Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Update # 58

Hi,

Well, Jeff and Ken spent an unexpected day at Costas today.

We noticed a couple of red bumps on Jeff over the weekend.  We thought maybe a hive or bug bite -- an nothing itched.  We noticed a couple more and they began to appear as a pimple.  I put Neopsorin and a bandaid on them on Monday.  This morning they looked no different and another had appeared.

Jeff was to have a CBC by Heartland Home Health today and we knew Costas was going to say come down for blood.  (Jeff had noticed some bleeding in his nose last night.)  So we decided just to take Jeff to StL, let them look at the spots, do a CBC and get blood or platelets.

We called Costas when they opened at 7:30 this morning and said Jeff would be coming down.  They suggested he get there about 11:30 AM since it was a busy day for them.

Dr. Gauvain was not sure what the spots were so she called in a dermatologist.  He said it could be caused by the chemo, or an infection of the hair follicles.  He took 2 biopsies -- one for an infection culture (should be back in a day or two), and the other a biopsy just to see what it is (should be back in a week).  Jeff has 3 stitches in his right leg for 10 days.  The dermatologist said he thinks it's nothing to worry about but since Jeff has no infection fighting cells they should be checked out.

Jeff's platelets were extremely low again so he received 1 unit of platelets.  His blood count was not too bad but he got 1 unit of blood as long as they had him there.  Ken and Jeff left Costas at 6:00 PM.  Dr. Gauvain wants Heartland Home Health to do a CBC on Thursday afternoon.

I guess our plan for a weekly visit to StL has already gone by the wayside.  Jeff feels pretty good and has had no fever (which had been their first question when we called this morning).  We know all your prayers continue to help Jeff through this time.  Thank you one and all.

love,

Marcia