Blood work

Kevin again.

We now know the reason for the shakes Michael was having Friday morning: he has an E. Coli infection in his blood. According to the infectious disease doc, this is not surprising given the number of surgeries he had. They actually had pretty much figured this out on Saturday, but at that point all they were sure of was that there was a "gram-negative rod bacillus" in his blood. Bacteria take longer to show up in bloodwork, since you have to culture them -- as the doc said "they have to grow before you can figure out what they are."

We also know that these bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic they gave Michael on Saturday. Boo! But it turns out that the antibiotic they gave him on Friday is the right one. Yay!

The course of action is 7 days of treatment with Rocephin (the new antibiotic), which has to be administered intravenously. Fortunately, that does not mean Michael has to stay in the hospital for 7 days - he can do IV drugs at home, probably with the help of a home health aide. We still don't have an ETA for his release, but we're hoping that tomorrow will bring a consultation with the hospitalist and a plan for getting home.

He's looking good, although still very fatigued and in a lot of pain from his lower back, which is aggravated by lying in a hospital bed. Putting on a pair of sweatpants is enough effort that it leaves him trying to catch his breath, which is worrying.

Once he does get home, he needs to get back in for a PET/CT scan to assess progress of the cancer; that apparently can't be done as part of his hospital stay but needs to be done outpatient after he's released. American healthcare is wonderful, but our insurance system is pretty screwed up.

- Kevin