To all of my dear friends who have patiently been trying to get in touch with me, I'm sorry. I'm not avoiding you on purpose or ignoring you all together. I've developed a raging case of mucocitis, which means that the inside lining of my mouth and throat are sloughing away. Not to put too fine a point on it, my gums, tongue, and throat are covered in bloody sores. It hurts to talk. It hurts a lot. I promise to call as soon as I'm able to. Heather, you're at the top of the list.
The mucocitis occurred the same day that Ike hit, so I know it was nerve wracking for those trying to check in on me.
There are days that I can manage to have a bite of something, but more often than not, I can't even manage a sip of water. Dr. Andersson put me on a constant dilaudid drip to control the pain. The only problem is that dilaudid makes me sick. I constantly throw up when it's administered. Because I couldn't hold any of my pills down, my meds were all switched to IV.
When Dr. Andersson realized how badly dilaudid made me feel, he switched me over to something else. A new transplant doctor started rounding on Monday and felt that the new drug wasn't helping, so he switched me back to a constant drip of dilaudid. This is supplemented by a 24 hour drip of zofran to help with the nausea. When the zofran doesn't cut it I can ask for a benadryl/phenergan cocktail, or IV Ativan.
I constantly feel off balance and sedated, which Dr. Andreeff finds preferable to seeing me deal with the constant and excruciating pain. During the day I'm either napping or holding as still as I can. The nausea flares up if I move my head even just a little.
As soon as my counts begin to increase, the sores should resolve within the week. At least, that's what the doctor thinks. I try to eat a little something every day to no avail. It hurts so much to swallow that I end up gagging and/or throwing up. The team has assured me that I will get better and I believe them. I just really want a nice cold glass of water.
The mucocitis occurred the same day that Ike hit, so I know it was nerve wracking for those trying to check in on me.
There are days that I can manage to have a bite of something, but more often than not, I can't even manage a sip of water. Dr. Andersson put me on a constant dilaudid drip to control the pain. The only problem is that dilaudid makes me sick. I constantly throw up when it's administered. Because I couldn't hold any of my pills down, my meds were all switched to IV.
When Dr. Andersson realized how badly dilaudid made me feel, he switched me over to something else. A new transplant doctor started rounding on Monday and felt that the new drug wasn't helping, so he switched me back to a constant drip of dilaudid. This is supplemented by a 24 hour drip of zofran to help with the nausea. When the zofran doesn't cut it I can ask for a benadryl/phenergan cocktail, or IV Ativan.
I constantly feel off balance and sedated, which Dr. Andreeff finds preferable to seeing me deal with the constant and excruciating pain. During the day I'm either napping or holding as still as I can. The nausea flares up if I move my head even just a little.
As soon as my counts begin to increase, the sores should resolve within the week. At least, that's what the doctor thinks. I try to eat a little something every day to no avail. It hurts so much to swallow that I end up gagging and/or throwing up. The team has assured me that I will get better and I believe them. I just really want a nice cold glass of water.
That's about all that I have to report.