Jello Shot

No Guts ....

Biopsy results from Pam's colon and esophagus indicate that she has GVHD of the gut.  So, basically, her intestine is swollen and irritated because the crazy little white blood cells don't know what they are doing and think her gut is one of their enemies.  They started treating the gut GVHD with steroids today, and it has already had a noticeable effect.

Zombie Brain Jello Shots

In contrast to Monday, which was pure hell, she was actually pretty chipper this evening.  We watched some high brow TV together and, drum roll, she ate a little cup of Jello.  It was like a Virgin Jello Shot.  Then she followed it with an orange popsicle.  She throughly enjoyed it. Didn't throw up or ask for Atavan. Small victory. (While I am on the subject of Jello Shots... here is an interesting article on Zombie Brain Jello Shots.  Looks yummy.)
Earlier in the day, she reports to me that she ate two spoonfuls of cream of wheat and about a quarter sliced bagel with non fat cream cheese.  (I didn't witness the earlier feast, taking her word on it.)

Field Trip

She had abnormally high bilirubin, so had an ultrasound of her liver earlier today.  It was a treat for her to get wheeled out of Pam's Penthouse to some other place in the hospital. The ultrasound looks normal, meaning that the high bilirubin is not being caused by GVHD of the liver, which is good news.

She also had a consult with the dietician, and it looks like she will probably still be on TPN (intravenous feeding) for nutrition after she is discharged. Even if she could eat enough to get adequate nutrition, it will be a while before her gut actually starts working properly to absorb and process the nutrients.  Assuming she can begin taking all of her medication orally, she could be discharged sometime this coming week.  Obviously, I don't know all of the details yet.

Remember our favorite lab result, the ANC?  It has gone from 1800 on Monday to  4100 today.  Well within the normal range.  Guess we will have to find another lab result to track.

Cruising

It was a great day.  Cruised my bike downhill on Terwilliger in high gear on my way home from the Rat Maze, then hit every stoplight on Sixth and Tenth without stopping. Even Burnside.  It was fantastic.