Please..No more bumps in the road for poor Kris:-(

Chip took Kris into DF yesterday for her radiation and bloodwork....only to find that her platelets were extremely low and she had to have a platelet transfusion. She also was running a fever and her doctor decided she needed to get things under control and she had to be admitted to see if they could find if there was an infection.

She got into Brigham last night and Chip was with her for quite a while before heading home. As she truly has no voice at all...bearly a whisper...she’s been texting a lot!! She had to go for a CT Scan to see if that showed any infection...and no sooner returned from that and they said she needed an ultrasound of her abdomen to check her liver, gallbladder and spleen...and her liver function tests were somewhat elevated. (ultrasound was fine!)

She was trying to get some sleep, when a resident came in and woke her at 12:15am to tell her she needed to have a scope to check into her throat. Now I’m not a doctor but this does not seem logical to me at all....here she has a terribly sore throat and cough, having had 9 weeks of chemo and then radiation for the last 5 weeks which is making her throat worse...PLUS her platelet count is low (which clots your blood)....and they want to stick a tube up her nose into her throat???! They then say that they could see a sac of fluid in her neck in the CT scan where the tumor was and it *could* be necrotic (dead) cells OR it could be an abscess...so they want to do a needle biopsy in the am! And she couldn’t have anything to eat or drink in case this was done. NOT the way to have her gain weight!

As if that wasn’t bad enough, they come back in this am and say the scope has to be repeated because they were unable to visualize clearly enough the first time!! That was done but when they mentioned the needle biopsy again, she said “NO...not unless you talk to my doctor at DF!”

As she was texting all this to me, I told her to refuse any invasive procedure and I was calling her doctor at DF. I truly believe that Dr. Limaye was an angel that was sent to Kris to get her thru this terrible ordeal. She has been wonderful since Day 1 and continues to be! She called me back and was furious that this all happened. She was at Brigham in no time and straightened things out and made it clear what SHE expected during Kris’ hospitalization!

It’s so hard to see Kris in such discomfort...trying to eat or drink just a bit. The coughing continues...which aggravates her throat...and the mucus is blood tinged (thank you, residents). They say that it is from the throat irritation and not active bleeding....thank goodness.

So far, they feel her fever has been from sinus infection and/or the tiny sac of fluid in her neck (which "might" be an abscess)....both of which will be treated with IV antibiotics.

They are trying to figure out why they can’t get her blood counts up where they should be and hemotology will be consulted.

And on a good note...Kris now has 6 more radiation treatments to go! There is most definitely a light at the end of this very long tunnel....just more bumps in the road than we would’ve liked.

Kris, I so admire you and love you. You are going thru hell and you still keep that head up and your spirits up. Damn, I know how hard this must be, honey.

I know you have lots of family and friends that are sending good wishes and prayers your way!

Thanks to all!

Linda