I was Chris' wife/caregiver & this is the medical blog I wrote during his treatment. Short history: dx in July 2010, no initial bone marrow involvement, did 5 rounds hyper-cvad protocol. Found out he is in relapse/refractory status with involvement in his chest, spleen, inguinal & throat lymph nodes, bone marrow, spine & brain in January 2011 when we went to MD Anderson for treatment. The two different rounds of chemo Chris got at MDA could not put him in remission; he died of leukemia/lymphoma on March 18th, 2011, an astonishing and horrific 8 months after his diagnosis.
There is a donation page for organizations here: http://chriscranecancer.blogspot.com

Saturday, February 5, 2011

took Chris to the ER last night for fever


Chris starting developing a fever last evening and when it got up to 102.2 we headed into the ER at MD Anderson around 10 p.m.  
When his blood counts are so low it's called neutropenia and when he gets a fever he has to go straight to the ER.
Here is a link to more information about neutropenia:

Basically his white blood cell levels are so low his body can't fight off an infection.  Since fever is a sign of infection he has to go straight to the ER and get blood tests, urine tests, chest x-ray, and IV antibiotics.  They test for any sign of infection and will keep him in the hospital for at least a few days.  He has been admitted to the hospital for neutropenic fever 5 times in the past.  
I got back to the hotel around 3 a.m. after he was situated in his room.  He is on the 6th floor and we sure were spoiled in the brand-new room he was in on the 16th floor before.  His room is quite small but serves it's function.  
I don't have the blood count info from what they drew late last night but are the results from yesterday morning when we were at MD Anderson for IV meds and platelets:

We weren't greatly surprised by him having to go to the hospital for neutropenia.  His counts are quite low and the chemo he had the previous week is even more intense than any he's had in the past, making neutropenic fever a near predictable event.  
I'm going to head into visit him in a bit after I wake up, neither of us got much sleep last night.  Hopefully he's sleeping now and I'll wait to see him until he can get some more rest.  

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