Although Mark is feeling much better than yesterday, he still is dealing with the effects of C-diff. Saturday night was the worst--he hardly slept because of constant diarrhea. By Sunday morning, he was exhausted. He has not slept for more than 2-3 hours at a time for weeks/months. Before coming to the hospital, it was maybe one hour between nature calls. Last night, he finally slept for almost five hours straight! What a difference it made! That is a difficult feat in a hospital. It took several nurses actively running interference to keep intruders out. They managed to get his blood drawn after 6 am, instead of 3-5 am, which is the best sleeping time. (The blood-suckers come in, switch the bright lights on, and stick him with a needle--definitely disruptive to sleep!) The nurses on this floor are very sensitive to their patients getting sleep so they can heal. Some cancer patients are here for months, so they need rest. The nurse yesterday was sure that Mark had been suffering from sleep deprivation, along with the infection.
This morning, Dr.Taylor met with Dr. Tran, who is growing the cancer-fighting cells, and the infectious disease specialist, focusing on fighting the infection. Together they came up with a plan. Chemo will be delayed for two days to give Mark's body time to heal. The pic-line will go in tomorrow, and chemo will be administered Wednesday through Saturday. That still gives enough time for his body to be ready for the infusion on the scheduled date, Monday, the 25th. This is the best possible scenario. Starting chemo now could aggravate the infection, but delaying the infusion would risk losing some of those valuable warriors. We appreciate our doctors working together to come up with the best option.
He has been here for 4 nights, so he only has about 16 to go! It already seems like a long time--just getting used to our new normal. We're certainly grateful for the fantastic nurses and doctors. We're in good hands, along with the very Best hands!
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