February 23 - Home for almost a week

 

View from the couch

Its been almost a week since I've been home. Roy's sister and nephew flew into town on Sunday and we've been able to spend some quality time with them since. 

It's been a rough week for me however. I got home last Thursday, but by the next day, I started noticing that my lower legs were painful to even the lightest touch-- it was the strangest thing. By Saturday, getting out of bed was so painful that I had to brace myself to keep myself up, and I was hobbling around the entire day. Internally I was hoping that it would just go away on its own, but it didn't. Painful nodules and lesions started showing up on both legs and by Monday it was clear that I needed to go back into the emergency room. In my head, I thought "here we go again"...

I spent the night in the emergency observation unit, and on Tuesday we went straight from the ER to the dermatologist's clinic where they took two skin biopsies. Being neutropenic means that it can be anything; a bacterial infections, fungal infection, a reactive response to something I was exposed to. We are hoping for the latter, the reactive response which should resolve on its own as my immune system begins to come back on board. The least desired diagnosis would be a fungal infection, which would be extremely difficult to treat but the bacterial infection would be a close second. We should find out the results by the end of the week and from there they will put together a treatment plan. Praying for the best result.

Also, I'm realizing that this has all been a lot harder for Naomi than I realized. One night, she came downstairs an hour after going to bed and came to snuggle up to me because she couldn't sleep. I asked her if something was going on since I noticed she had a tough day. She said "All I think about is that you have leukemia, all the time. My brain is like a fog. I just want my mama." I responded and told her I'm right here, that I'm not going anywhere, and that she's safe. Then the next night I ended up on the ER. That's hard for a 7-year old. And she's having a bad flare up of eczema which she hasn't had for years, I'm sure the stress she's feeling hasn't helped. 

As of today, the pain in the legs have gotten much better, and the lesions are less angry. In the meantime, a handful of people have been praying for this. I am  grateful for the prayers and the relief. 

Probably obvious by now, but I'd like to ask for prayers for: 1) a reactive diagnosis for my legs 2) for peace and protection of Naomi's heart. 3) for my immune system to come back online sooner than later.

One last thing, I intentionally did not have automated notifications for each time I post because, well, it can be annoying. But if you do want to be notified, please email me at ruthwu12@gmail.com and I can put you on that list. Thanks again for reading, for being part of this journey near and far.