Out of ICU. Into Mott BMT Unit

Ron moved to a regular hospital room at 2:00 this afternoon. He walked in the hall of the ICU, had been in a chair for longer periods of time, and his need for oxygen has decreased dramatically. The main criteria for needing the ICU was his need for a high level of oxygen. He was being treated for an unknown organism with a broad variety of antibiotics, anti fungal, and anti viral medicines. At this point the only culture that has grown an organism is from his lungs-- a staph infection. Although he had been on two antibiotics --one for the last six months and the other one month, it was not specific enough for the staph to prevent the infection. Because he has improved well since Sunday, the IV antibiotics are working well.
Ron's doctor was in Lansing today but came to see us after returning to Ann Arbor. He basically said: we've got this covered. Bone marrow transplant patients are immunosuppressed and can become sick more easily and more severely, especially when they are on steroids for a long time like Ron has been. ---but the steroids keep his GVHD under control most of the time. This is more reason to have ECP treatment for the graft versus host disease; he will be able to take less steroids, so won't be so susceptible to infection.
His blood draw cultures have not grown anything. (the staph could have spread to his blood causing sepsis or blood poisoning.) His flu swab was negative, so he is off tamiflu now, and not RSV or urinary tract infection either. The staph is enough to deal with! He will be able to go home by the weekend at the earliest.
So this has been a busy day! Cale and Joey came to the hospital, too. There are flu restrictions, so Joey entertained me while Cale spent time with Ron.
Although Ron had great care in the ICU, it is so reassuring to be back on the BMT floor with so many medical fiends. Once again they will be able to fix things, and they fill us with hope.