Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Update # 91

Day Plus 43

Good Evening,

We had an unexpected long day at Siteman but it was still a good day.  We arrived before 8:30 AM and left around 2:15 PM.

Jeff had his initial CBC before we saw the nurse practitioner.  She told us, first of all, that the Day Plus 30 bone marrow test showed -- 100% donor!!!  That is good.  So the donor's stem cells have quickly found a new home in Jeff's marrow.  We pray these stem cells will produce new healthy cells in Jeff.  His counts today showed more infection fighting cells but the red cells are still a problem.

Almost two weeks ago, Jeff had a shot to help boost the red cells.  Well, that did not happen.  The red count was lower again today which is why we had a the unexpected delay in our day.  Jeff had to be given one unit of blood.  Remember the donor is a different blood type than Jeff and eventually Jeff's type will change.  The nurse practitioner explained that the 2 different blood types are kind of doing a battle in Jeff -- each one wants to produce the red cells so they are working against each other.  That is why Jeff's red count is probably going down instead of up - even with that shot to boost levels.  Jeff also received another one of those shots today.  Jeff's blood type is still his own right now -- 0 Negative.  She did have another couple of blood tests  done today on Jeff just to be sure of what is going on with the red count.

The anti-rejection level lowered to the low end of normal range.  She seemed happy with it so Jeff remains on the same size dose.

She was not sure if Jeff will be getting a unit of antibodies.  Dr. DiPersio will determine that when we see him next Monday the 29th.  The test from last week showed a normal range but one of the three parts was high.

So things are going well.  It's been almost a month since Jeff needed any blood and over a month since he had platelets.  We were surprised that this first bone marrow showed 100% donor but we realize Jeff still has a long road to go yet.  We see improvement in Jeff's appetite and his strength varies from day to day.  

One major boost in Jeff's life was the purchase of a Slingbox.  One of Jeff's friends in Iowa hooked it up to the cable system there and now Jeff is able to watch his station, KWWL, live here in Hillsboro on his computer.  The live stream is not necessarily perfectly clear but good enough to see and hear the live newscasts.  Now he's more anxious than ever to return to Waterloo.

We pray that God continues to answer our transplant prayers.  You all have been faithful in helping us with those prayers.  Thanks so much.

love,

Marcia