Good morning all,
I know it has been a little too long since I last posted about our life, sorry. Since I last posted, Mark did have two bad days. Basically on Memorial Day and then one day later in the week, Mark experienced a lot of chest pain, anxiety, headaches, and overall grudiness. The first believed culprit is Mark finished taking his steroid. The steroid was minimizing the side effects of the ATRA medication Mark is taking. The doctors put him on steroids after his respiratory distress in May, but they wanted him to stop because the side effects of taking a steroid too long are also not good. Basically, that Monday night, Mark called the doctor who allowed him to take another steroid pill to ease the pain until his appointment the next morning. It took several hours, but it did help. The next day, we went to the doctor and after an EKG and Echo confirmed Mark still has pericarditis (probably not spelled correctly), basically inflammation of the sac around his heart causing chest pain, shortness of breath, etc. The cardiologist decided not to continue the steriod because Mark's heart is very healthy, it is simply reacting to the ATRA.
So, a couple days later Mark started to have the same side effects again. At this point, the doctors tested his blood levels because of a new medication he was taking called V Fend. This is an anti-fungal. Turns out a very rare side effect of V Fend when taking ATRA is V Fend will heighten the side effects of ATRA. Basically, Mark's body was reacting like it was overdosing on ATRA, therefore causing the extreme chest pain, headache, and shortness of breath. Well now, Mark has been doing well for several days and on Friday we were told Mark no longer has to take IV meds so he does not have to return to the hospital until Thursday (that's 6 whole days).
Well needless to say, we were very excited about our break from the doctor. Unfortunately, Saturday morning Mark woke up with a headache and sore throat. He pretty much slept all day and when he was not sleeping, he sat in his recliner. When I was putting Brodie in bed, he gave Mark a kiss on the cheek and said "daddy's face is hot". I immediately became concerned, so I put Brodie in bed and took Mark's temperature - 101.2 degrees. Doctors orders are to call if it is over 100.5 because that is a sign of an infection. Though Mark did not want to, I made him call the on-call number. It took a little while for the doctor to call back, but when he did he told Mark to head to the BMT Unit at Northside so they can find out what is going on and treat it. So, here I am sitting in Northside hospital BMT Unit room 442. The nurse took a bunch of Mark's blood to test for every infection you can think of, the doctor ordered an x-ray since Mark has had continual problems in his lungs (pneumonia is what started all this in case anyone forgot), and they will start him on two IV antibiotics just to try and get whatever is causing the fever. Basically, we know absolutely nothing right now, but I will let everyone know as soon as we know something.
To give everyone some comfort for now, Mark looks great. The nurse even commented on how much better he looks than when he was discharged. He feels great, except the headache and sore throat. His fever has actually dropped to about 99 degrees since we got here. I feel very confident he will be fine and the fantastic doctors and nurses here will take great care of him and knock out the problem (hopefully very soon - though it is nice seeing the nurses again, I would rather be home). For those wondering about Brodie; Mark's mom met us at the hospital and took him to her house. It worked out well because we were planning to go to her house Sunday night anyway (Mark still plans to be there - such a glass half full kind of guy).
So, definitely pray that whatever is going on with Mark is taken care of quickly without any problems. Pray for peace and comfort to Mark, Brodie, myself, and all our family and friends who may feel discouraged or at the very least concern at our return to the hospital.
On a happier note, Friday I was getting worried about finances (Mark's pay is 65% right now due to Short Term Disability - PTL for Short Term though). I kept running all sorts of options around in my head. When Mark and I returned home from the hospital I checked the mail, and there was a check for $184 from United Healthcare. I don't know why we got it, but I don't care. Now, $184 is not going to fix our financial concerns, but it is still an amazing blessing. Isn't it absolutely amazing how God uses simple things and perfect timing to bless us. Thank you Lord for the small blessings in our lives.
With a thankful heart,
Amanda
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