Platelets and Pains Up

Sorry for the delay in getting this out, but I've been having problems this weekend with the Wi-Fi connection at the hospital. I'm hoping that I will be able to keep the posts coming.

After a grueling day with three platelet transfusions yesterday, Krista's platelet count came out this morning at 31,000! That's a really good improvement. It's well outside of the danger zone, but it's still considered low; normal being 150,000. She would normally be allowed to get off of strict bed-rest but she's not able to stand on her own right now, so they're putting in a catheter to help bypass all the stress and difficulty of using a bed-pan.

It was very nice of Tom (Krista's father) and Martha came up from Arizona to visit with Krista. Krista was very weak and not able to talk much, but it was a good for them to be able to see her.

Krista continues to have troubled breathing, and her doctor called in some pulmonary experts to figure out what is going on. The consensus so far is that the majority of the problem is from excess water-retention due to a temporary weakening of her heart because of the chemotherapy. They are continuing to give her a diuretic to try to flush the excess out of her, but it's taking a long time. They've upped the dose to try to speed up the process. They are also decreasing the fluids going into her by IV. They also say that she had pneumonia but it is going away. Once the water-retention diminishes, she should be breathing easier.

Krista started having abdominal pains on her front-right side last night, and the blood draws today have had increasing liver enzymes in them. Her doctor said that this could be from two possible sources, and they have been running scan and other tests on her liver and intestines to figure out which is the source (or sources).

One source could be from Graft-Versus-Host Disease (GVHD) that can accompany a stem-cell transplant. Before the treatment, her doctor had told us that it's good to have a little GVHD because if there was any left-over leukemia in her system that the GVHD would wipe it out, and then fade away. On the other hand, they don't want her to get too much GVHD because it can lead to long-term, moderate-to-severe organ problems.

Another source of the abdominal pain/enzymes could be from a bacterial disease of the gut called Teflitis. Krista had a bad case of this the first time she was treated for leukemia. It was really painful then, and the pain has increased today to a 10 out of 10. Teflitis is treated with antibiotics and not eating, both of which she's already doing.

[Last minute update: The increasing liver enzymes may be an indication of liver failure caused by one of her transplant medicines. She is being taken to the Intensive Care Unit to be under close watch while they try to treat that.]

Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to You
while You may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place;
You will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance
(Psalm 32:6-7)