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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Part of my practice involves diagnosing leukemia and lymphoma.[/quote]

Thank you, Dr. OP, for your great breakdown of factors to consider and questions to ask. She sent us three pages of lab report last night, but they were blurry and very difficult to read. Trying this morning for some more clarity, info and clear next steps.

I really appreciate everyone’s suggestions and thoughts. My MIL isn’t especially comfortable with doctors, complex terminology, and evidence-based health stuff in general. We are glad to have family there with her, but are trying to also find a way to keep up and support her/BIL from far away. [/quote]

DP.  It’s really not your job to go through the lab reports and figure out what’s going on.  You don’t have the training for that, and even if you did, that still wouldn’t be your role as a family member.

Your job is to emotionally support your husband and MIL.

There is one glaring thing that I suggest you find out and that seems to be missing from your post.  You need to know how sick your MIL is.  Is she eating and drinking and walking around?  Is she laying in the ICU?  If you can’t fly out there, then I think you need to at least FaceTime and see what’s going on.  [/quote]

I understand what you’re saying. DH and I are not trying to play doctor; I completely agree that’s not our place in this. What we are trying to do is keep up with the info that MIL and BIL are being given, because of the possibility of some things being lost along the way as we get secondhand debriefings.

I posted earlier that MIL has been in general good health. She exercises and comfortably lives alone. Before and after her first hospital visit, she was living normally: eating, drinking, moving around. Right now she’s in the hospital again but is lucid, alert and able to participate (appropriately) in her care. She’s not in the ICU, but in an observation bed. We have pre-existing plans to visit her for spring break. Right now DH does not feel the need to go out early, but that could always change as more info comes in.

An example of the game of medical telephone: We learned this morning that it was not her red blood cells that were low, but her platelets. The number we got was 1,500, but that seems ridiculously low per Dr. Google, especially because we haven’t heard anything about her bruising all over the place recently. (And see also: golf, swimming, daily life. She was not bedbound or wrapped in cotton wool.) She now has had something inserted(?) or attached(?) that can somehow monitor her levels without the need for regular blood draws.

I appreciate everyone who is saying she needs someone there with her, and she does have that. It’s looking like we will be the second wave, coming in very soon to spell BIL and provide additional help as needed. [/quote]

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