Posted by Becky
Starting yesterday evening, Leif's been in a lot of pain from his big marrow bones. He's been getting shots of Neupogen, which increases his neutrophil production. That's a good thing. But, it has a side effect of aching bones. When he's not in the hospital he gets an extended-release version of the same drug, Neulasta, which makes him achy. But yesterday's shot of Neupogen seems to have put him over the edge and he's been needing a lot of pain medicine, which still isn't doing the trick. He didn't sleep well last night, and hasn't been able to do much today except lie down and make faces. The doctor increased his pain med prescription, but that hasn't really helped yet either.
He also has a rash/facial flushing. The doctors think this is probably a reaction to an antibiotic, but of course they can't tell which one since he's gotten so many, and the amount of time from dose to reaction can vary widely. The rash itself isn't too bad - not very itchy - but it could be the beginning of a more severe reaction. So, they've decided to stop all the antibiotics he was taking heretofore and put him on cefepime. That only gets dosed IV for a couple of hours a day, and the rest of the time, Leif can be unplugged from his IV pole! Once the bone pain simmers down, I know he'll appreciate the increased mobility.
Still no conclusive information about what bug was making him sick.
Currently Leif's getting a chest xray to see how his lungs are doing. His white blood cell counts more than doubled since yesterday, thanks to the Neupogen. His other blood counts are going up, although not as fast. So Leif is still doing what needs to be done to get out of here, although we don't know when he'll be able to go home yet.
Starting yesterday evening, Leif's been in a lot of pain from his big marrow bones. He's been getting shots of Neupogen, which increases his neutrophil production. That's a good thing. But, it has a side effect of aching bones. When he's not in the hospital he gets an extended-release version of the same drug, Neulasta, which makes him achy. But yesterday's shot of Neupogen seems to have put him over the edge and he's been needing a lot of pain medicine, which still isn't doing the trick. He didn't sleep well last night, and hasn't been able to do much today except lie down and make faces. The doctor increased his pain med prescription, but that hasn't really helped yet either.
He also has a rash/facial flushing. The doctors think this is probably a reaction to an antibiotic, but of course they can't tell which one since he's gotten so many, and the amount of time from dose to reaction can vary widely. The rash itself isn't too bad - not very itchy - but it could be the beginning of a more severe reaction. So, they've decided to stop all the antibiotics he was taking heretofore and put him on cefepime. That only gets dosed IV for a couple of hours a day, and the rest of the time, Leif can be unplugged from his IV pole! Once the bone pain simmers down, I know he'll appreciate the increased mobility.
Still no conclusive information about what bug was making him sick.
Currently Leif's getting a chest xray to see how his lungs are doing. His white blood cell counts more than doubled since yesterday, thanks to the Neupogen. His other blood counts are going up, although not as fast. So Leif is still doing what needs to be done to get out of here, although we don't know when he'll be able to go home yet.
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