Infant-like immune system

Someone at Dale's work contacted whooping cough. Highly contagious and he should stay away from it.  He felt horrible enough that we took a trip to ER last night. The doctor listened to symptoms and the history and had many tests done including those for meningitis, pneumonia, and whooping cough. As I waited and waited in the ER, I looked up symptoms, causes, and treatment of each (sans pneumonia). Meningitis and whooping cough are problems for infants whose immune system is young and not immunized. Hmmm. Dale is less than a year old--bone marrow-wise. In fact, day 238 since the bone marrow transplant.  Yes, he has symptoms of both, however, it turned out that he at least has a sinus infection and anti-biotics will do the trick. He feels better today already. Hallelujah!

Cough! Cough! Cough!

The cough lingers on and on. Dale continues to battle with coughing episodes. Although he hates winter, when the snow flies there are minimal allergies in the air and it may be better on him. Energy level is partial. He went to work today from 5 AM to 10 AM (which happens to be 5 hours), came home and worked from home for awhile, and went to bed at 7 PM. Considering his driving, he worked 7 hours until he began work at home. He reported "hitting the wall" again and is down for the night. Depending on what kind of rest he gets determines if he will go to work in the morning. His coloring is somewhat pale and he has dark circles around the eyes, therefore, I know he feels lousy.

Get Some Exercise!

In my care taking mode, I decided to make Dale go to Huntsman for blood work and consultation with his doctor since he complains of increased fatigue, nausea, and night sweats. Good news: blood looks good, no viral infection, and probably allergies cause his coughs. More news, they will schedule a PET scan to validate that organs (i.e. stomach and digestive system) don't need treatment. Validation news: get some exercise to build stamina.

Increased fatigue

Unfortunately, I have more to report this week as Dale continues to exist day to day. Fatigue continues to increase as do night sweats. I think his cough is an annoyance but not the cause of all discomforts. He had b-cell blood work a few weeks ago with his regular physician along with the blood checks for diabetes, although no significant changes were made. Originally, fatigue was the only sign Dale had that something was wrong. It continues beyond the anemia diagnosis. Dale's complaints of bones hurting makes sense to me in that his bone marrow is compromised and falls short in generating enough blood to keep him out of anemia danger. I guess we just work through each day until appointment with cancer doctor in a few weeks.

I have turned on the caretaker mindset once again.

Anemia

Dale took himself to ER yesterday. Anemia and viral infection. Bone marrow not producing enough red blood cells and a weakened immunity. He takes a viral antibiotic already--although he forgets to take it sometimes, and he needs to eat healthy. Nothing new and part of the recovery time. On we go.

Fatigue

Dale looks good. Skin coloring healthy, hair seems to be fuller with less graying, and sense of humor growing. Inside, though, he is extremely tired. He reports it is difficult to get out of chairs, walk, and other simple moves. He slept all day yesterday, got up for dinner with friends, maintaining as best he could, and went to bed when we returned home. Another day of sleep today indicates a downhill sign. He does not like to miss work, however, does not have enough strength to make it in. He continues to fight a cough. We thought maybe pneumonia set in, however, x-rays had no indication of such. The next cancer doctor appointment is in one month. If remission is over, so be it.

Today is my birthday. Just another day. Happy Birthday, me!

Daily pace

I was out of town for a conference this week. When I came home, Dale was asleep and hardly noticed me. I could tell by the way our home had extra clutter and unfinished tasks around that he barely made it through each day. He says he is okay, however, sleeping for twelve hours and still being tired is not a good sign. The cancer doctor appointment is in about four weeks. If remission is over, we will know then. I do not have any feelings of what is going on, other than, Dale is doing the best he can to be productive each day but cannot keep up with the daily pace.