Tuesday Update

Esther is doing better. She still has a fever, but it is not as high. She is sitting up more and was able to eat a little for dinner. The docs still don't know what is causing the fever, but they are treating her with antibiotics and an antiviral to cover all bases. To add insult to injury, Esther has a mouthful of canker sores, likely the result of being more immunosuppressed after the three big doses of prednisone.

This morning was hard for Esther when they needed to replace her IV and had difficulty getting a new one started. After three sticks and three false starts, they took a break and let her rest before coming back with a portable ultrasound machine. That helped them locate a deeper useable vein and they had success at last! Poor Esther is feeling a bit like a pin cushion. Because of her fistula in her left arm, only her right arm can be used for blood draws and IVs. She has had a lot of both of those since her transplant and her right arm is a little beat up. It doesn't help matters that she has tiny veins. And, of course, everything is harder when one feels awful and has a rip-roaring fever.

Saturday’s labs showed that Esther's creatinine was responding nicely to the prednisone blasts and that it had dropped back down closer to where the docs like to see it. Today her creatinine popped up a bit, but the docs think the elevation could be caused by the fever and slight dehydration from yesterday. Just to be sure, they set up a renal ultrasound for Esther this afternoon. I haven't heard the report yet, but I’m not expecting any bad news.

Because Esther is immunosuppressed, she always gets a single room when she is in the hospital. Yesterday when we arrived, they put her in a room that has two beds and I get to sleep in one of them! It is a real treat! At times like these, I'm especially thankful for small blessings.