Posted by Becky
The update below is actually written by my sister Stephanie, who's visiting. I am staying at the apartment today and resting up after a draining few weeks. I don't want to get sick! Yesterday Leif had another surgery on yet another abscess on his butt. This time the surgeon put in a seton, to prevent the formation of any more fistulas or abscesses.
The big task this week is clearing up the infections Leif has, due to the immune suppression from this latest round of chemotherapy.
The update below is actually written by my sister Stephanie, who's visiting. I am staying at the apartment today and resting up after a draining few weeks. I don't want to get sick! Yesterday Leif had another surgery on yet another abscess on his butt. This time the surgeon put in a seton, to prevent the formation of any more fistulas or abscesses.
The big task this week is clearing up the infections Leif has, due to the immune suppression from this latest round of chemotherapy.
• Dr. Hill, the attending oncologist this week, came in and discussed the merits of giving Leif intravenous Ig (immunoglobulin) treatment; apparently this will provide a boost to his immune system, and potentially bond any antibodies he might be producing which prevent other blood products, like platelets, from helping as much as they might. It sounded low-risk and potentially helpful.
• An infectious disease doctor came in and examined his butt and his bumps. I left the room for the butt examination, so I don't know what the conclusions were, but it seems to be doing as well as can be expected. The bumps have not increased and most of them are getting smaller and less painful, with the exception of the one under his shoulder blade, which is still extremely painful. You can't see the place where they biopsied it, however, which to my mind indicates that it's not getting worse, particularly as his temperature is still near normal.
• Another doctor came in to discuss giving him hyperbaric oxygen treatments, which purport to speed healing by forcing oxygen into his body at double the normal atmospheric pressure, for about 1.5 hours a day. Leif and I both thought this sounded a bit like snake oil, but probably won't hurt him, particularly if he gets to stay in a quiet room with nobody bothering him for two hours every day. ;-)
The Hyperbaric treatment is legitimate. It is very widely used to treat skin wounds. The problem is that, unless they've made changes in the last twenty years, is that they put you in a very small room or chamber. The hyperbaric treatments capsules can also be pressurized, to treat folks with the bends from scuba accidents. Because it's 100 percent oxygen, which can exacerbate combustion, Lief will have to be scrubbed to make sure there is very little oil on his skin and hair and he will be in 100% cotton scrubs to avoid static sparks.
ReplyDeleteEverything is cotton, but there is no scrubbing to remove oil. Instead, I am attached to a ground which stops any charge build-up. Working out the rate of combustion accidents in clinical treatment chambers over the last 5 years vs the number of treatments, the chance of dying is about the same as from an earthquake (1 in 100,000). The chamber is relatively small, but luckily I do not have claustrophobia. I find the treatments pretty peaceful. It is one of the few times that nothing is beeping at me, and no-one wants to poke me or take my vitals, etc. Yesterday though, I had some congestion, and when we depressurized it irritated my ears, so I had to forgo todays session. Hopefully, I can have a session tomorrow.
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