The Saga of Sam

The Saga of Sam

Monday began as a normal day:  Penicillamine, B6, lasix (for ascites-abdominal fluid), school, nap.  Ascites - it's amazing how many new words I will learn in the next months - hepatic, varcis, Colombani.  When you awoke from your nap, you had a fever of 102.8°.  We were into our third week of medicine and Dr. Schwarz had warned us of penicillamine reactions such as fevers and rashes.  This is a classic example of things going from bad to worse.  We called Dr. Schwarz and met her at the JHU ER.  If it was a reaction, we had been prepared to stop the penicillamine, begin steroids (possibly) and slowly titrate the penicillamine back to the one gram dose.  After examination and blood work, drug reactions were not the only concern.  Your weight had climbed to 117 lbs. (fluid retention).  Your weight at Christmas was 100 lbs.  The extra weight was causing cardiac problems and at 2:00 A.M. you were admitted to the IMCU - Intermediate Care Unit on the 9th floor of the Children's Center (CMSC - I still don't know what that stands for --- Mom now tells me it is Children's Medical and Surgical Center).  The admitting physician was Dr. Susan Cumming.  She grew to be a good friend to you and the best IV starter in the world.  You and I spent the night.