Day Six - Exhausted!!!

I'm guessing that is what Heather would type if she had any energy at all. Things went well last night. She got her 14th dose at 1:30 in the morning!! 14 for 14!!  She is still too weak, tired and confused to realize yet that she met her goal. All typical side effects of the IL-2 plus the addition of the drug cocktails she has been receiving. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure she made several imaginary friends through the night. Vivid dreams are another side effect. She told me today that several times through the night she wondered why there were so many people in the room... She gave a weak chuckle when I told her the only people that were here were the nurse and myself. 

The plan now is to stay in the ICU for the next several hours while they try to get her off of the pressor drug that has been supporting her blood pressure for the last few days. They can't just stop the drug or her BP could drop dangerously low, so they lower the dose every 30 minutes or so as long as her BP stays good. Once her BP is stabilized, it sounds like they will move us to a regular room for the night. 

Once she is off the pressor, they will then get her on a drug called Lasix which will help her kidneys get rid of all the extra water weight she has gained. I'll let her tell everyone just how much she gained in a later post if she so chooses :-) the good news is, it is all excess fluid and she should be back to her fighting weight by the end of the week. 

Hopefully later today, Heather will be up for a little blogging herself, but I knew everyone would like to hear that she successfully completed the first round and is on the mend to get ready for round two!!

Bye for now - Kelly