June 24, 2011 (Friday)

David looked much better today. He asked for rice and scrambled eggs tonight for dinner and sat up and ate most of it. Chrissy got to spend the night with Zach in David’s room. David ended up with a very nice nurse that didn’t ask her to leave.

He said his headache is better, he continues to complain of back pain from the shingles along with his arm. His platlet level is at 30. Two of his oncologists came in this afternoon and told us that less than 20 is bad and that 150 – 300 is normal. David received a blood transfusion on Wednesday and will receive platlets tomorrow before he gets discharged.

David’s right arm has started getting broken blood vessels. Dr. Tsang ( one of the oncologists) said it is most likely from the blood pressure cuff being used on his arm. Because his platlet level is so low it is causing a leakage of blood. It was too uncomfortable using the cuff on his leg.

David will need Neugogen shots while he is at home. The injections had to be shipped to the pharmacy from Indianapolis. Chrissy had to pick up the vials from the pharmacy before she drove home. David received the first shot today at the hospital, will receive another one before he gets discharged tomorrow and the Chrissy will have to give him the next 5 injections at home.

I looked up what Neupogen does…

Neupogen is similar to a naturally occurring protein which stimulates the colonies of white stem cells within the bone marrow causing the level of neutrophils in the blood to rise (Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor - GCSF). Increasing the levels of neutrophils in the blood stream reduces the risk and severity of infection.

The hospital got a new kind of IV machine today. It is much quieter and David said it was much lighter. When you are strapped to a “leash” and have to manuver it around the hospital the smaller is much nicer.



New IV machine



Chrissy spent some time talking to the VA and currently it doesn’t look like staying at the VA house in Los Angeles is possiblity. The VA in Los Angeles will need to get more information from the Long Beach VA.

He said he will problably feel really tired for about a week and a half and will probably have to be back in the hospital in about 2 weeks.