Eight Down, Six to Go

You could say we're over the hump, but the reality is the second half is more uphill than the first half. We almost skipped last night's dose due to rapid heartrate, high potassium and rising creatinine, but the doctors opted to go ahead. They successfully treated the high potassium and low blood pressure, and the heartrate seems to be stabilizing.

There are 3 layers of doctors following our case. For each dose, the nurse does an assessment, calls the Resident, he visits, looks over lab results and does an exam, then makes a recommendation to the Fellow, who usually makes the decision, but may defer to the Attending if there's a questions. The Attending and his entourage come by each morning to check in and evaluate. There's certainly comfort knowing there's all this attention.

Bobby is exhausted, but persevering. Before each dose, they give him the option to not take the dose, but he always responds, "let's do it," knowing that in about 3 hours he's going to get hit with a wave of nausea and rigors (shakes & chills) that will further depleted his energy reserves. He's eating very little, sipping Ensure, juice and occasionally some yogurt or applesauce. This morning, I finally acknowledged that maybe this is worse than childbirth. Hopefully though, like childbirth, we will have a good result that will help him not remember how bad it's been.

Thanks for your support and encouragement. Love, Juli