We're now on the lookout for marauding microbes!Gil had his first outpatient appointment with his oncologist from Beaumont today. As expected, his white blood cell count (read "neutrophils") is down to zero.
This means he is susceptible to any and all disease producing elements -- bacterial, viral and fungal. He has no means to fight them off.
He has been started on two oral antibiotics. He is to monitor his temperature regularly and report any elevation above 100 degrees. If any signs of infection occur, we head right back into the hospital for IV antibiotics.
It sounds as if the recovery from this consolidation treatment is expected to take 2-3 weeks. At that time, our Beaumont oncologist will contact our Karmanos oncologist and we should be able to proceed with the transplant.
In the meantime, you know the routine. No visitors. No gardening. No plants or flowers. No raw foods. (Egads! Our tomatoes are ready to be harvested and our oncologist said that raw tomatoes can be laden with pseudomonas!)
So Gil is kicking back and has watched Seasons One and Two of Mad Men and the first two episodes of this season. We eagerly await Sunday night's new episode.
He continues to push his Kindle to the limit!
Haiku:
Keeping free of germs
Avoiding infection key.
Life in a bubble?
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