Jeff has been eating a little better this week, probably due to the changes in his meds that Dr. Porter made last Friday. His digestion is still noisy and sometimes dramatic but the diarrhea is a lot better. One day I thought someone’s cell phone was vibrating but it was just Jeff’s tummy working on lunch.
Dr. Porter says that Jeff is “not doing fabulously” but he is happy with progress in two areas: his diet/digestion and his kidney function which is “almost normal.” The report from the endoscopy/colonoscopy was inconclusive for GVHD.
Despite his expanded diet, Jeff lost four pounds this week. Dr. Porter wasn’t overly concerned about this. Since there is no overwhelming evidence for GVHD, he thinks Jeff’s diarrhea may have been a drug allergy. Therefore, he will add only Acyclovir, the anti-viral medication, back into his regimen. I told Dr. Porter that two of our kids are allergic to sulfa drugs and I wondered whether Jeff could also be allergic to the Bactrim (Sulfameth) that he had been taking three times a week. We think he was wise to have us withhold Bactrim for another week. He also told us Jeff’s eosinophils (white blood cells usually associated with allergies) which had been elevated, are starting to drop.
Jeff’s platelets have been, as we like to say, “on the low side of normal” for awhile now but they dropped below normal this week. Jeff asked, “Why?” Dr. Porter said there are a few reasons why that might happen: infection, GVHD, or side effects from Tacrolimus. Although he isn’t too worried about Jeff’s lower platelets, it is something to watch over time.
Jeff asked Dr. Porter to clarify his response to the question he posed last week, “Can I drive?” since we had come away with two different interpretations of his answer. Dr. Porter says he is purposefully vague because he fears a patient may have an accident and medical records would show a long list of medications, BMT, a weakened state, and many health issues. Of course, he would be wearing mask and gloves which advertise “PATIENT” of some kind. Dr. Porter advised Jeff to drive only short distances, around home. Maybe he can drive himself to PT.
On the way home from the Perelman Center, we dropped Kim off at her place and played with her cat, Mr. Maia, for a few minutes and then we headed up I95 to Bensalem for a brief visit with my parents. Next, home for Jeff’s IV infusion - a process of about two hours - then on to PT. On the way home from PT, we stopped to see our friend, Jennifer. What a full day!
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