September 14

Maggie here again.  Today marked day 6 in the hospital and there really hasn't been much change in her symptoms.  Kaplan, the GI doctor Harper, and the infectious disease doctor have all been looking into what's causing this mess and are still fairly unsure.  Yesterday when we talked with Harper he seemed to think it was more likely caused by a bizarre infection, either viral, micro bacterial, or parasitic.  Today when we talked to him he was leaning more towards the chemo causing it, admitting fully that they really don't know. The more that infections are being ticked of the list, the more he thinks it's the chemo.  Nothing is off the table at this point though.  There is a medication that has been shown to work for people suffering from chemo induced diarrhea that he recommends she start on.  Even though they're still not sure that it is the chemo, he thinks it's better that we start on something instead of just letting this run its nasty course.  We just have to run that by Dr. Kaplan and see what he thinks.

Me, my dad, and Michael held down the fort at Swedish and had a few visitors.  We took a walk around the hospital floor in a wheel chair, and later by foot to watch a bit of the Seahawks losing in the family lounge.  My mom started on IV nutrition yesterday evening and it seemed like she had a bit more energy today.  She hasn't been able to keep in any of the food she does eat, so it's good that she's finally getting some calories.  The doctor did say that when you start on nutrition you have to stay in the hospital for at least a couple days, so she'll be staying put for a bit.  She's still cracking jokes and laughing when she can despite the fact that we keep receiving discouraging news.  It's tough but as you all know, so is she. Toughy girl, right?

Thanks so much to Gillian and Conor for taking care of the little Gertie dog.  This dog walking pair have been by like clock work and even watered our neglected hydrangea today.  THANK YOU!