A Few Steps Forward
Hello everyone, and welcome back.
For those following Tinkerbelle’s anemia, we’ve got some good news. First, we just got another hematocrit test done, and her number continued to increase. It was not a big increase, but she’s inside the normal range now, instead of right on the edge.
Other numbers in her blood work indicate that her body has decided that it’s producing enough new red blood cells now, rather than having to sprint to produce a lot of them. That goes with her hematocrit getting into the normal range.
If I understand things correctly, this may indicate that her bone marrow is not dependent on the prednisone to cause it to generate cells. It seems her marrow is reducing its output as the hematocrit gets back towards normal. That appears to decouple red blood cell production from the big steroid dose, so it is possible that whatever stopped her red blood cell production was a one time thing rather than an ongoing issue. We can’t be sure of that just yet, but there is hope.
And we have started to taper off the prednisone. The dose was dropped from 75mg to 50mg per day, where it will stay for the next two weeks until the next blood test. The results of that test will help us understand the next step. If her hematocrit remains stable or increases a bit, we can taper the dose some more. If, however, it starts to drop again then we have a problem and the issue is an ongoing one. (What would happen in that case I don’t know. Fingers crossed.)
The blood work did show mild indication of a possible infection, but that may just be a side effect of everything that is going on. We’re keeping an eye on things and (assuming there is nothing obviously wrong with her in the next two weeks) we’ll get another test and see if that has gone down or not. She had a course of antibiotics early on during the emergency, and we are hopeful this is just an oddity of the prednisone and not an actual infection.
Physically she seems fine. She actually climbed the stairs a few times in the past couple of days, which she hasn’t done in weeks. She still won’t come sleep upstairs at night, but getting up there at all is progress.
All in all, it seems there is hope that this will wind up in a month or two, though we will likely never understand what happened to her that caused the problem.
There is also good news on the kitchen remodel. The building permit was issued, as was hinted at last week. The turn around time to get it was shockingly short, which is great.
We’ve also talked with the contractor and we are still looking at a start time in mid November. I expect some schedule slippage on the project they are working on — just because it’s construction and that sort of thing happens — so in my mind we are looking at starting in December, but regardless of the start date, things are moving.
The next step is to get things tested for asbestos contamination. The house is old — originally built in 1960 — which means a few items might have asbestos in them:
- the original drywall mud
- the original tile stuck to the concrete slab that has been covered by a wood floor in some places and carpet in others
- mortar in the bricks used to build the chimney
We’re going to get all of that tested in the near future to see what we are up against. If we are lucky and there is no asbestos, life gets easier. If there is some, then we have to deal with an abatement process that will be an expensive mess.
There are a lot of open questions about the remodel that we can’t address until we get this testing done, and many more that will have to wait until demolition is complete. We need to see and understand what is in the walls (and slab) now, so we can make the right decisions about any changes.
One of those possibilities is that we might have found a spot in which to install an ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator). This is a device that swaps inside and outside air. It uses a heat exchanger to preserve the heated (or cooled) indoor temperature and it can remove excess humidity as well. They’re good for improving indoor air quality since they swap indoor air for fresh air from outside.
I suspect our air quality isn’t too bad, particularly in the summer, but we do have a humidity problem in the winter (even after replacing all the windows) and it can get stale inside with the house all closed up. ERVs are a way to tackle those issues and help circulate the air in the house as well. And given the house has no forced air system, air circulation would be a welcome thing too.
It isn’t certain we’ll install and ERV, but it might be possible if we make space above the downstairs bath for it. Time will tell.
Vancouver is settling into a fall weather pattern, which I love. Rain for a day or two followed by mild temperatures for a few days until the next rains arrive. We’ve had to turn on the heat, but it doesn’t need to run nearly as much as it does in the winter. It’s a nice situation to live in, and I hope we stay in it through the end of the month.
You may recall that Halloween in Vancouver comes with fireworks, and I don’t mean displays like on July 4 in the USA. No, instead it comes with kids running around the neighbourhoods with bottle rockets and other explosive devices that are illegal (or at least much more tightly controlled) in most of the civilized world. If things are too dry, the risk of fire is large, so I really love it to be as rainy as possible in October. Halloween night is not fun.
The latest community email went out a couple of days ago, which means I have some time to relax before the next issue starts to ramp up. I can research things around the remodel, dig more into the family history, and take the dog for a walk or two. Honestly, though, we have to start preparing for the remodel in a more serious way. Given the flooring work that is coming and the possibility of asbestos remediation, we may have to empty the entire downstairs and create a living space upstairs for the duration.
I expect we’ll have to get a shipping container dropped on the driveway for a couple of months while this is going on, and it’s time to go through everything we own looking for stuff we don’t need and won’t use again, just to get it out of the way rather than have to pack it up.
It’ll be kind of like moving, but without actually going anywhere. Oh joy. ;)
That’s it for this time. All the best!
Update: I had finished lunch and was sitting in a chair in our living room — right next to a row of windows — when I saw something coming directly at me out of the corner of my eye, followed so closely by a “thump!” into the glass that I had no time to move. My startle reflex happened entirely after the fact.
Upon recovering and looking outside, it turns out the hawk pictured above had flown into the window. It had very recently caught a robin (not pictured, it didn’t survive) shortly before flying into our home.
Initially I was worried. It seemed seriously injured, but we wrapped it in a towel and let it rest. After a couple of minutes it got itself upright, as seen above. Then, a couple more minutes later, it flew off. Apparently it was OK.
It didn’t take its lunch with it, sadly. We had to dispose of that ourselves.
But I am glad it made it. Quite an impressive bird!
Now I’m done. Cheers!