Everyday while doing his breathing treatments he coughs up secretions from his lungs to help clear them and make it easier to breath. Last night when he did this there was bright red blood that came up. This has happened at home to Eric, and while it's been concerning in the past, it's even more so now. With his blood count levels down, especially his platlets, it really scares him and us! Platelets are part of your blood, and help you clot and also prevents bruising.
The on call pulmonologist was called and she recommended a different medication for his breathing treatment. He did this, and then over time the bright red blood slowed down. They also upped his platelets and instead of a platlet peramiter of 20 they increased it to 50 to be safe. So you can imagine the amount of time it takes to infuse enough platelets to increase it to 50. Practically all night.
As you can imagine, he had a not so restful night. Every bag of platelets they infuse they have to check your vital signs (blood pressure, temperature, oxegyen/heart rate). Vitals are taken every 15 minutes to start, and then after you are stable for 30 minutes they do it every half hour. Nothing like sleeping with interruptions that often. Eric did take the sleeping medication that had helped the night before but only took half a dose. He was worried about his lungs and what could happen if he slept too deeply.
A long night.
Although a terrible night, Eric made the most of his day and pushed through the hard things he had to do. He really does a terrific job at doing all the things he doesn't like without complaining.
One day closer, Eric! You've got this!
Jamie
❤️❤️❤️
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