So yesterday morning the blood work came back showing improvement. Karen is no longer in danger of needing blood. In fact, all of the things they were watching in her lab work had shown improvement. She's feeling much better; she even managed to eat three breakfasts. And then a snack after lunch, a gluten free chocolate chip chocolate muffin, which she says was very good.
Her white blood cell count is still really low, but with things on the up swing and nothing much they can do for you when you have gastroenteritis, they agreed to release her. Her output has reduced greatly, but was still a concern. Part of her release includes getting the home hydration we've become comfortable with after chemotherapy. They won't send people home with an IV in their arm, but Karen's PowerPort lets us go home with IV access - they just send us the supplies and we call a home health nurse to de‑access her port when we're done.
Gastroenteritis, aka the stomach flu, can be fatal in people with weak immune systems, but it's actually very easily managed in a hospital. Some people seemed very concerned when finding out Karen was back in the hospital, but there's no better place for her to ride out a stomach bug. She was in very good hands with Mayo and we weren't worried once we'd arrived. We knew it was just a matter of time. Our biggest concerns weren't health related, but things like getting taxes done, and keeping the animals at home safe and fed.
