September 22, 2026
Days 12 & 13
Yesterday was full of emotions, a “little” Gerald and lots of conversations surrounding scans. It was a rough day for both Tate and I. She was afraid to be left alone as the response to stop Gerald has to be so quick before it gets so bad. I am so grateful for charge nurse Shannon who came in with her work to sit with Tate so I could step away. Dog Wiley and Maureen came in yesterday and today too. Dogs are so good at meeting Tate exactly where she was.
Today we have nurse Rachel for the BIG win! She came in as fresh eyes, who also knows Tate so well, with a theory that a med was causing Gerald. After a trial today holding that med, and a study Tim found from 2023 to support one other person on an IT pump with the same response, and a day without Gerald, we are cautiously optimistic that this part of Tate’s immediate story is closed. (This med has actually been in question from a previous admission. I did a trial before we discharged then with no reaction, so we thought it was fine. The dose has since been increased, but it was still thought it was impossible that it was putting Tate into withdrawals. But that’s our Tate, always paving her own path.)
Now that we have optimistically put Gerald to bed, we can focus on the problems we came in with. Some significant rheum labs have come back abnormal so more labs are ordered and we’re still waiting on more CNS labs from the LP. Tates immune neurologist is working with radiology to go over scans more closely again as well to see how the abnormalities that were found fit into her medical picture.
In the meantime, Tate started day 1 of IVIG today and finished her IV antibiotics. Now we watch to see if the infection makes a return. She had elevated temps today again and is still requiring more pain meds.
Lily came up with such a fun idea today. She came in with “Gerald” written on bubble wrap. Tate stomped out Gerald along with the help of Rachel, Lily and Shannon to the song “Bye, Bye, Bye.” Love these ladies. Yesterday was a little rough and today had some fun. On both kinds of days, they took such good care of us.