It's Amazing How Disruptive a Little Bug Can Be

Not Quite Over

Ray's now been in the hospital 17 days. Amazing that it's taken that long to recuperate from a infestation of a microscopic organism. I'm so grateful that people have made it their life's work to study and kill bacteria otherwise Ray probably wouldn't be here.

He finally seems to be back to his old self. They keep postponing the date of his discharge mainly due to a national shortage of the antibiotic he is on. Today they said they had only seven doses left--a 2 day supply since he gets an IV dose every 6 hours. The pharmacy here has been calling all over the state to try and track down enough for his treatment. There has been some talk about changing the medication to an oral dose but that would mean 6 pills every 6 hours. There is concern as to if his stomach can handle it. The talk is to try the oral medication Monday and send him home Tues if his system can handle it. That would mean he's been in the hospital almost three weeks. It's wild to think he's been here almost half as long as he was here for his transplant.

Transplant News

Today I asked the doctor a question many people have asked me, "Does it look like the transplant worked?" She responded that we are coming up on day 100 where they do testing to see the state of his myeloma. The tests will give us information on his progress so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, Ray's blood counts stay stable which is a good sign. They have gone down from what they were before he got sick, but they are well above levels where a transfusion would be necessary, so he's holding his own. The doctor did say that this infection was a major assault on his new immune system so they will use steroids longer to try to keep the baby immune system from being overwhelmed.

So Here We Be

We've had several adventures during the past 17 days--fevers, delirium, ulcers, cheek swelling, ICU visits, chest pain, MRIs, colonoscopies, EKGs, wild dreams, and so forth. I guess we'll have many things to talk about for years to come.

Tomorrow we will celebrate 31 years of marriage. It, too, has been quite the adventure. It's amazing all that has happened over the years. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have spent 31 years with an amazing man. I'm also grateful to be able to celebrate a 31st anniversary with Ray, the love of my life.