Sorry for the late update. I’m more rested today but you know how grueling it can be when someone is in the hospital. John and I both just want our routine back.
TL;DR
- Everything is looking great.
- John got moved to a fancy room in the transplant/cancer ward.
- He may be discharged tomorrow late.
Wed, Aug 19, 2:00 p.m.
This is when the first blood cultures were taken at the cancer clinic.
These blood samples were taken in special bottles that foster the growth of any germs or bacteria in the blood so they can be easily detected. The cultures are checked once every 24-hours. After 5 days, if no germs or bacteria are detected then we know there’s no infection.
This is why it’s taking so long to release him from the hospital. If they release him too early and there’s an infection, it will take hold again and we’ll have to start this whole process over.
4:30 (approximately) we move to the ER
7:30 He is triaged
8:30 He is moved to an ER overflow room
Thu, Aug 20
8:00 a.m. moved to another ER overflow room
11:30 a.m. John sees attending doctors
This is the first time John saw the attending doctors, Patel and Chobal. It had not even been 24-hours since the cultures were drawn.
Although his symptoms had improved and blood clots were ruled out, the blood cultures need a good 48-hours to really rule out infection.
They also said his neutrophil count was 0, as in he had no white bloods cells specifically for fighting infection! The desired range is 500 - 1800. So, he would be given meds to stimulate these white bloods cells, continue antibiotics, and wait for the cultures.
5:00 p.m. He’s moved to an ER hospital room. Still on the list to get moved to the cancer ward.
Fri, Aug 21, 11:30 a.m.
Drs. Patel and Chobal said John’s neutrophils were up to 180. Given all of his overall improvements they felt very good that the cultures would come back negative for infection and he was just suffering from severe dehydration.
They gave John the choice of staying on antibiotics one more day (the hyper-safe route) or stopping all antibiotics now so he could be discharged tomorrow after the 48-hour culture results came in. Of course, John wants to go home. They will continue to monitor the culture for 5-days and be ready to immediately readmit him if he develops symptoms at home or the culture turns positive.
2:00 p.m. I leave the hospital
5:30 p.m. He’s moved to the transplant/cancer ward.
John actually did a FaceTime call with me so he could show me his new room. It’s huge, he gets to order what he wants for meals and he has streaming services on the TV. There’s even a couch that would have been great to sleep on two days ago.
