleep well for several days. Her hematocrit is up (good) and she is getting the IV nutrition and managing the nausea a bit better so we are hoping she is moving past the worst part of the recovery. Mom's neutrophil count is still at zero. Last time the count stayed at zero for 16 days so it will probably be Sunday or Monday before we see that count begin to climb. Let's pray that it will start to move faster than that since Mom has had to go through all these aches and pains. We'll continue to give you updates and hope they will keep getting better.
Love,
Kathie