Posted by Becky
Leif had a long night last night, getting blood, platelets, and oxygen. Today, he got two CT scans. The first is for his left eye. He has a spot in his vision, like a floater, but his vision at the edge of the floater is distorted. So they're checking that out. In the meantime, he's wearing an eye patch because the distortion gives him a headache. So although he feels bad, at least he looks piratical.
The second scan was a neck-to-groin one to see what's going on with him infection-wise. He got a visit from Dr. Courtney, an infectious disease specialist, today, who says that it appears he has pneumonia in both lungs. This was not visible in the chest xray he got in Belfast last Tuesday, so it's new since then. Dr Courtney did approve of the type of antibiotics Leif started taking last Tuesday (Augmentin and Levofloxacin). Part of each lung is fine, which is why he's not noticeably short of breath, but the doctor is concerned. So, he has contacted a pulmonologist, who may do a bronchoscopy tomorrow, to determine whether the infection is bacterial or fungal. Depending on the response to the antibiotics he's been getting, he may not need a bronchoscopy, but they want to be prepared if he does. He's been on IV Zosim for the last two days, which is a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
They also took some more blood (from his port and a peripheral vein) this afternoon to do another blood culture. They specifically are checking for a particular bacteria that can infect ports. They did a culture in Belfast too, but here in Midcoast they haven't gotten the results yet, and it's an important thing to check.
Starting tonight, they've put Leif on two antibiotics, vancomycin (for gram-positive bacteria) and gentamicin (for gram-negative).
He's also getting two units of platelets tonight - just started the first one - and one unit of red blood cells, and they've been giving him oxygen since yesterday. With the O2 he's not noticeably short of breath, but without it, the O2 saturation in his blood goes down fairly quickly. His nurses are giving him plenty of painkillers, and the nutritionists here have taken him on as a challenge. They sent up a roasted-veggie dish and some good fruit this evening. I have the fridge and freezer stocked with good things too, but his appetite hasn't been so great today.
Leif had a long night last night, getting blood, platelets, and oxygen. Today, he got two CT scans. The first is for his left eye. He has a spot in his vision, like a floater, but his vision at the edge of the floater is distorted. So they're checking that out. In the meantime, he's wearing an eye patch because the distortion gives him a headache. So although he feels bad, at least he looks piratical.
The second scan was a neck-to-groin one to see what's going on with him infection-wise. He got a visit from Dr. Courtney, an infectious disease specialist, today, who says that it appears he has pneumonia in both lungs. This was not visible in the chest xray he got in Belfast last Tuesday, so it's new since then. Dr Courtney did approve of the type of antibiotics Leif started taking last Tuesday (Augmentin and Levofloxacin). Part of each lung is fine, which is why he's not noticeably short of breath, but the doctor is concerned. So, he has contacted a pulmonologist, who may do a bronchoscopy tomorrow, to determine whether the infection is bacterial or fungal. Depending on the response to the antibiotics he's been getting, he may not need a bronchoscopy, but they want to be prepared if he does. He's been on IV Zosim for the last two days, which is a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
They also took some more blood (from his port and a peripheral vein) this afternoon to do another blood culture. They specifically are checking for a particular bacteria that can infect ports. They did a culture in Belfast too, but here in Midcoast they haven't gotten the results yet, and it's an important thing to check.
Starting tonight, they've put Leif on two antibiotics, vancomycin (for gram-positive bacteria) and gentamicin (for gram-negative).
He's also getting two units of platelets tonight - just started the first one - and one unit of red blood cells, and they've been giving him oxygen since yesterday. With the O2 he's not noticeably short of breath, but without it, the O2 saturation in his blood goes down fairly quickly. His nurses are giving him plenty of painkillers, and the nutritionists here have taken him on as a challenge. They sent up a roasted-veggie dish and some good fruit this evening. I have the fridge and freezer stocked with good things too, but his appetite hasn't been so great today.
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