Day +11

Upward Bound..........but a Rash of a Day!!!!

When the team made rounds this morning Dr. Mehta walked in with a big smile and said well your white cell count has improved 100%.    Yesterday he was .1 today .2!!!!!  Normal is between 3.5 and 10.5 so there is a way to go.  His platelets were down to 10 and Hemoglobin up to 9.5.  These are distorted numbers since he has been receiving transfusions so they really are not his cells we are counting but the donor's cells.  All of his neutrophils, lymphocytes, etc are still tltc (too low to count). 

Today's major challenge is his rash.  He has had a small rash on and off for about 4 days.  They have changed his antibiotics several times.  This morning it was taking over his neck and upper back.  The team feels confident it is a reaction to a drug but trying to determine which one may take some doing.   By noon today the rash has taken over completely covering his head, chest and arms and back to the point where his back is completely one red blotch.  They are loading him with IV Benadryl and increased his dosage on his pain meds for the throat  ulcers so he is sleeping a lot.  This is a good thing  to help  pass the time quickly. 

Hospital Allergist just came and now she is going to speak to the attending physician and together they will make a recommendation to the transplant team of which medication to stop.  The balancing act here is to find another medication to cover the same bacteria group.   Hopefully they figure this out soon!  The good news is they have him so loaded with antihistamines so he is not scratching so they not too worried about this becoming an infection yet.

Here is some stem cell transplant trivia:

The preservative they use to freeze the stem cells has a VERY strange smell.  It is referred to as Creamed Corn.  The really strange thing is this smell stays with the recipient for about 24hours.  The entire room reeks of this smell but the person can not smell it themselves.  When we are walking the halls is is very obvious passing each room who just received a new immune system!  People receiving donor transplants are very lucky if their donor is local and the cells do not need to be frozen saving those around them from this unusual odor! 

Bill is all comfy in bed under his blanket awaiting the Kentucky Derby!!!!!