Ok. It looks like on top of restoring the Prednisone, what they are trying to do is get approval for dupilumab (Dupixent is the brand name) for the bio-injectable. It won’t reverse any damage or improve my lung capacity, but it does (as far as I can tell) make the function of the Prednisone better so I don’t have to increase my Prednisone dosage. And it’s good for the things that already ail me, like mild COPD, asthma, and the strange positive side effect of combating my sebhorreic dermatitis.
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Ok, the floor doc is trying to get approval for Dupixent before I leave here, and he’s shooting for 11 am if possible. I’m starting on 40 mg of oral Prednisone, but hopefully once I’m on the Dupixent they can taper it down to a 5 mg maintenance dosage of oral Prednisone.
Fingers crossed I can get out of here before noon tomorrow.
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And how are you actually feeling?
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Of course my lungs aren’t up to snuff, but my general feel is very good. No more joint pain, the dermatitis has cleared up, and I’m pink again and feel alert.
Of course I won’t have the stamina due to oxygenation issues, but at least I have my walker chair in case I need to sit and rest.
I am having some trepidation about the amount of work I have ahead of me regarding the flea problem. I’m thinking maybe a flea bomb and large thick trash bags for stuff I may need to abandon. I think I’ll put half the cats in the pet cage outside and enclose half of them on the catio, and start cleaning and clearing junk. I think I have no choice but to set off a flea bomb and then clean all immovable surfaces the next day. Then the cat baths, one at a time.
I’m not sure where I’ll sleep in the meantime, but I’ll figure something out.
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So some improvement, which is excellent! Better than the downward slide.
If it’s warm (and it’s warm pretty much everywhere, right now), can you sleep outside?
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Well, new developments…and the bullshit just doesn’t stop.
The culture from the bronchoscopy came back, and the pulmonologist says I have a rare staph aurea going on in my lungs, so he’s going to put me on a 7-day antibiotic the name I cannot remember, and bactrim as a preventative measure against anything I might come in contact with as I get used to the immunosuppressants.
Samantha found one of the cats dead this morning. She’s busy working in the restaurant on a Sunday, so I don’t think I can get much info until I get home tomorrow. She’s agreed to double bag the body and put it in my freezer.
Because of the upper respiratory infections maybe coupled with the flea infestation, I’d assume it’s either Dulce or Charlie, her son. I’ll know when I get home.
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I don’t even deserve a friend like Samantha. She is so kind.
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I am so sorry about your cat. One more helping of badness and sadness.
If the staph infection is treatable, you will probably start to breathe a lot better after the antibiotics.
You have so much going on, that I do have to wonder if there is some underlying cause; like, could the inflammation caused by the Churg-Strauss Syndrome be behind a lot of the issues, or is it a symptom of something even deeper?
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It’s ever present, but yes, stress can cause flare-ups. But I wasn’t doing so hot without the Prednisone in the first place. I had no protections.
EDIT: For sure, that’s what the Dupixent will be for…to suppress the things that cause the inflammation.
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Oh god, that sucks, dude. I am so sorry about all that…
You do.
Just what you’ve said about her here, she kind of rules, for sure!
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Maybe Samantha thinks “I don’t deserve a friend like Knoxblox”
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I bet she does! 
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Ok, I’m hoping that regardless of whether I get the short term Dupixent dose I can get out of here this morning. Got my stuff together, showered and shaved. We’re just waiting for the doc to come around and sign off on the discharge.
I was coughing up some big blood clots left over from the bronchoscopy yesterday, but phlegmy things seem to have cleared up again.
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Back home, and the flea infestation is worse than I expected. No joke, I must have pulled three hundred fleas off my body and threw them into soapy water to kill them, and they keep coming. I’m going to have to pour gasoline and throw a lit match.
It was Charlie who succumbed to the flea infestation. He’d already had the upper respiratory infection, so I expect he became rather anemic from the fleas feasting on his blood. And I was going to take him to the vet the day I was told to check into the hospital.
So that’s the last of Dulce’s kids. She’s by herself again. RIP Ripley and Charlie.
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Oh, I’m so sorry. They look like such sweet cats. RIP Ripley and Charlie.
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Really sad to hear and what a huge task it’ll be to contain the problem and clean. Hopefully a friend can help but if not are you able to ask for assistance from a church or local group? Especially considering your health and physical condition you need a hand.
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I’m so sorry about Charlie.
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I’m so sorry to hear about Charlie. 
I hope you’re feeling better and you’ll be able to get your place cleaned up soon.
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Do you think you can manage to do a flea bomb? It would take a lot of effort (covering up everything, getting the rest of the kitties out, etc), but it might help?
So sorry about the kittehs…
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It’s trash day, and I anticipated throwing out a lot of stuff that would harbor fleas, so I bought a 20 count of heavy duty trash bags. First things to go are the old sleeping bags and clothing I don’t wear anymore.
The fleas are hopping like crazy and you can see them crawling on the cats’ faces. I’m trying to remove any safe place for fleas so I can put the cats in the cage outside later as I tackle the room.
Because of my physical health, I’m going to go get a twin sized mattress and wooden base to upgrade from the exercise mat. There’s a plastic mattress bag and a fitted base sheet arriving from Amazon tomorrow. I suppose I’ll leave them outside until I have the fleas under control.
I’m kind of bummed about needing to buy the new bed because it’s eating into the $500 I was planning to use on a replacement projector so I could keep painting (projector $350, $150 for return shipping and who knows what else comes up this month regarding my medical needs).
I do have to say that it’s uniquely satisfying to see the fleas struggle with a soapy, watery death in the bowl I prepared for them as I pick them off my skin. Little unaware assholes.
I’m hoping that flooding the floor with soapy water will do a lot of damage to their numbers, but flea bomb is the last resort due to the toxicity and the fact that there are still six cats here for the next week or so.
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