Well, it's another day and I get to eat additional foods. I have escalated to the BRAT level diet. No, not bratwurst, but bananas, rice, applesauce and toast with jelly in addition to the clear liquids that I was on yesterday. Seems like a smorgasbord in comparison!
I had a little scare yesterday when I thought there was blood in my stool. They took a test sample and said that it was just red dye from the berry gelatin that I ate earlier. I am pretty much back on my regular medications though some are still through IV. I don't take the Viokase since I am not eating any fats yet. My blood counts are a little low but not a concern. As expected my hematocrit was 35.7% where it would have to be over 38% for a phlebotomy. Hemoglobin was 12.2 g/dL where 13.3 to 17.7 is considered normal. Platelets were 101 where 150 to 450 is the normal range. Before my BMT, my platelet count was over 1000 and after it was down around 50 for many months.
After taking a shower yesterday, I was free of my IV for a while and took a walk through the skyway over to the Masonic Day Hospital. That was the location of most of my 90 blood transfusions prior to the BMT. Unfortunately, I didn't see many familiar faces since they have reduced staff over the last three years. I will continue to explore some more today.
Now just waiting for my bananas and toast to come. I think I will pass on the red dye gelatin (pun intended).
1 comment:
Hi Uncle Joel,
Sorry to hear you are still in the hospital. Rotavirus can be a nasty infection. I hope you can get out soon now that you are eating again. Platelets always drop whenever anyone is in the hospital for a few days. Kind of strange, but something about the hospital environment makes platelets go down. We will be praying for you that you will be home soon and feeling better.
Love,
Mark
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