Hey Everyone,
After an UNbelievably difficult and painful weekend for dad, yesterday finally brought some relief for him where the bladder virus is concerned. He had significantly less and less intense bladder spasms and that made a big difference, he slept most of yesterday since he did not get ANY sleep at all on Saturday night- neither did mom for that matter - I REALLY hope they BOTH slept well last night - I will let you know after I talk to them this morning. He started taking morphine yesterday which managed his pain quite well.
As for his counts, they unfortunately are still really low and not holding. They also discussed with us yesterday that the first bone marrow biopsy that he did on the 9th is showing positive signs of the donor's cells taking over which is a GOOD thing, however it did show 6% blasts and dysplastic cells- which is evidence of the persistent myelodysplastic syndrome (the leukemia)............ So, there is the good part and the bad part. What they are hoping is that the results from this most recent biopsy will show a decrease in the disease and an increase if engraftment of the donor's cells- so that is what we need to pray for! If the biopsy comes back and doesn't show more positive engraftment then they will be pursuing more cells to be donated by the donor and a second transplant of them. Whether or not we would have to do more chemo in conjunction with that 2nd transplant remains to be seen - what we WANT is to not have to resort to this and instead we want him to have that "turnaround day" where he begins making his own cells and then have the biopsy results come back negative for the disease!! The preliminary results of the most recent biopsy show a reduction in blasts to 2% now and so that is moving the right direction- lets band together and pray for a result of 0% to be right around the corner!!
Love to all and i will update again later!
For those of you who don't also follow Jessica on FB, the new doctors feel really strongly about getting platelets from both Jessica & Daniel because of their HLA matching. They think that platelets more closely matched to his own will be just the ticket to helping his platelet levels growing. Praise God for a fresh look, we are about to turn a corner I can feel it :)
ReplyDeleteHi Peb,
ReplyDeleteI want to share a poem with you that I have found much comfort in over the years. Please remember God is always with you and with your faith and determination you will see better days ahead.
All my love and prayers,
Lisa
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you."
Mary Stevenson
God will carry you through this! Stay strong. I love you.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI will make sure to read this to Mel after Jessica and I get back from her platelet extraction. I know she will do great and I know that Mel's body will receive them and be so happy that he'll be able to hold his numbers. God has truly carried us and protected us and we appreciate all positive thoughts, prayers and wishes.
Love,
Maureen