Friday, June 21, 2013
Update # 157
6 years, 6 months
Good Evening,
Happy first day of Summer to everyone. Temperatures have begun creeping to the low 90’s after a cool, wet Spring with a surprising 16.7 inches of snow on Palm Sunday.
Jeff had a good winter health wise. His March eye appointment again showed no change so the six-month schedule has Jeff returning in September. In April, Jeff ended up with a sinus infection and 10 days of antibiotics cleared it up.
April also brought a couple of other changes. Jeff noticed some light colored spots on his upper chest into the lower neck area. He happened to go with Meridith to her dermatologist appointment and she recommended a hydrocortisone cream. That seemed to help. Jeff then had his left index finger bother along with warmth to the touch. When we were in Iowa visiting Memorial weekend, Jeff’s left thumb began swelling, changing color along with the index finger again bothering. It all subsided after several hours.
Jeff, Meridith and 2 of their friends, arrived in Hillsboro about 10:30 PM on Father’s Day. Monday the 17th was Jeff’s first yearly StL appointment. Jeff was notified in March that Dr. DiPersio would not be available since the schedule was changed for him to work on the transplant/Leukemia floors that day so Jeff would be seeing one of the associates. But we were pleased to actually see Dr. DiPersio after all since his schedule had again been changed.
Jeff had recently stopped the hydrocortisone cream on his chest so the spots would be visible for a doctor to see. Our suspicions were correct when Dr. DiPersio said the rash is a slight flare-up of the GVHD. I had thought the hand problem might be the neuropathy that Jeff has experienced for years from the chemo and figured his medication for it would need to be increased. No, the hand is also part of the GVHD. Jeff has resumed the cream for the skin rash and is to keep track of anymore hand problems. And of course, watch his breathing since the lungs is where the GVHD settled several years ago. Jeff is to return to StL if there is any breathing difficulties or more skin/hand problems.
We have had a fun week. Monday night’s Cardinal win against the Cubs was a definite highlight. The four visitors have gone to The Muny in StL, the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, and had dinner in StL with a former co-worker. Yesterday the six of us drove to southern Missouri to see Ken’s Mom. Ken and I had seen her in May before her 85th birthday but we waited to have a little party till the kids and Ken’s brother, Dennis, could be there. We also included a couple of gifts for Dennis since he was turning 60 today. Afterwards, the 7 of us went to enjoy the “Home of the Throwed Rolls”, Lambert’s Restaurant in Sikeston. It’s always a fun place to take new people. We stopped at one of Ken’s cousins on the drive home to see their beautiful remodeling job.
A couple of weeks ago, Jeff started a cough. Before coming here, he saw a doctor and got 10 days of antibiotics. Jeff commented this morning that he felt the cough was not clearing up with only 1 day more of medication. He wondered if he should see someone from Dr. DiPersio’s office before heading back to Iowa. We called StL and he talked to the nurse manager who talked with Stephanie, the nurse practitioner, and called back to say yes to come by. The four of them were already near StL so went straight to Siteman for an almost 4 hour appointment. Jeff had a chest x-ray which was negative for any pneumonia. A nasal swab checked for any influenza. The doctor felt since the GVHD is flaring up right now, the cough is also being hampered. Jeff had 2 separate bags of different IV antibiotics and a bag of fluids since they thought he might be a bit dehydrated. (He has been eating and drinking well all week.)
Jeff, Meridith, and friends return to Iowa tomorrow. On Monday, we scheduled next year’s appointment for June 16th but you know we’ll have to check the Cardinal 2014 schedule when it comes out in September and possibly change the date.
I do want to share the good news that Matt, Jeff’s donor, left Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday after a year’s deployment. He will be home in a few days. Matt’s next tour will keep he and Marcia stateside with the best part of being near his parents and siblings. We are thankful for that and our prayers continue for the troops still serving over there.
And I forgot to mention, that as of January, Jeff changed work days and hours at KWWL. He now works Monday – Friday, 2:00 – 11:00 PM directing the 6:00 and 10:00 newscasts. He has commented the regular hours each day have been a benefit to the way he feels. Meridith got good news recently when she learned she passed the pharmacy tech test.
And we thank you all for your continued prayers for Jeff. We know how blessed he is and that these little flare-ups are just that – a small part of a successful transplant. Life is good and we thank God. I pray I can wait till next June to do the next update but will notify you if anything changes with Jeff. Each of you are in our prayers.
love,
Marcia