Eddie’s status: Still in the hospital being treated for pneumonia. And a drug rash. And major swelling all over his body. And possibly another infection. :/
It’s been twelve days since Eddie was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, and it’s hard to tell if he’s getting any better. I’m sorry to say that his already complicated situation has only gotten more complicated.
I know in my last post I celebrated the fact that Eddie’s nausea has subsided, but the nausea has since been replaced by some other setbacks.
Unfortunately, this is one of those posts where I get more real about Eddie’s condition. If you’re faint of heart, you should probably skip this one, and wait until I let you know that Eddie’s doing better.
Here’s what we know so far.
1) Eddie has pneumonia. If you’ll recall from my first post about Eddie’s pneumonia, his primary team of doctors initially believed the pneumonia to be the result of a bacterial infection and thus, treated him with a potent combination of Zosyn, a penicillin, and Vancomycin, an antibiotic. However, despite a few days on the drugs, Eddie continued to spike fevers. On top of that, the sharp pain in his right chest/back seemed to only worsen. This led the Oncology team to consult specialists from both Pulmonary (lungs) and Infectious Diseases. “If it isn’t an antibacterial infection, then what is it?” they wondered.
2) Eddie’s pneumonia is due to a fungal infection, caused by a common mold called Aspergillus. This species of mold is apparently everywhere. Most of us have aspirated this fungi at one time or another and it’s not a big deal because our immune systems can take care of it. However, when you have a compromised immune system like Eddie does, it’s a big deal. In fact, everything is a big deal when you have Aplastic Anemia. The fungal infection was discovered after Eddie underwent something called a bronchoscopy, a procedure in which they put a scope down his trachea in order to obtain a sample from Eddie’s lungs. The bronchoscopy almost didn’t happen due to some differing opinions amongst the 10+ doctors consulting on Eddie’s case. Thank goodness it happened though, because it revealed that his pneumonia was in fact a fungal infection, not bacterial as initially thought. As a result, they switched up Eddie’s meds to some very strong anti-fungal meds, one of which has some interesting side effects.
3) Eddie is seeing visions. One of the anti-fungals Eddie is on, voricanozole, is known to have some unique side effects, including “visual disturbances”, such as a sensitivity to light or a problem seeing colors. According to the doctors, it has also been known to cause very vivid dreams. In Eddie’s experience, he occasionally has these visions when he’s partially awake. Somewhat akin to lucid dreaming, he knows that what he is seeing is not actually happening. Eddie said that he once envisioned me and his mom walking down a road looking at a bunch of crafts and wares, like the stuff you’d see on Etsy. On a few occasions, he says that my hair looked purple. Apparently, I look pretty decent with purple hair.
4) Eddie has a gnarly drug rash. I don’t recommend that you google ‘drug rash’, but if you do, you’ll see that drug rashes look really scary. This rash is a frightening shade of pink and covers most of Eddie’s body, but is especially harsh around his appendages and belly. The doctors suspect that the penicilin, Zosyn is the cause of Eddie’s drug rash so they have since pulled him off the drug. Unfortunately, a drug rash can linger for a few weeks even after eliminating the offending drug. I also learned from one of the nurses that drug rashes can also sometimes lead to fevers. As if, Eddie didn’t already have enough reasons his body might spike a fever! The drug rash varies in it’s intensity, so it’s really hard to tell if it’s getting any better. In the meanwhile, the dermatologists prescribed Eddie with a lotion to help ease some of the irritation.
5) Eddie has some major edema, the medical term for swelling. Imagine your body covered in a bright, angry rash. Now, imagine that rash-covered body, swollen. Yeah. It’s very uncomfortable. There’s a lot of swelling going on right now in Eddie’s body. Currently as I write this, he has swelling in his face, his arms, his hands, his belly, his thighs, his legs, and his feet. Since being admitted to the ER, he’s gained around 25 pounds, most, if not all of which, comes from fluids.
From what I understand of what the doctors have told us, fluids have been accumulating excessively in Eddie’s tissues and muscles and not passing through his blood vessels as they should be. Consequently, in addition to swelling, this accumulation of fluid also contributes to Eddie’s low blood pressure. I could be wrong, but some of this fluid buildup may also be due to some kidney issues Eddie has had on account of all the heavy meds he’s been on since starting his treatment for Aplastic Anemia. For now, the doctors have instructed Eddie to keep his feet elevated (above his heart), wear compression socks, and go for walks to help alleviate some of the swelling.
6) Eddie has accumulated fluids in his pleural cavity, the area surrounding his lungs. Now, I’m not sure if the fluid accumulation in his chest cavity is related to the excess of fluids in the rest of his body, but recent X-rays have shown that there’s a lot of extra fluid around Eddie’s right lung, the one with pneumonia. A thick concentration of fluids in one area would indicate an infection in the pleural space. The good news is that the fluids are free-flowing. On the other hand, the doctors are not certain if these fluids are hindering the anti-fungals from getting at the pneumonia in his right lung. Right now the plan is to tightly monitor what’s going on in Eddie’s chest through regular X-rays as well as wait and see if his fevers go down.
7) Eddie may or may not have a respiratory or viral infection. A CT scan of Eddie’s face and neck revealed some new spots on Eddie’s left lung. The nature of these spots are still unknown, but the doctors are concerned that it might be a sign of another infection. I know. WTH! Can’t the universe cut a guy a break?!
The doctors suspect that the spots may be signs of a respiratory or viral infection because Eddie’s already on some super strong anti-fungals and antibiotics. It would be very “atypical” for him to acquire another fungal or bacterial infection.
Eddie took another series of chest X-rays this evening, so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the results.
Here’s a visual summary of what’s going on in Eddie’s lungs right now.
As you can imagine, Eddie has got a lot going on right now. He’s like the Jay-Z of infections right now - he’s got 99 problems but a normal immune system ain’t one.
We’re fortunate that Eddie is under the care of an extremely dedicated and smart group of nurses and doctors, all intent on helping Eddie get better. Unfortunately, his Aplastic Anemia, the condition underlying all of his current afflictions, makes “getting better” an incredibly complex challenge, rife with all sorts of unexpected obstacles.
The good news is that Eddie is not spiking as many fevers as he used to. The problem is, the fevers aren’t gone completely. Fevers are the number one sign that things are not right in his body.
I can’t say that Eddie has defeated his pneumonia yet, but the fight’s not over. It’s pretty remarkable how, despite everything that is ailing him, Eddie is pushing through the pain and trying to do whatever he can to strengthen his body. In fact, the doctors keep saying given all that he’s got going on, he’s looking ‘pretty well.’
I know Eddie’s condition sounds pretty dire right now, but we know that he will get better. He’s going to fight the pneumonia with everything he’s got! Things might get ugly, but he’ll end up on top.
So, with that, let me leave you with some of Eddie’s triumphs from the past couple of weeks.
Do you remember that incentive spirometer? Eddie reached up to 5.98 seconds! The Pulmonary doctor says that Eddie is one of the best he’s ever seen. (I, who am pneumonia free, tried it and barely got to 3 seconds.)
Eddie kicked nausea to the curb and managed to take in some solid food!
Lastly, Eddie turned another year older! Ever the gentleman, he humored us by posing with the world’s cheesiest birthday balloon.