Day +13: Take Some Deep Breaths

Jason and I have had a few lousy days in a row and our lack of sleep hasn’t made our days any better.

Around 3:00 this morning Jason started breathing heavily and coughing often. After a customized mixture of cough medicine was administered (a giant oral syringe of red gunk that took 45 minutes to create) his oxygen level reflected that he was only breathing about 75% of the oxygen he needed. What followed were a series of phone calls to his doctors, an oxygen mask and coaching him to “take some deep breaths”, a heart monitor, oxygen monitor, 15-minute vital checks, and a chest x-ray. Two different doctors, four or five nurses, and a grouchy respiratory therapist packed the room from 4:00 AM until about 11:00 AM. That’s right, another busy day.

The preliminary results of Jason’s chest x-ray show a lot of foggy areas indicative of some fluid in the lungs and/or inflammation. Doctors were unable to see small dense areas that would suggest a bleeding spot so they are currently not concerned about a bleed.

The condition of the lungs is still vitally important so doctors have kept Jason on an oxygen mask all morning. They have also given him a diuretic called Lasix that should remove excess liquid from his body. Jason has used Lasix many times before this hospital stay. In the past few hours Jason has urinated about 50 ounces so the Lasix is working. Last, doctors will be giving Jason some doses of steroids to hopefully counteract any possible inflammation of the lungs.

On top of everything else, Jason has a low-grade fever and the headache that started about a week ago remains constant.

I asked Jason if he has any pain in his chest or any problems elsewhere and all he said was, “No, I am just exhausted.”

These past few days have been terrible busy and Jason has not been at his best in terms of health.  He has difficulty walking, heaves when he exerts himself, hasn't been hungry in days, and has about as much energy as a baby sloth. What is strange is that his poor health now may actually be “good” signs of his bone marrow starting to grow. After all, if your body is going to “start over” it will need to go through some changes; Jason’s weekend has been full of changes.

One doctor was pretty optimistic about his body showing some moments of greatness. For example, Jason’s platelet count is 2,000 today. This is incredibly low but better than the past few counts of zero. Also, Jason’s hemoglobin is 9.6 today. Even considering that he has had a nosebleed his blood level has improved from the past two days when the blood in his transfusions was not remaining inside his body. If it weren’t for the fluid on his lungs, Jason could have possibly been feeling a wee bit better today.

For now, everyone is trying to let Jason rest, as long as he has an oxygen mask, and I am still just trying to take some deep breaths.