24 Dec Pseudomonas
That’s what it is. We don’t know yet what the drug susceptibility is of this strain. We are hopeful the IV antibiotic we have been using will be the right one in the end, as the fever seems to have broken. We should know for sure by tomorrow.
Pseudomonas is a nasty bacteria that unfortunately only affects those with compromised immune systems. It can be difficult to treat and recurring. Based on how sick he was, the bacteria is most likely in his bloodstream, as well as colonized on the line. We simply didn’t catch a sample of infected blood in the small sample they took to test. The doctors are fairly sure though that getting the line out so quickly was the best possible thing we could have done for him. Once we get a new central line in, we should be able to finish the IV antibiotic course at home.
Keegan slept ok last night, sweating through two sets of sheets. His heart rate went down overnight, so between that and the sweats, we thought we were over the fever cycle. However, his heart rate has been high again all day. He feels warm to the touch but hasn’t had a fever. Overall, he has just been tired and ornery. I guess you can’t blame him for that. As I’m typing this, we realized that the IV in his foot was blown, and the one in his arm had broken and started bleeding. We are calling the IV team can find a new point of access, or else this is going to be a very long next three days.
Labs didn’t look great today. We had to replace some electrolytes, even though Keegan just had TPN. His blood counts have all taken a big hit, and his liver numbers were rising. His ferritin level has continued to go up, but we are trying to avoid having to do another steroid pulse due to the infection. Steroids are good anti-inflammatories, but they are like fuel to the fire when it comes to bacteria. Tomorrow’s levels will probably make that decision for us. Either it will be over our threshold for treatment (already dangerously close), or his ferritin level will start to stabilize on its own. Unfortunately, we’ve been through this so many times, I am not hopeful we can avoid a flare without treatment. We shall see.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We are hoping to have a quiet day with our families visiting. If there’s one good thing that I hope will happen, I can stop wearing the cast on my foot tomorrow and may even test it out for a short run. Lord knows that would be one of the best Christmas presents for me…and for my sanity!
Thank you again for all your prayers and support. You truly help us get through each and every day, especially at the holidays.