Day 40 - A Tall Drink of Water

Today's test results showed the same concerns with an elevated Potassium level. They have opted to stop the fluconazole and have him take Kayexalate to flush the excess potassium out of his system. We had to take a dose this afternoon and then go in again tomorrow morning for a follow up blood test to see how well it worked. They want to see the potassium level trending down by tomorrow morning.

They also were concerned that Tyler was dehydrated during today's test and ordered some IV hydration for him. He wasn't feeling good over the weekend, so we know that his eating and drinking were a bit down for that reason, but we didn't realize that he was that dehydrated. The doctors say that Tyler needs to drink 80-100 ounces per day, but it seems to me that the doctors still think he is dehydrated at that level.

They have prescribed a liter of IV hydration per day for now. Tyler is a bit disappointed, as this means 4 hours per day hooked up to the IV. At least we can do this from home and don't have to go into the clinic for that long.

I think that, while it is an inconvenience, it will make him feel better and free him up to focus on food more than drink during the next week. Plus, I found it a challenge to feed him things that were low in potassium. The only protein items in the "low" category were eggs and pecans. That doesn't make for very tempting meal options. We did get some suggestions from friends over the weekend and are trying to adjust our menus accordingly, but I still look forward to feeding Tyler beef again! ;)

On the upside, Tyler was feeling a bit better today and was able to eat normally. Andrea made it back over today, so I am headed out to work tomorrow and will miss the blood test. Hopefully we only hear good news when he calls me to tell me how it went.