Transplant 2 Day 2

This is Karen, posting for my parents tonight.

We give thanks that the broad spectrum antibiotics worked well and although Dad's fever spiked quite high, it did break by morning.  He will be staying on antibiotics now for the duration of his stay.  Blood cultures are showing a staph infection of the blood.  The doctors are confident that the type of antibiotics he is on will be able to eradicate this infection but they are keeping a close eye on it.  As the blood cultures develop, the doctors will be more sure of the type of infection and be able to maintain a good balance of drugs to combat it.

Dad is very weak and is having a very hard time standing and walking.  His feet feel painful and fiery, and they are a bit swollen, and it is difficult for him to stand up or walk.  His hands are also sore and he has no strength in them.  There is no strength or stamina in his legs either.  The doctor has prescribed a nerve drug to help with these issues and hopefully he will experience some relief.  They think the chemo and mixture of drugs have done something to his nerve endings.

Dad's bilirubin levels skyrocketed to 300 in the past 24 hours (normal level is 10) and he is pretty yellow.  The doctors think that this may be partially due to differing blood types and rH factors with the donor and Dad's blood.  The rest of the liver functions are good, however.  The kidneys are also functioning well.  Upon further checking, most of the bilirubin is coming from Dad's body and not from friction from the transplant.  The doctors did an ultrasound to look at the liver; now they have ordered a CT scan to look at the liver, gall bladder, and abdominal area. We are hopeful that it will happen sometime this weekend, though it might be pushed to next week.

He received platelets this morning as he was below 10 and is also currently receiving two units of blood.  His hemoglobin is at 64.

On a grateful note, Dad was finally moved into an isolation room this afternoon and he is glad to be here.  It is quieter here than in the private room right behind the nurses' station.  The nurses in the isolation ward are able to be more attentive and there are more precautions taken here as well.  This is not the room we were originally expecting to get, so Dad is unfortunately back in a pink room... but he's taking it well. :)

A physiotherapist was able to visit Dad and he also now has a walker to help him get around.  Dad will not be able to use it very often, however, with his IV pole and isolation restrictions. The physiotherapist acknowledges that they can't do much due to low platelets and energy, but wants to get some exercises for him to do to help with stiffness and pain.

Now that Dad is officially in his isolation room, we have hung the picture of the mountains that hung in Dad's room this past September.  It has Lamentations 3:22-23 written on the bottom of it: Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning.  Great is Your faithfulness!  We also have family pictures hanging there, as well as a few cards from our little boys and family.  It is a good reminder for every morning and an encouragement to rest in God's strength at the beginning of each day.