Friday, January 12, 2007
Update # 89
Day Plus 31
Good Evening,
I hope everyone is making it through this strange winter. We are in the path of ice again. The rain is changing over to accumulating ice and should stick around till Monday.
Fortunately, we do not have to leave the house until Tuesday. Ken is taking the 14th as his last vacation Sunday from 2006. Our plan was set figuring Jeff might still be in StL. I was coming home for this long weekend to do semester report cards and a few more weeks of lesson plans. But I will be returning to school on the 16th. Of course, I will take off the one day a week that Jeff needs to go to StL.
Jeff has been doing fairly well the last 9 days. Last weekend he had some vomiting and diarrhea but the doctor on call said he seemed to be fine with the amount. They said this maybe could be a little of the Graft vs. Host. The medicine for that C-Diff ended on Monday. He has been drinking plenty and the appetite seems to come and go. Jeff thinks maybe he can taste a little more. His strength also varies with each day. Some days he can only walk a few laps at the track and other days he is able to do more.
We got to Siteman early this morning for lab work, bone marrow biopsy, and doctor appointment . The basic biopsy results will take 5 days. The part of the biopsy that tells the percentage that the donor has taken over Jeff's marrow, will take about 10 days. The nurse said we want to see 100% donor by Day Plus 100. Jeff's CBC counts are up and down. His infection fighting is coming up but the hemoglobin did not rise like they wanted. So Jeff received a shot to help increase the red blood cells. He might need a shot every 2 weeks. The level on the kidneys was also up so they infused some fluids into Jeff in a short period of time while we were there. Dr. DiPersio commented that the anti-rejection medicine level must be on the rise again. Sure enough, when that count came in later, it was higher than they like and Dr. DiPersio was within 2 points of the number. This man knows his stuff - that's why Dr. Gauvain wanted Jeff to have him!!! So the anti-rejection med is on hold until Sunday. Then the dosage will be cut in half. (Jeff will now be taking only a sixth of the original dose.) Dr. DiPersio was impressed with the type of food that Jeff was eating and that he was able to keep it down. In fact, Dr. DiPersio had not seen Jeff since the hospital and made the comment that Jeff is "doing sensationally well". Sounds great to us!!!
We found out that Jeff is not in Dr. DiPersio's study. Jeff had agreed to do it but the donor said no. Both parties had to agree to be in on it. This means that when it comes time for the immunizations, Jeff can probably have his own physician in Iowa give them to him.
Jeff has an appointment to see the nurse practitioner next Wednesday and have his routine lab work. We're hoping, if we get out early, to stop by Costas at Cardinal Glennon and let everyone see for themselves how well Jeff is doing.
Our days at home since the hospital discharge have flown by. All your prayers are working the wonders we had requested. Jeff still has months of recovery but if these first thirty-one days are any indication of the future, we will be extremely happy. Thank you again for your continued prayers. God be with you in the coming week.
love,
Marcia