Post Transplant Day 10
Karl looked a little better this morning and the diarrhea had slowed but not stopped. We were anxiously awaiting the blood counts and were very disappointed when the nurse brought them in with the neutrophils listed as still 0.0. The platelets had also dropped to 14, but the total white count had risen to 1.0 and hemoglobin to 97. We didn’t understand the rise in wbc (white blood cells) without a rise in neutrophils, and we were very worried and upset.
Then Dr. MacIntyre came in. She told us that Karl’s neutrophil count was actually listed as pending, and the 0.0 was from yesterday. Apparently the neutrophils are counted manually on a slide under a microscope, so sometimes on the weekend they don’t get counted if it isn’t urgent because of the smaller number of staff in the lab. The numbers are urgent to us, but obviously not in the grand scheme, which we understand. It would have been nice to have known this beforehand or for the nurse to have told us the counts were pending. It would have certainly reduced the angst we felt this morning.
Anyway, Dr MacIntyre said that she thinks the neutrophils are present, which was why the wbc rose from 0.2 to 1.0. We hope she’s correct, but we didn’t do the happy dance. We want to see the numbers. We asked the nurse to check again an hour ago, and the neutrophil count is still listed as pending. Patience. Patients (and their families) need a lot of it.
Otherwise the diarrhea has been lessening all day. Karl actually managed to nap for a couple of hours, which hasn’t been possible the past two days before now. He hasn’t eaten anything since Thursday, but hopefully he will feel up to trying something soon. His creatinine levels rose today from 74 to 82. Still well below his high normal level of 113, but everyone will be watching this closely now that he is back on Vancomycin. Vancomycin does appear to be helping with the C Diff and resultant diarrhea, so it was a necessary risk.
Then Dr. MacIntyre came in. She told us that Karl’s neutrophil count was actually listed as pending, and the 0.0 was from yesterday. Apparently the neutrophils are counted manually on a slide under a microscope, so sometimes on the weekend they don’t get counted if it isn’t urgent because of the smaller number of staff in the lab. The numbers are urgent to us, but obviously not in the grand scheme, which we understand. It would have been nice to have known this beforehand or for the nurse to have told us the counts were pending. It would have certainly reduced the angst we felt this morning.
Anyway, Dr MacIntyre said that she thinks the neutrophils are present, which was why the wbc rose from 0.2 to 1.0. We hope she’s correct, but we didn’t do the happy dance. We want to see the numbers. We asked the nurse to check again an hour ago, and the neutrophil count is still listed as pending. Patience. Patients (and their families) need a lot of it.
Otherwise the diarrhea has been lessening all day. Karl actually managed to nap for a couple of hours, which hasn’t been possible the past two days before now. He hasn’t eaten anything since Thursday, but hopefully he will feel up to trying something soon. His creatinine levels rose today from 74 to 82. Still well below his high normal level of 113, but everyone will be watching this closely now that he is back on Vancomycin. Vancomycin does appear to be helping with the C Diff and resultant diarrhea, so it was a necessary risk.
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