Swollen belly

All the extra fluids Eric has been getting are causing him to swell up. His belly is really big and making him uncomfortable. They make adjustments to the amount of fluid they are giving him every two hours. They have to keep him hydrated, but not swollen, which is tough. The fluid that matters is what is in his intravascular space. (his bloodstream) When he gets large amounts of fluids, some seeps into his tissues and doesn't contribute to his circulation.

They started him on infliximab today. This should help his gut heal and slow down his fluid losses. I think once these new drugs have a couple days to work, he'll be in good shape.

They ran another test to see how many of the white blood cells in his blood were made from the donor marrow. This time it was only 89%. The doctors said this isn't uncommon and it is part of the reason they needed to cut down on his steroids. Now that there is less immune suppression, the cells made by the donor marrow will likely finish off what is left of Eric's old dysfunctional immune system.

-dk (via cell phone)