Monday, March 29th

If nothing else, the emergency room gives us reason to be thankful:)   Reba had an incredible amount of lab work done last night and at this point we don't really have any answers.  As Rondi said, the physicians are monitoring her white blood cells.  Her chest x-ray was clear which was fabulous news!  She was moved to the 4th floor to another holding area and was put into a private room.  As of this morning she is still on the 4th floor waiting for a room on 8.  Her room is really quiet and there isn't any foot traffic, so it's quite peaceful. There is a sign on her door stating "Neutropenic Precautions" so anyone entering has to wash their hands, put on gloves and wear a mask.  Absolutely no flowers or plants are permitted.  She said she slept pretty well but the nurses continued to take blood.  She is on intravenous antibiotics every 8 hours.  She ate all her fruit and drank her milk but not much else.  She was given dilaudid for cramps and overall feels pretty good.  The GOOD side to this is the physicians think she hit the wall and now her cells are regenerating.  We don't know how long she'll be in the hospital so it's another waiting game.  She remains positive, high spirited and just goes with the flow.  Her care at Mercy has been amazing.  The emergency room nurses, the rather hot ER doc and the RN in her room this morning were all gentle, kind and truly interested in knowing everything about Reba.   She's in good hands.  Louisa