Rafi no longer has an infection in her blood. She had cultured out staph on her central line a few days ago. We thought that this was the source of her continued fevers. To kill the infection in her line, she had all sorts of antibiotics and they put ethanol in her lines to help kill the bug. Problem now is that she is still having a fever. She is drinking and eating well and we are going to start the gtube feeds again tomorrow. We’ve conducted some extra tests to try and find the source of the fevers. Fact is they might just be fevers because she is creating more white cells. But just in case, we cultured phlegm looking for viruses. Generally, we just hope these fevers will go away and we can go home soon.

We did take Rafi for an extended walk outside today. We wrapped her up in a sweater and a blanket, put her in her little pink car and cruised Washington, Delaware and Harvard streets. She was having fun out in the beautiful day and then decided she was hungry for baked beans and chicken soup. So back we went to our temporary home on unit 5D.

Her white blood and her absolute neutrophil counts are both very high. Truth be told, we don’t even pay too much attention to the numbers anymore. We look more at her platelet counts and her hemoglobin. Both of which are great. She hasn’t needed a platelet or a red blood cell infusion in a while so we hope this means we have engraftment.

As to her wounds, she is still getting some blisters and her skin is still quite fragile. While on her versed and dilaudid before her bandage change today she hit her face on the crib and up came a blister. We do think she heals a little faster though. Her feet look really great and they are generally one of her trouble spots. About a week ago, Rafi cultured out some MRSA and heavy staph. Now the wounds no longer look infected, the smell is gone and they look quite good. It’s amazing what some antibiotics, some bleach and some Restore silver dressings can do.

Time for me to catch up on a lot of sleep. Until tomorrow………..