Thursday, May 12, 2011 

Update # 145

Month 53 

Good Evening,

We continue to have interesting times with Jeff.  He can just sit there and something unique happens.

Yesterday afternoon, Jeff slept most of the time which helped quiet the cough.  But when he was awake, it was an almost continuous cough.

They came at the appointed time to get Jeff for the 4:15 bronchoscopy but it began late due to the doctor still doing a procedure at another hospital.  The doctor came out after the 30 min. scope and said he saw lots of secretions in the lungs but no tumors.  He said he took lots of cultures and lots of biopsies.  Jeff was back in his room at 7:00 and spent the evening coughing --mostly from the procedure.

Even with all the different antibiotics, we have seen no improvement in Jeff.  I spoke with Jeff and Meridith this morning and said maybe it was time to head down to Dr. DiPersio in StL like Dr. Masri had suggested on Tuesday.  They both agreed and we started the process of a transfer.  When we spoke with the infectious doctor, she agreed this was the right thing to do.  Jeff needs to see the people who have worked with him these last 5 years of Leukemia and transplant.

Our thought was to hopefully be out of the hospital by Noon and on our way to StL early afternoon.  Not!  We're still in Waterloo.  If you remember back in 2006, Siteman has 2 special floors -- one for Leukemia only and one for transplant only.  Both floors are full and there were no discharges today so there is no bed for Jeff right now.  So we wait for the phone call tomorrow.

My original plan was to drive Jeff to StL like we did in 2006 but since it's a hospital to hospital transfer, he must be transported by ambulance.  So Meridith and I will go down in the my car.  Whenever she needs to return, we'll take her halfway and either family or friend will meet us to then get her back home.

I mentioned that Jeff coughed up that nasty looking black sputum Tuesday night.  It was analyzed as a diploid fungus -- a type of yeast.  This afternoon (glad we were here and not on the road), Jeff coughed up another "thing".  It looked like a 2-inch piece of white string.  The infectious doctor thinks it is tissue but of course is having it analyzed.

So like I said, we sit here and just wait for Jeff to do something interesting.

We all thank you for the immediate emails, prayers, and visits.  Each and every one of you are the best support system for Jeff and us.  I'm not sure if I'll do an update tomorrow since it depends on the time of transfer which could end up being later in the day.  So don't worry if you have to wait till Saturday for the next bit of news.  God's love and yours surrounds us with great warmth.

love,

Marcia