The Dog Days of Chemo

It’s been a week since Erica last blogged and not a whole lot has changed. She still eats, sleeps, and Wii’s in her room here at the Stanford Medical Center. Each new day brings with it a new visitor and a new chemo-induced quirk about her body. As a result of the 5 days of chemo that she received when she first arrived at the hospital, her white blood cell count is very low, meaning that her body’s ability to fight off infection is at its lowest (but this is a good thing, it means the chemo is doing its job). On Sunday she woke up with some pain in her arm and started running a fever. The doctors have been expecting this to happen and are treating everything accordingly.

Yesterday Erica underwent another bone marrow biopsy. This time, the doctors were able to pre-medicate her and make the experience much less painful than the last. She made it through the procedure with her friend Josh stroking her hair, her Mom rubbing her feet, me (Jamie) holding her hand, and 50 grams of fentanyl/ativan making the triple derrick-rigging of her hip bone like a psychedelic night at Studio 54 (Erica’s words).

Right now it is looking like she has at least two more weeks here. The doctors need to monitor her very closely and watch for any sign of infection. She will only be released from the hospital when her doctors feel confident that her counts have risen enough to fight off infection. Best-case scenario is that she will be able to avoid infection over these next couple of weeks, but it will be no surprise to anyone if she does get sick as her ability to ward off bugs is non-existent.

Overall she is still feeling pretty good and enjoys visitors (especially those who bring good, hot home-cooked meals-- look at the crap they feed her!). She is incredibly grateful to everyone for their cards, e-mails, and gifts. Please keep the positive thoughts coming.