Annie unplugged

With the ATG finished, her blood-pressure stabilized and her blood counts, for the moment, better than they've been in five years (this is due in large part to the transfusions), Annie has been discharged to recuperate (and see how things take) at home.

So we say good-bye to the swank room and the kindly, talented staff.  I had to be sure to show a picture of the floor to ceiling white board across from Annie's bed.  My students can well imagine how happy it made me to see this.  I'm now completely rethinking my home decor.

Onward to the next phase.  Since the PICC line didn't work out that still hangs in the air.  Annie prefers getting poked hundreds of times to having a line installed so we are considering putting off the procedure to see if it's really necessary.  It was recommended for the ATG and to make blood draws and transfusions easier but with the ATG behind us we'll let Annie see how she feels about the frequency of pokes over the next week.

I've been mulling over the blood pressure spike and am wondering if it was the cafeteria food that precipitated the event.  Remember that she was going to get hungry but wasn't supposed to have salty or sugary food?  By midday Saturday she was really hankering for something "yummy."  I ventured down to the hospital cafeteria to offer something new and came back with a plate of roasted potatoes, roasted vegetables, beans, rice and sweet potato fries.  I avoided the chips and desserts she really would have liked so it felt like I was on the healthy side of things....

Normally she gets 95% of what she eats made at home.  Since we've been suppressing her immune system we depend on the healthiest, most nutritious food possible to help protect her since her body is handicapped in that regard.  Thus we also can control the amount of sodium in her diet and high blood pressure has never been a problem.  I've certainly read that the food served out is loaded with sodium, even when it doesn't seem to be.  So maybe it was that afternoon chow-down that caused the spike.  We'll never know for sure but it's back to kale chips for Annie :)

No news is good news and hopefully nothing will ding in our house tonight so I'll plan to update at the end of tomorrow.  Thanks again for supporting us over the first big hurdle!