Day 5

Hello everyone,
The fentanyl pca is working well to handle Jeff's pain. It makes him drowsy though, so he is considering asking them to turn down the amount some. The dr was in and said main goal at this time is to protect Jeff's organs and organ systems so they don't shut down. He has quite a bit of ankle swelling. They have decreased his iv fluids. Everything except immodium is iv. Also, his platelets have been so low that the order is to transfuse platelets to him every 12 hours for 48-72 hours. One other item. His bowels continue to flow at a rapid pace, so they are starting to give him tincture of opium every day. He hasn't had his first dose yet. It is a heavy duty thing drug that pharmacy makes to slow down the motility of his digestive system, so he maybe can absorb some of the nutrients that he is taking in and not flushing them immediately through the gut. Mouth sores still very sore!!!

Platelets--8 Red blood cells---27.2 WBC---0.1 ANC---0

Wahoo for Mimi and Todd and baby Paxton born at 4:11 am this morning our time. He is in the
nursery as he isn't pumping the blood to his extremities well. Hope to hear from them later today for what the pediatrician's plan is.