Good News from the Doctor

No pneumonia breath sounds, normal CBC, normal energy level.  Although Doctor S showed me what he thought was still a slight shadow of the pneumonia remaining on the x-ray, the radiologist’s report says "resolution of pneumonia on prior x-ray, with lungs now clear."  Hoo ha!  Anyway, two doctors now have told me that the x-ray results always trail the actual resolution of the pneumonia, so even if Dr. S is right and a little bit shows, the actual pneumonia is probably gone.

Dr S gave me the go-ahead to do whatever I want to do, including a marathon in two weeks, guided only by my sense of fatigue.  I will still take it easy and will get as much sleep as I can from now until then, just to be sure.  Maybe I’ll walk most of the marathon, who knows.  They do allow up to eight hours!

Home Again

The hospital let me go yesterday afternoon.  I slept well at home last night, and I feel much better.   The fever is gone, and I have an appetite, but the cough remains, with the stuffy nose, and loss of energy.  I'm still on an oral antibiotic, the same type that seemed to be working so well against the pneumonia in the hospital, and will see my regular doctor in a week.  Path to full recovery.

I still don't know why the hospital staff was gowning up every time they came in the room the first day.  I forgot to ask the doctor.  They stopped the gowns after a day, though, and on the last day most of them weren't even wearing masks.

Oops - Intensive Care

Saturday, February 8, 2014,    Breaking News

My sweeties and I ran a lovely marathon in New Orleans last Sunday. On Monday we flew home, and by Tuesday morning I felt a scratchy throat. That came on fast, knocked me flat (weak, fever, aches, severe cough, nausea), and by Thursday it was diagnosed at Mayo as Influenza Type A. Yes, I did get the flu shot, last November. By Friday morning I was having trouble breathing and my local doc found pneumonia. He checked me into the ICU in Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, MN.

The hospital staff treat me with respect, lots of smiles, but they put on gowns, masks, and gloves before they come into the room, and they throw those into a trash bin as they exit. Apparently they think I'm quite toxic, and I'm in a form of partial isolation. They haven't banned visitors, but you should probably stay away. My sweeties have been here, but they were asked to gown up too.

They are treating me with oxygen, oral azithromycin, IV ceftriaxone, decent food, breathing exercises, a nebulizer, and rest. I feel much better today than yesterday, with improvements in heart rate, respiration rate, blood oxygen, temperature, and every other measure. I'm still sick, but I might get home tomorrow (Sunday) to finish recovering there. Doc will tell me, and I will follow his advice - he's a good one. By the way, I have been able to continue the Pomalyst myeloma treatment throughout this ordeal.


Pomalyst Study Cycle 77

Actually I haven't posted a blog on the study since September, so this is five cycles. The myeloma has remained stable throughout, and the drug continues to work just fine, almost six years now.  On Thursday M-spike was down to 0.9 g/dL, with IgG at 1260 mg/dL.

The CBC that was done Wednesday, one day after the flu started, showed that neutrophils had doubled, and Dr L commented Thursday morning that it's a sign that my body is still able to respond that well to a threat.

More on the ICU saga soon.