Feeling a little better

There are some signs that Logan is at feeling a little bit better tonight. He had a pretty decent dinner, and was in fairly good spirits afterward. His fever seems to be under better control this evening, though it is still elevated.

With every day, it seems that he gets a new med; he is now on two antibiotics, antifungal, tylenol, low-dose morphine at meals, benadryl, stool softener, and oral lidocaine. Most of the meds are 4 times a day, so he is pretty much constantly getting something dripped in his IV or placed in his mouth. He also gets a new test added to his regimen almost daily: CBC, metabolic, bacteria cultures (x5?), fungal cultures, and elecrolytes. Sum all of this up, and it still looks like he is in the hospital for a fever resulting from low neutrophils (neutropenic fever). The cure for neutropenia is time (without chemotherapy drugs) to let his bone marrow come back to normal. Everything else we do is preventative (antibiotics, antifungals), or to combat the lingering side effects of chemo (pain/fever meds). We continue to anticipate negative cultures and hope for increased blood counts, as we will probably be in the hospital until they recover. It is good news that the doctors have not found a cause for his fever, but that does not mean that we can go home yet.

If anyone would like to give blood, please do so next time you see a blood drive. Logan is now depending on the donations of others for blood products to keep him healthy. As you may know, blood banks need both a quantity and a variety of donors. Logan needs a donor who matches his blood type, but also other "factors" in order for him to safely receive blood.