November 6, 2024
This morning’s surprise was David moving slower than usual and almost as if he were in slow motion. I took his BP and it was 94/54 which was very low for him. He could not stay awake, and even as I was taking his BP he fell fast asleep. Still dealing with the temp spikes, I called our primary Dr. W. He was able to see us and we got him up to speed on starting the chemo last week and the temp spikes, the trip to the ER, and now the newest development of this low BP. I got the opportunity to talk with him about the serotonin syndrome I had wanted to discuss with someone, and he listened intently as usual. He agreed it was a possibility and decided to cut back on some of the BP meds for the time being as well as one of the antidepressants we had just increased. Because an SSRI is on the list of medications that could react with the chemo meds and contribute to the serotonin overload theory. Dr. W, checked David out really well including his port site. He explained you would usually see indications on the skin of infection and there would be tenderness around the area. He said often times but not all, a culture would show there was an infection that could be traced to the port line. We went home and his BP was a bit low most of the day. He didn’t feel particularly well today and didn’t have much appetite. He did manage to make himself eat. I started reading about port line infections.