Well, it’s not just a cold. It’s RSV.
My transplant team doesn’t mess around with any
signs of infection, so even though my symptoms weren’t too bad to start with,
they brought me in for a viral swab on Tuesday. We got the results on Thursday,
and it turns out I have RSV. Unfortunately there isn’t much they can do for RSV
aside from symptom management. So I’m taking Mucinex, and doing nebulizers twice
a day, and trying to stay super hydrated. Normally they would have also given
me steroids, but they don’t want to do that since I still have an open wound,
and steroids can impede healing. Instead they prescribed an antiviral, which I
started yesterday.
Things have honestly been pretty pathetic
around here. Katherine is also sick, and we assume she also has RSV. She’s been
utterly miserable and says it’s the worst cold she’s had in her entire life. My
symptoms were more manageable to start with, but over the last few days I’ve
had a significant increase in both head and chest congestion. Though I can feel
the congestion rattling around in my chest, I’m having a REALLY hard time
getting any of it out. I already have trouble clearing congestion due to my
airways narrowing post-transplant, and I have a feeling they’re even narrower
now thanks to the RSV. It’s pretty uncomfortable, and I had a hard time
sleeping last night because I kept feeling like I was choking on mucus. Today
has been a little easier, so hopefully I’m past the worst of it. Fortunately I
haven’t had any fever and my oxygen levels have remained stable, so maybe I’ll manage
to stay out of the hospital and finish weathering it at home.
RSV would be a lot even under the best of
circumstances. But I’m also dealing with the wound vac and an exhausting
infusion schedule. I also have a busy week coming up, with appointments with
the plastic surgeon as well as with Infectious Disease. It really is A LOT to
deal with all at once, and I’m feeling pretty beat down. I feel like after
having a couple years where things were relatively quiet medically, I’m now
making up for it all at once! Maybe this week I’ll finally get some answers as
to when I can be done with the wound vac and the IV antibiotics and start
getting back to some semblance of normalcy!
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