ugh

Thank you to everyone for your emails and comments. I've been reading them all but Adrienne isn't up to it.

She's been on the BIPAP all day and they told me they may need to intubate later today as her lungs are too stressed. Adrienne wants to try to breathe on her own and is doing okay so far but they're keeping a really close eye on her breathing and sats.

The plueral effusions are stable but there's a lot of "infiltrate" in the lungs and they don't know how much is disease and how much is infection. The only way to know for sure is to bronch her and that's too dangerous right now. She's been running fevers all day so they're throwing everything they have at it and have added steroids too.

I've been talking with Dr. O and he's keeping in touch with the docs here. Everyone has been really nice, especially with my crying. I can't cry in front of Adrienne.

ICU

Adrienne had a lot of trouble breathing overnight so they moved her to ICU this morning. I'm updating from my Blackberry. She's been on and off BIPAP and they drained one effusion but they're all over. She's comfortable now but the breathing issues are really frightening for her and for all of us. The pulmonologist said its unlikely that she'll survive this but we're still trying. I told them to intubate if needed because I don't want her struggling and afraid.

If this turns out badly, I hope no one will say she's in a better place or out of pain. She wants to be home with her family.

Mad and Frustrated

That's how I'd describe how Adrienne is feeling right now. Her creatinine (a measure of kidney function) has been going up and up since she was admitted. The nephrologist came to see her yesterday, they did an ultrasound and UA test, and it looks like she has some chronic kidney disease, probably as a result of her prior treatments. They stopped the antibiotic that causes the most kidney toxicity and her numbers came down slightly today. This is good news and hopefully the trend will continue.

She's still tied to the oxygen, which is really frustrating for her. We got a longer line in her room so at least she can get out of bed and she was able to take a shower yesterday. And yes, the boys (Caesar and Moe) came to visit last night, which she really enjoyed. The plan now is to try to get her home and then start Rituxan to debulk the tumors. The Rituxan doesn't kill the cancer cells but it does kill the inflammatory cells that surround the cancer cells and actually make up the bulk of the tumors. If we can debulk the tumors, the pleural effusions should resolve on their own. Yes, they're still there but haven't changed since Monday, which is good news too. As I keep saying...a day at a time.

Mobile

We were able to get Adrienne into a wheelchair last night and go into some beatiful gardens at the back of the hospital. We put an oxygen tank on the wheelchair and got her disconnected from the IV pole. It was really nice and not too hot. We're hoping the dogs can come for a visit later today.

A few people have asked for the address here so here it is:

Adrienne Boardman, Room 202
St. Rose Dominican Hospital
8280 W. Warm Springs Road
Las Vegas, NV 89113