2 steps forward, 1 step back

Dave had a busy day. Lab draw, PIC line, dietitian, Physical Therapy and MD all before 3 pm. PIC line went in easy and all Dave really felt was the lidocaine injection. The antibiotics continued all day. He will get Vancomycin levels tomorrow am. Dave's pre-albumin is 7, normal is 16 to 35. He will start getting HealthyShot for a supplement. PT thought Dave's strength is pretty good. Suggested a walker so he can rest when needed. And he got some exercises. MD came by when I went home for a shower. He said Dave was looking better, hemoglobin was up to 8.7 (7.9 in ER). Platelets up to 66,000. But, they still don't know where the infection is at.

Then around 4:30 pm he started coughing up blood again. Dave's nurse called his hospitalist. They got a stat CBC and a stat Chest ct-scan. We spoke with the MD. He said Dave has a pleural effusion and we really needed the ct-scan to see what's going on with his left lung. He gave Dave another unit of platelets. Hemoglobin this pm 8.5, platelets are 56,000. WBCs are 1.4. No more blood tonight. Meeting with oncologist, hospitalist and us to figure out where we stand tomorrow. Dave feels a little better this evening- he needs his rest.