Hospital Day 2

We are still in the hospital hydrating Maggie of the fluids that were lost through her diarrhea. Maggie is still experiencing some diarrhea, but it seems like it might not be nearly as often as it was yesterday. She was so exhausted from not sleeping Saturday night and from the dehydration that Maggie slept from 6:30 pm to 8:15 this morning. Not that she didn't get up several times throughout the night, but she went back to sleep.

We have heard many different things from residents to our primary oncology doctor to the resident GI. Some have discussed that Maggie should not be eating/drinking anything to allow her bowels to rest. Currently she is only on a breast milk diet due to the ease in digesting. Funny thing though, Maggie has been asking for milk in a cup all day. Who would have thought that this would ever be a request. They wanted to take her off of all food/drink, but I refused to allow them to stop the nursing or else none of us would be sleeping and she would be crying most of the day.

Some other differences we are hearing is the possibility of this extreme case of diarrhea. Though Maggie has had a type of diarrhea since February, this week it has become complete liquid. Some believe it is chemo related, others believe it might be from the antibiotics she is on. No one knows for sure what might be the cause, but for whatever reason, it has definitely gotten worse in the last 3 days or so.

Maggie's bi-carb level, which was at 9 yesterday (normal is 25-ish, and this number is what got her admitted) is now at 14. They said that 20 would be an ideal number, though still low, and would get us closer to being discharged. Maggie's potassium went from a 3.2 to 2.4 (a normal low is around 3.7). This is another number we are continually fighting with. Her potassium level depletes quickly whenever she has diarrhea. They are currently supplementing her with oral potassium chloride and giving her potassium in her fluids.

Overall, Maggie is doing much better than yesterday. She was very fussy yesterday, which was most likely due to her dehydration. She is in much better spirits and is willing to play again.

Some things that we are looking at in the future- the GI specialist will be meeting with us tomorrow to discuss options. The resident today discussed further stool cultures and a possible GI scope. We'll get more clarification tomorrow. Maggie also has a speech therapist, feeding therapy appointment tomorrow to help work with Maggie's eating. If we are still inpatient, they will still allow us to keep this appointment as Dr. French sees it very important for her to attend (as we do too, seeing as they will help Maggie learn how to eat).

In general we are waiting in the hospital for Maggie's hydration to be at a safe level and for her diarrhea to be under control, though most likely still occurring. Please pray for Maggie to be completely hydrated and for the doctors to determine the cause and how to treat her diarrhea. Thankfully, Maggie's bottom is beginning to heal, but this area is still in need of complete healing to eliminate any infection risk. By the middle to end of the week Maggie's counts will most likely hit zero, so we want to make sure that there are no infection risks, period. Please pray that Maggie will stay free of infection, that her bladder infection is clear (they did another catheter today to determine whether or not she still has the infection), and that her counts will recover quickly.

Thank you for your prayers.