Thursday, August 19, 2010

Day +9 - hanging in there but the symptoms continue to worsen

Hey All,
Well dad's symptoms continued to get worse :( his tongue and throat are very swollen and full of sores making it very difficult and painful to talk and eat .... His energy and strength also continue to worsen.  All of this is "to be expected" according to the doctors who are in no way alarmed by any of this - according to them everyday we get thru without contracting infection, pneumonia, or other complication is a GOOD day.  so, we just have to keep making it thru - as i stated yesterday we have finally sort of mastered the right pain pill protocol so, honestly he sleeps almost constantly which is probably just as well.  he did wake and manage through two walks today which was wonderful!!  and he managed to eat "some" at each meal.  
please pray that tomorrow would be the day when his symptoms and situation start taking that incredibly anticipated turn for the BETTER!  
a lot of you have asked, how will we know when dad's transplant was a success?  and there is not a simple answer to that question - as this is not an exact science in terms of when we know the real results...  we are just waiting for the day to come when his counts start climbing and his bad symptoms start to fade and that will be a very very promising sign that the transplant was successful :) for now, he is still in the "worse before better" stage and his counts are all still bottomed out, he is not able to keep or make blood or platelets yet, so he is still receiving lots of transfusions.  i hope that kind of explains the scenario - and we will continue to keep you posted each day as to his progress...... presently we just need all the prayers we can rally for him to reach that BLESSED day when things start to turn around :) 
We love you all and thank you so much for all of your love, prayers, and support!

10 comments:

  1. Jessica - our prayers are constantly with you and the family - The good Lord knows what he is doing - love to all - your cousins, Jackie & Ronald

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  2. Thanks so much Jackie and Ronald - He sure DOES :)

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  3. Jessica,

    Please tell your dad I'm thinking about him. I haven't called since, based on your blogs, I don't want to disturb him. I plan on going to Houston in a couple of weeks and hopefully he will be able to receive company then.

    Danny

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  4. Jessica - Claudia S here. Hang in there. Melvin needs your support and cheerleading soooo much - it will be a tremendous help to him. Be strong, be tough - God does love us and will protect! Please let us know if there is anything that we can do for you - you take care of Melvin. Let us know! Your posts are incredible. We are all praying for these bumps to smooth out! Claudia

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  5. danny - thanks so much for writing!! i will pass your note on to dad tomorrow and if you want you can send me your cell # and i can text you tomorrow if you want- to let you know if dad is able to talk a bit easier then :) i know he would love to talk to you :) retta has my facebook so she could send me your number :) and yes we are DEFINITELY hoping he will be ready for company in a few weeks :) love, jess

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  6. thank you so much as alway claudia - i will pass your note on to dad :) we really appreciate your prayers and your rallying for us :) love, jess

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  7. Jessica,
    I know that you were so hoping that your dad would be the exception- that he would not have to go through all of this unpleasantness that seems inevitable from what I've read. One day we will all be rejoicing and all of this suffering and waiting will be over. Keep the faith and just take one day at a time- God will give you both the strength you need for each new day.
    Love and Prayers, MamaC

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  8. Amen he is taking a few walks, we all continue to pray for both him & your family. Continue to know that God will keep him in the palm of his hand. Have a blessed & victorious day my friend.

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  9. Thank you so much mama-c - bb and i just got to the hospital this morning - about to update the blog again :) keep those prayers coming - looks like today is even worse :(
    love
    jess

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  10. thank you so much dee and thank you for rallying the prayer warriors in our bible study - we really really appreciate it SO MUCH!

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