As days go this was a good one. Angela Bursler was very alert today and for the most part in little pain. Fevers have essentially subsided and it appears as though that doctors have found a way to control her blood pressure through the use of another medication. That being said both temperature and pressure elevate during or immediately after platelets are transfused. My understanding is that it is not uncommon for this to happen during
this period of time so it is less of a concern for us.
this period of time so it is less of a concern for us.
Her headaches have continued prompting the doctors to to do a scan of her head. The infectious disease doctors had already ordered a scan of her sinuses so it was not a hard decision to make to check her entire head. The ID doctors theorize that the sinuses could potentially be infected as a result of damage to the soft tissue from the Chemo. Examination of her body also revealed a swollen, rigid left forearm. Some concern was expressed by the doctors of the potential for a blood clot to reside in that area. An ultrasound of the left arm was ordered to rule out that condition. The exam, otherwise, with the infectious disease doctors revealed nothing significant.
Angela also received a visit today from Dr. Burger's (Oncologist) assistant. She explained in detail the plan that was/has been developed to treat the condition preventing platelets from being produced. Unfortunately the plan included transfusions of two additional units of platelets a process that resulted in violent nausea and vomiting the last two attempts. The staff tweaked the pre-meds to include higher doses of anti-nausea medications and Benedryl and also extended the feed from one hour to two hours. The higher concentrations of pre-meds and the slower feed would prevent the violent reaction that she experienced previously. Once the two units of platelets are infused into her bloodstream samples will be taken to determine if her system is rejecting the platelets. As I mentioned before if testing reveals antibodies are present than a compatibility study will be performed. Platelets matching her type will be located somewhere in the country and infused. If antibodies are not present (which doctors suspect) than the source of the problem is damaged bone marrow the cure for which is plain old time.
The issue with her lungs can not be addressed until her platelet count is restored to a normal value. There is too much risk of a bleedout by inserting a needle into the body of a person with low platelet counts. We are hopefully optimistic that the two units of platelets infused tonight will restore her count enough for the procedure to be done tomorrow.
She is very tired however her mood was very optimistic and upbeat today. Doctors may never find a cure for cancer but in the case of Angela pure
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