David continues
about the same. He had a fever overnight, but it dropped out of sight during
the day. During rounds the hematology/oncology fellow of Dr. Van E's told me that 20-30% of fevers have no identifiable
sources. If a specific source is discovered, through blood cultures, the
antibiotic treatment can be customized to fight the infection. General
antibiotics and anti-fungals are constantly being administered to shore up
David’s compromised immune defenses.
The surgeon appeared with his
entourage around 1 p.m. He said to David, “I met you yesterday, but you
probably don’t remember; you were asleep.” Humor appreciated.
My son, Matt, gave me a pedometer
for Christmas. Yesterday I did 16,561 steps, about 6 miles. Besides the daily
stairs routine: 4 floors of parking garage and another 3 floors in the
hospital, I roamed the hallways of the medical complex and outside around the
perimeter of the Wrenmimic, passing near I-495 and Jones Bridge Road (shout out
to ‘Keepin’ Up’), past a soccer field and baseball diamond, and along an asphalt
walking path with markers that state the maximum grade of each segment. My walk
took me past staid white houses with decks and driveways and the USUHS:
Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences, the military med school
here in Bethesda.
Bethesda means ‘house of mercy’ or ‘house
of grace’. This place is certainly that for us.
Posts
Thanks for the shout out- I'm sure my kids would love to walk that bridge someday. And wow, that's a lot of walking!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the fever disappeared- I had a fever after my appendectomy and it turned out that a bit of infection had spread to my liver. None of this fazed my 12 y.o. self, as it meant I got to spend more time in the hospital playing video games and eating oreo milkshakes. Ah, for the days when hospital stays were fun and exciting.