Day 12

Hemeglobin:  7.5
WBC 0.1
Platelets 10
Creatinine 1.34

Today was better than yesterday.  I was able to get a decent night's sleep before receiving two packets of platelets and two packets of delicious blood.  Dietz and I watched the Vikings win, then IRael came over, we ordered pizza and played cards (I lost terribly). I haven't spiked a fever since last night and it seems I've started pooping regularly again.

Ophthalmology came and examined my eyes this afternoon.  This fall I was diagnosed with retinopathy, a condition affecting blood supply to the retina.  Blood vessels provide the oxygen and nutrients necessary for cells found in the retina to survive.  These vessels are very tiny and thus very delicate.  If they become damaged from disease (diabetes) or drugs (chemotherapy), the blood supplying the retina is interrupted and cells receiving no nourishment begin to die.  The damaged places on the retina therefore send no visual information to the brain and a dark spot is perceived.  The damage to the vessels occurs as small tears which then bleed.  It is this bleeding that is causing most of my vision problems now.  When my platelets dropped so low it caused the vessels in my left eye (where the retinopathy is worse) to bleed.  This blood found its way into the space between the retina and lens, causing a "floater" to appear.  The good news is that this is not damaging the retina, there is simply blood blocking the image seen by the lens.  It should improve on its own once my system begins to stabilize, and there are procedures to remove blockages like this if needed.  The bad news is that it got worse again tonight.  The blurry area now has a red tint to it (makes sense) and has grown larger.  I am relieved to hear it should not be permanent.

In an effort to reduce the risk of further damage from bleeding my doctors have decided to up my threshold for platelet infusions.  Instead of waiting until my platelets fall below 10, now they'll infuse if they fall below 30.