Day 2: First Fever

Dad Stats:
Most recent temperature: 101.6F
Most recent blood pressure: 109/52
Today's white blood cell count: 0.19

This morning Vic and Dad awoke after a relatively peaceful night. Unfortunately, upon awaking Dad discovered that the small mouth sores he has been developing over the past couple of days have gotten worse. He has been very good about doing his mouth care routine three times a day, but mucositis is unavoidable after this type of chemotherapy. Dad is having trouble talking because of the sores; it's difficult to make out what he is saying sometimes. He is still eating though, which is very good.

Dad is very tired, and spent the majority of the morning napping. This type of chemotherapy really wears your body out, so he needs as much sleep as he can get. It's probably a good thing that he is sleeping a lot because that way he doesn't have to consciously deal with feeling bad 24 hours a day.

The main event of the morning was that Dad developed his first fever, of 101.2F. Fevers ("neutropenic fever") are expected as the white blood cell count drops, and at this stage in the post-chemotherapy period any temperature above 100.4F is treated seriously. As many of you know, white blood cells are responsible for defending your body against pathogens, thus when you don't have any you can develop an infection very quickly, even from bacteria or viruses that normally don't cause any harm. Dad was started on broad-spectrum antibiotics (Ceftaz and vancomycin) as soon as he spiked a fever in order to prevent this from happening.

Just so you all are aware, the new white blood cells usually begin to appear around recovery Day 10 (so in about a week). Dad will probably not feel very good until around that time.

On a lighter note, I came down around 1:00pm to switch places with Vic. We had lunch at Rojo, one of our favorite restaurants near the hospital, while Dad napped, and then Vic headed back to Huntsville.

Dad and I spent the afternoon watching various movies and napping. Mostly I watched the movies and Dad napped...Later he had a Popsicle and a Sprite for dinner (the BMTU stocks their patient freezer with Popsicles for just this type of situation). Before bedtime I got Dad to stay awake long enough to watch Stranger than Fiction. Hopefully tonight will be another peaceful night!