Alyssa got her 7th round of arsenic today. It must be doing what it suppose to be doing because of her nurtrafills have come up to 300. Everything is looking good. She is going in the right direction. As soon as her nurtrafills go to 500 then they will take her off all of the antibiotics and she if she has any infections.
Kelsey got here okay. Kirk is picking her up at the airport. Apparently she didn't feel very good today so she is going to stay at the townhouse tonight and she will come up tomorrow. Alyssa is anxious to see her. The doctors say that she might be able to leave around early next week. We have learned not to get our hopes up. We will have to wait and see.
It has been really snowy today and Alyssa's only wish is that when she goes outside she can have snow. I hope the weather holds for her.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
round 6 of arsenic
Alyssa has just finished with her sixth day of arsenic. They come in every morning and give her an EKG to see how her QT intervals are. If the intervals are low enough they will do arsenic that day. Arsenic increases those intervals which in turn can cause heart problems or the heart to stop beating.
Her nutrafills are at 200 today, they were 100 yesterday, so she is going in the right direction. When she gets to 500 they will do another bone marrow biopsy and see how everything else is doing. She can't be released from the hospital until the nutrafills are above 500, but they prefer it to be closer to 1000.
She had another MRI this morning, she hates those, but today wasn't as bad as last time was. They were able to get it done in one pass this time, so she was in and out a lot quicker. The results just came back from that and things are looking much better. The bright spots are the brain are diminishing rapidly now. She is still not quite back to normal, but she is close.
When we went for a walk today we were beginning to wonder if we would ever make it. As she was getting her gown and mask on, the nurse came in the check her Arsenic IV, it had about 15 minutes left so she said she would take it down after the walk. Immediately after that the CNA came in to take her vitals, then the PA came in to give us the results of the MRI. About that time one of the leads from her heart monitor came loose, we would have just waited to get it fixed until after the walk, but then she started feeling nauseas. The nurse came back in at that point to take her Arsenic IV out, so she fixed the lead for the heart monitor and gave her a half dose of adavan to help with the nausea while she was there. We finally made it on the walk. She was tired enough that she only made it 2 laps where she usually will do 3 or 4. I suggested that she take a nap after we got back, but she wanted to finish the puzzle that she started on Christmas day. She has about 50 pieces to go and when she gets that close, nothing will stop her short of a major catastrophe!
Her nutrafills are at 200 today, they were 100 yesterday, so she is going in the right direction. When she gets to 500 they will do another bone marrow biopsy and see how everything else is doing. She can't be released from the hospital until the nutrafills are above 500, but they prefer it to be closer to 1000.
She had another MRI this morning, she hates those, but today wasn't as bad as last time was. They were able to get it done in one pass this time, so she was in and out a lot quicker. The results just came back from that and things are looking much better. The bright spots are the brain are diminishing rapidly now. She is still not quite back to normal, but she is close.
When we went for a walk today we were beginning to wonder if we would ever make it. As she was getting her gown and mask on, the nurse came in the check her Arsenic IV, it had about 15 minutes left so she said she would take it down after the walk. Immediately after that the CNA came in to take her vitals, then the PA came in to give us the results of the MRI. About that time one of the leads from her heart monitor came loose, we would have just waited to get it fixed until after the walk, but then she started feeling nauseas. The nurse came back in at that point to take her Arsenic IV out, so she fixed the lead for the heart monitor and gave her a half dose of adavan to help with the nausea while she was there. We finally made it on the walk. She was tired enough that she only made it 2 laps where she usually will do 3 or 4. I suggested that she take a nap after we got back, but she wanted to finish the puzzle that she started on Christmas day. She has about 50 pieces to go and when she gets that close, nothing will stop her short of a major catastrophe!
Monday, December 27, 2010
4th Round and counting
Alyssa has been very groggy all day long. They gave her some medicine for nausea last night that they have never given her and it has wiped her out all day long. They have switched her meds again and I think that they have got the magnesium, calcium and potassium right so now her heart is beating the right way so she can have another dose of arsenic. She has just got done with her 4th arsenic treatment. When the doctor came in today she said that her nutrafills have started to come in very slowly. However, she is going in the right direction which we are very pleased about that.
We hope that she won't be so sleepy tomorrow. She is still having a hard time being in the hospital. We just got done with a shopping list for food for the next couple of days. She chose spaghetti, stroganoff, and Hawaiian haystacks and chocolate chip cookies. Bryan and I are going shopping and cooking tonight. Kelsey just called and said she is going to be coming out on Wednesday. We are excited to see her.
We hope that she won't be so sleepy tomorrow. She is still having a hard time being in the hospital. We just got done with a shopping list for food for the next couple of days. She chose spaghetti, stroganoff, and Hawaiian haystacks and chocolate chip cookies. Bryan and I are going shopping and cooking tonight. Kelsey just called and said she is going to be coming out on Wednesday. We are excited to see her.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
3 round of arsenic
Alyssa had another good night after she broke down for awhile. She is so tired of being in the hospital. At around 8:30 she just broke down. I think that it hit her that she was here on Christmas. When Bryan and I got here they were getting ready to go down to church. We are on the 8th floor and church is on the 2nd. She said that she wanted to walk to church. We took a wheelchair in case she couldn't make it. The sacrament meeting was very good and it was really good for Alyssa. She made the walk both ways. When we got back we started playing Diceescapes. That is the game that we found in target for her. It has 100 dice in it and you do different things with the dice. It was a lot of fun.
After the game we went for a long walk. She can only go around the floor and we call them laps. She usually only does 2 or 3, today she did 4. After we got done with the walk she wanted to watch a movie. So we watched 27 dresses. During the movie they started the 4th round of arsenic. They say that her heart is better, she has to have potassium , magnesium and calcium to help her heart rate. Hopefully that is the secret combination to help her with her arsenic doses. She says that the only thing that she has noticed with the arsenic is that she gets a killer headache. She has been given her pain medicine and fell asleep for awhile. She has had a good day, I hope that continues, she deserves it.
After the game we went for a long walk. She can only go around the floor and we call them laps. She usually only does 2 or 3, today she did 4. After we got done with the walk she wanted to watch a movie. So we watched 27 dresses. During the movie they started the 4th round of arsenic. They say that her heart is better, she has to have potassium , magnesium and calcium to help her heart rate. Hopefully that is the secret combination to help her with her arsenic doses. She says that the only thing that she has noticed with the arsenic is that she gets a killer headache. She has been given her pain medicine and fell asleep for awhile. She has had a good day, I hope that continues, she deserves it.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas
Well there is really nothing new to report. They have stopped the arsenic until they can get her heart rate figured out. I am so glad that she is in the hospital when she started this phase. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if we were doing this phase as a out patient. Alyssa likes to do everything in her own way. Every doctor that comes in says I haven't met you but I know you. Her case has been anything but normal.
We gave her a dice game, puzzle and relaxing music. She can't fall asleep without music. She has never had to have music before being in the hospital. She asked to have french dip sandwiches, jello with marshmellows on the top, and augratin potatoes. Bryan and I made them last night before going to bed.
We missed Kelsey and it didn't feel complete without her. When Alyssa gets out of the hospital Kelsey, Kirk and Bryan will come back and we will celebrate Christmas. I hope that everyone had a great Christmas.
We gave her a dice game, puzzle and relaxing music. She can't fall asleep without music. She has never had to have music before being in the hospital. She asked to have french dip sandwiches, jello with marshmellows on the top, and augratin potatoes. Bryan and I made them last night before going to bed.
We missed Kelsey and it didn't feel complete without her. When Alyssa gets out of the hospital Kelsey, Kirk and Bryan will come back and we will celebrate Christmas. I hope that everyone had a great Christmas.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Santa came early
Kirk stayed with her last night and he said that she had a good night. She only had a headache and she said that it was not too bad. Her second round of arsenic went well. They have switched up her meds again. One of the side effects of arsenic is making her heart beat irregular. They have put her on a heart monitor and are watching her to get her baseline so they can decide what is normal for her. She will not have arsenic today so they can get the base line.
She was just watching the tv and there was a commercial for medicine and she said don't I take that medicine. I told her it sounded familiar. She is on so many drugs it is hard to keep track of what she is on.
She has had a really good day. Dr. Pearl came in his Christmas attire. She is really starting to like him. Also, Santa and his helper came to visit her. Bryan and I brought homemade cinnamon rolls and chicken enchiladas. She gobbled up the cinnamon roll. We have not had the enchiladas yet.
Kirk left for awhile to do some laundry. His holiday was today so he didn't have to work. When he comes back we are going to eat the enchiladas and play some games. I hope everyone has a good Christmas Eve.
She was just watching the tv and there was a commercial for medicine and she said don't I take that medicine. I told her it sounded familiar. She is on so many drugs it is hard to keep track of what she is on.
She has had a really good day. Dr. Pearl came in his Christmas attire. She is really starting to like him. Also, Santa and his helper came to visit her. Bryan and I brought homemade cinnamon rolls and chicken enchiladas. She gobbled up the cinnamon roll. We have not had the enchiladas yet.
Kirk left for awhile to do some laundry. His holiday was today so he didn't have to work. When he comes back we are going to eat the enchiladas and play some games. I hope everyone has a good Christmas Eve.
 |
| Christmas Eve, We miss Kelsey |
 |
| Christmas Eve |
 |
| This lady comes in and plays her harp for the patients. |
 |
| She was very good and sounded so nice. |
 |
| Dr. Pearl's Christmas attire. |
 |
| Santa and his helper came to visit. |
 |
| This is what Santa brought. We couldn't believe that Santa was so nice. |
Thursday, December 23, 2010
One Day of Arsenic Down
Alyssa got the first dose of arsenic last night around 9:00. Bryan and I left for the night and Kirk stayed with her. Kirk said that she got up to about every 2 hours to go to the bathroom. She didn't really get to sleep until around 3:00 am. They have to give her a lot of iv fluid when they are giving arsenic because they want it out of her system fast. Kirk said that she complained of a headache but no throwing up.
When Bryan and I got here this morning she had just thrown up. They have changed up some of her medicine in hopes to get rid of the head ache and nausea. One of the side effects of the arsenic is headache. She is getting her second dose of the arsenic right now. They are going to up it every day 3 hours so she can get it every day at noon. This way she can hopefully have a good nights sleep.
She has been kind of tired today. She had a really good nap and now she is feeling fine. We think that some of her nausea has something to do with when she gets blood products. Ben gave her benedryl and adavan before he gave her the blood products and she just went to sleep when he was her nurse. They are going to try that from now on and see if that helps. When she threw up this morning is was right after they started giving her blood.
Her spirits have been pretty good today. I think that it is has helped to have Kirk and Bryan here. Kirk left when we got here and went back to the town home to work. Bryan and I played skipbo with her and we had fun. She has been wanting tacos so Bryan made her tacos last night and she ate them today for lunch and you would thought we had brought her a gourmet dinner. When I leave tonight Bryan and I are going to make her chicken enchiladas and french dip sandwiches.
I asked her if she wanted to have Christmas with our family in the hospital and she said she wanted to wait until she is out of the hospital. I am trying to figure out what we can do to make the day fun for her. I am sure I will come up with something.
When Bryan and I got here this morning she had just thrown up. They have changed up some of her medicine in hopes to get rid of the head ache and nausea. One of the side effects of the arsenic is headache. She is getting her second dose of the arsenic right now. They are going to up it every day 3 hours so she can get it every day at noon. This way she can hopefully have a good nights sleep.
She has been kind of tired today. She had a really good nap and now she is feeling fine. We think that some of her nausea has something to do with when she gets blood products. Ben gave her benedryl and adavan before he gave her the blood products and she just went to sleep when he was her nurse. They are going to try that from now on and see if that helps. When she threw up this morning is was right after they started giving her blood.
Her spirits have been pretty good today. I think that it is has helped to have Kirk and Bryan here. Kirk left when we got here and went back to the town home to work. Bryan and I played skipbo with her and we had fun. She has been wanting tacos so Bryan made her tacos last night and she ate them today for lunch and you would thought we had brought her a gourmet dinner. When I leave tonight Bryan and I are going to make her chicken enchiladas and french dip sandwiches.
I asked her if she wanted to have Christmas with our family in the hospital and she said she wanted to wait until she is out of the hospital. I am trying to figure out what we can do to make the day fun for her. I am sure I will come up with something.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)