January 30, 2009: After a sleepless night again and endless coughing, another test was taken to identify a suspected viral infection. At about 2 this afternoon the two infectious disease doctors came in the room with gowns, masks, and gloves on. This time the masks were different than the ones they usually wear.
It was not a good sign. The virus was identified as RSV, it is an upper respiratory virus that can develop into pneumonia. It is dangerous for small children, the elderly, and immune suppressed adults. In some cases it can cause death in these groups. There is no treatment for this virus. It just has to run it's course which takes up to three weeks. Jill is scheduled for a cat scan to see if there is any sign of pneumonia. Jill's white count is up to 0.4 today which means that the stem cells are definitely growing.
Ernie and I have to wear the gown, mask, and gloves too. The virus can be spread by droplets from the cough that gets on your clothes. RSV can live for a couple of days on contact surfaces and clothing. They do not want this to spread to anyone on this floor. Extreme caution is taken at this time.
The outlook for Jill is that she will recover as her immune system rebuilds itself. It will probably delay coming home as scheduled. I don't think she can go back to the apartment with this cough even if her counts go up. The breathing treatments are helping. All of us (Ernie, Jill, and myself ) cannot come into contact with our little grandchildren for three weeks. (We can't wait to see them) I guess Mark will just have to let us see them on the Web Cam. We saw Isabelle last night. It felt so good to see her. We were all smiling
I will keep you informed about the results from the cat scan as soon we find out
Love
Doreen
Friday, January 30, 2009
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