Dave's home!

Yes, the good doctor said the patient was o.k. to return home. His white cell counts were back up as well as his sodium level. Dave was quite happy to check out of the hospital and return home. He ate Chinese for dinner and is acting like he's going to make it...he had me really scared Friday night, but, as my new mantra keeps resonating in my head...one-day-at-a-time! I'll get on Dave to write more tomorrow...take care!

Update from Dave posted 08/18:
Just to provide a few more technical details to what Holly has already graciously provided, what I had was Neutropenia, which was classified as severe in my case since my absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was 240 (the severe mark is ANC < 500). Since I was also running a fever of over 100.5, some in the hospital referred to what I had as Neutropenic fever.

While in the hospital, the doctors treated me with IV fluids and 4 rounds of an antibiotic called Cefepime (a.k.a., Maxipime). By Saturday night, I was already starting to come around and by Sunday morning I was fine. My blood cultures all turned out negative for bacterial infection. The nurses seemed to think that the Neulasta shot I had back on 08/10 (which stimulates the production of white blood cells) was finally kicking in and helping me.

The doctor made it quite clear to me that this would not delay my next round of chemo treatment. She explained that what I was going through was not uncommon for patients undergoing “intensive chemotherapy” and that she would not alter either the dosages or the timing of my next round (just a week away). With a smile she said, “Think of it as tough love”.