Thursday Jan 25th

Mrs Blogger was joined by Bloggette #3 (12 yrs old) for a midday visit.  Bloggette Three is something of an old hospital pro, having had her appendix out a couple of years ago.  But true to the Spirit of Homeschooling, I made sure to explain as much as I could about my room and treatment, and she made sure to extract the promise that Mrs Blogger would take her to Wendy's for lunch.

I felt pretty good today, both inside and out.  Working from unjustified optimism, I was a little too reckless at lunch and ordered the vegetarian chili, which struck the wrong balance on the nausea/appetite ratio (it was far too disturbing/nauseating).

For dinner, I'm going to avoid anything red (chili, ketchup, burger or hot dog) and stick with things that are whiter and creamier.

• Strawberry Chobani yogurt to be mixed with a dry bowl of Special K*
• Blueberry Chobani yogurt to be mixed with a dry bowh of Rice Crispies*
• Side of 2 slices of bacon, just in case "savory" ends up being more appetizing
• A milk (for tomorrow's coffee) and two waters (for later)

*Yes, it is a little sad that variety at dinner comes down to the shape of one's puffed rice.

Being generally in good form is important because the personal care schedule keeps getting more elaborate.

Almost every symptom or body function is riding a crazy sine wave.  Nothing is expected to have constant anything. What's up is likely to go down and then up, while others will go slow-fast-slow or down-up-down, and you never know when to fire the booster rockets or the retros.

The Daily Schedule

Med Schedule

• Morning, Noon, Night = Acyclovir (anitviral), Ursodiol (liver protect)
• 10am & 10pm = Cipro (broad antibiotic) to be replaced with a targeted antibiotic in case of fever
• Bedtime belly shot of anti-clotting (daily until platelet counts drop, then likely replaced by a bedtime Neupogen to boost platelet counts out of their nadir).

Oral Care Schedule

• Morning, Noon, Eve, Night  = Brush teeth with Sodium Fluoride, rinse with Calphasol, wait :30, chew Troche pill
• Morning, Noon, Night = Drink dissolved L-Glutamine ("with food" except I don't eat that often)

Intervenous Schedule

• Continuous fluids (Saline 100ml/hr), so I'm always tethered to the wheeled IV pumps/pole
• Supplemental minerals (today it was Potassium, previously it was Magnesium)

Testing Schedule

• Every 4 hours vitals (blood pressure, pulse, temp, oxygenation)
• Daily weigh in (has been stable last few days)
• Nightly blood draw (as ports are flushed and rotated so that none get stale) (Mostly looking at blood count so we can see the nadir coming on, and at liver/kidney function, and at mineral leves)
• Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant "stethoscope check"
• Official Physician's rounds "stethoscope check"
• Stool test to track change from constipation to nausea (sorry, this is a medical blog and my poop is a constant source of conversation with my caregivers. Every nuance is lovingly examined: the objective timing, consistency, flow contents, and my subjective attitudes toward it both before, during and after. My literal hot s--- is figurative hot s--- around here.)

Hygiene

• Wash hands every time I'm near food or the bathroom
• Gather equipment for towel-bathing (but haven't re-summoned the nerve)