The last two days have been the most miserable I have ever experienced. As I’ve talked about before, I developed an infection in my colon as a side effect of the chemo. The infection itself has caused an incredible amount of pain which they treat with morphine. When I started running low grade fevers last week, they said that is was probably just because of the infection.  By Saturday morning, the fevers were getting higher and it was mixed in with them giving me premeds for platelet transfusions. They would give me Tylenol and Benedryl and all kinds of things through IV then start the platelets, at which point I would start running a fever or have a reaction to the platelets, like severe shakes. By last evening, my fevers were running over 105. The decided that I was having a “drug fever” which is when your body starts to reject the antibiotic. After what seemed and unbearable wait while I felt my body burning up, they finally got me under a cooling blanket. This is a plastic blanket that fills with water regulated to 80 degrees. It keeps my fever from going up and if I am able to remain comfortable under it for a long enough time, it brings my fever down.  Tonight I have gotten the fever down to 100.3.

Hopefully the fevers will remain manageable and eventually go away altogether when the medicine is entirely out of my system. That just leaves the stomach infection. If you were to look at my stomach right now, I actually look like I am 2-3 months pregnant because my colon is so swollen and inflamed that it is bulging towards the front of my abdomen. The pain part is manageable with the morphine but the other huge issue is that this is causing such bad bathroom problems that I have actually opted to wear adult diapers until we work this out. I share this because it is actually hilarious to see what I look like in an adult diaper. At least I’m laughing about it! Yesterday they told me just to try to eat what I wanted and see how it went. Today I asked to be given IV fluids and we all agreed it was best for me not to eat anything.

Nothing that has happened to me is particularly unusual for someone in my situation. I’m sure that people have suffered with other side-effects that I was fortunate enough not to get. And the doctors keep reminding me that once my white cells start regenerate and climb, which should be by tomorrow, things will start to improve quickly. That is what I need to focus on right now because that is what is going to get me home.

Again this is Brian. Jess wanted me to say a few quick things here and give an update.

She is still struggling with the fever. The doctor told her the medication she was allergic to would be out of her system between 24 and 48 hours. She was really hoping for 24, which would be tonight… however that was not to be. She is still is running a fever between 103-105.. which of course is whipping her out. She has essentially been living under this cooling blanket which is set to a constant 80 degrees. When I spoke with her at 4pm her temperature had dropped to 101, which is the lowest it had been for 3 days. But just an hour ago it had risen again to 103.7. Since this temperature is playing havoc with her brain (the doctors promise no long-term damage has been done) she struggles with clear and cohesive thoughts, which is why she has not called anyone back or taken on the blog. She really does appreciate all of the well wishes, calls and positive thoughts and will hopefully be back to her regular self tomorrow evening. But as I said yesterday, its rest time.

So hang in there everyone, just like in the movie when everyone thought superman would lose to General Zod… I think supergirl has a few tricks up her ol’ sleeve.

This is Brian again.

Sorry everyone, I should have logged in again last night and let you know what is going on. Basically, Jess is still fighting a pretty intense fever. Her temperature has hit 105 a few times and she was of course pretty damn scared. Basically a nuclear war is going on inside of her.

Well, the good news is that they have found what is causing the fever, she is allergic to one of the antibiotics that they have been giving her for her stomach issues. The have ceased giving it to her and have her under a cooling blanket, to lower her temperature. It is currently about 103. They expect the antibiotic to be completely out of her system by the end of the day… and then her fever should dissipate.

Her stomach issues have also seemed to lessen and her platelet count is holding at 30k. So its not all bad news. Basically, once she gets all of the antibiotics out of her system she should be on her way back up. They expect that by Tuesday her numbers will begin climbing again on their own.

What do I want for father’s day, you ask??? Jessica home.

Today started off great. I wasn’t running any fevers most of the day and I received 2 successful red blood transfusions which were preceded last night by 2 successful platelet transfusions bumping me up to 14,000. I was feeling well most of the day and then my stomach started to hurt and never stopped. By dinner time I was hunched over in pain and begging for meds and that was the same time they wanted to do more platelets. My fever also decided to return around that time. So in a matter of 40 minutes I was given Tylenol, Benedryl, Hydrocortizone, and Pepcid AC as premeds for the platelets, Gas-X and Maalox for my stomach, Adavan for the panic attack I was started to have, and an IV shot Demeral when the shakes started after the platelets. And, as expected, the platelets didn’t work and knocked me back down to 4,000. Argh.

We’re going to do it again tonight but wait till all of my other issues subside. It will work the next time because we won’t rush it and go in better prepared.

But, in big news today, I went outside and saw and felt the sun for the first time in 18 days!!!

Brian said I look skinny, which is probably true because I haven’t eaten in almost a week. I don’t even want to get on the scale. But for dinner I talked to the resident doctor and we came up with an Ensure shake, rice and chocolate chip cookies. She said my best bet might be to have people bring things from home. Here’s the criteria: filling, easily digestible and no fiber. Fruits, veggies and beans are out. The Ensure shake seemed to work well. If you have any ideas of foods I might try please list them below. I’m at a loss, starving and in pain.

Also in good news, I had a great visit with Phaedra and Renee and it turned into another very therapeutic conversation in room 47.

I want to once again thank everyone who has been helping with the kids, meals and coming for visits. Brian and I are so grateful for all of your generosity. I know that my kids appreciate it too. I hope to kick this stomach thing soon so I can work on getting better and coming home in the next two weeks.

Oh, one more bit of irony I thought I would share – the hair on my legs, arms and a good part of my head has not fallen out yet. I’m starting to feel like I bit the bullet a little too soon and TRYING to laugh about it. I know my hair would have been a mess if I hadn’t cut it but I could have tried a short cut before the buzz and that might have been enough. Oh well, nothing I can do now. The good news is that I still have my eyebrows and eyelashes which is what I was most concerned about. The bad news is that my platelets are far too low to shave my leg so I apparently will be a complete jungle woman by the time I get home. Nice image, huh Bri?

I’m starting a new section tonight with a survey of sorts. I just thought it would be fun to see what you guys think about different things. Tonight’s question, “Top 5 All-Time Funniest Movies.”

Thank you again for following along on this journey, old friends, new friends and people I’ve just met. I am grateful for all of your support, encouragement and your own inspiring words.

Nothing complicated here, I’m just asking you to share you top 5 funniest movies of all time. Here are mine (in no particular order):

• Blazing Saddles
• Animal House
• Christmas Vacation
• The Hangover
• Airplane