Chemo Round 3 Day 47

Well, today I finally have something to write about! Last Friday I had lab work, a Ct scan of my abdomen,pelvis, and chest and an MRI of the brain. My lab work has been fine. My CT scans showed that my abscesses in the liver, spleen and kidneys were improved. The spots on my lungs were improved as well. The MRI of the brain was worse, however. We had a hard time finding it on the first MRI but it was very easy to see on this MRI. We did not have a doctor's visit till the end of this week and nobody really wanted to give us much information till they saw me and my scans.

I saw Dr. Lanzotti yesterday and Dr. Dubberke, my infectious disease doctor today. They both thought I was doing fine. I had a regular exam and a neurologic exam today and both were normal. Dr Lanzotti said he was leaving things up to Dr. Dubberke and Dr. Cashen, my transplant doctor. Dr. Dubberke said today that he is happy with my abdomen and lungs and he thinks my brain is OK, too, but he wants another scan to show it is stable or improved. The doctor thought my spot on my brain must be improving. He said that I would be much sicker by now if it wasn't. Normally you would start running fevers and I would feel really bad. I would have headaches or some other problems. Thanks to our Lord and the medicine I am not having these problems. I had a lot of lab work done at his office two weeks ago to make sure there was no unusual germ causing my infection and all the tests came out OK. Some of the cultures take 6 weeks to get results but everything looks good so far. I will have another MRI on March 7th. I am to send Dr. Dubberke the disks and fax him the reports and then he will decide whether I am ready for the transplant or not. A tentative date of March 12th or March 14th for my admission has been set with the transplant occurring 6 days later. My donor has not had a problem with waiting so I still have an ideal donor waiting for me! Praise the Lord!!!

Daniel was home last weekend and Jon has been home this week. We went out to dinner this week to celebrate Jon's birthday. We played some board games last weekend and this week and had a good time. Daniel will be coming home on March 7th and David will be home March 8th. They both have the week of March 10th off for spring break. It looks like I will be home at least a part of the time they are here. I thought I would miss them completely but now it looks like I will get to spend a little bit of time with them before I go in for the transplant. God has worked things out for me once again in His way!

I will be getting my lab work repeated tomorrow. I am still getting my IV antibiotics at home and will be on it for another 10 or more days. Teresa still continues to do my IVs without any problems. The only thing the visiting nurses come for now are dressing changes every 4 days.

God continues to work things out in His own way. May He bless you as He continues to bless me!

Doc

Chemo Round 3 Day 40

Today was another good day. I had my scans and lab work this morning. I went in at 7 AM and was able to be home by 9 AM. Sometimes it pays to get tests at a smaller hospital. It also helped that they rearranged the schedules so that I could do my MRI right after my CT scans. My hemoglobin is stable at 11.7. My white count and platelet count are normal. My chemistries were all OK and showed that my potassium had improved from 3.2 to 4.2 (normal = 3.5-5.3). My CT scans showed improvement in my spleen, kidneys and lungs. My MRI showed that my abscess had increased in size. I will find out what that means to me and my proposed transplant next week.

Daniel made it home tonight. He will be here for the weekend. We were worried about how the roads would be, but they were OK. It will be nice to have him home this weekend. Jon comes in on Sunday. He will be here about a week.

Kimberly, Jeremy and Ian were over tonight. We started a board game and we will finish it tomorrow.

I am planning on going to church on Sunday and it might be the last time before my transplant, depending on what the doctors think about my scans. I will probably not have a blog entry again till Monday unless something occurs this weekend.

May God bless you as He blesses me.

Doc

Chemo Round 3 Day 39

Today was a pretty good day. Teresa and I both went to our doctor's appointments. Dr. O' Marro said I was doing fine and he wants to see me in 2 weeks unless I am in the hospital with my transplant. If that happens, he wants me to call him when I am discharged. Teresa saw Dr. Stern. He felt her symptoms were worse due to the stress of my illness so he is making some changes in her medication.

I will be getting my scans tomorrow. The hospital called today and told me that they arranged for my MRI to be moved up to right after my CT scan. That was nice of them. This way I do not have to go home in between the scans. I will also be getting some more lab work tomorrow. Hopefully the scans will show improvement. If so, a transplant date may be set.

I trust that this is all part of God's plan and I just need to wait and see what happens. My family and I still covet your prayers. May God continue to bless us all.

Doc

Chemo Round 3 Day 38

Today has been another good day. I did not have to visit a doctor or a hospital at all today. My grandson, Ian, came over today and we spent time together this afternoon. This evening Kimberly and Jeremy came over and we played a board game called Ra. Kimberly won and we had a good time.

Tomorrow Teresa and I both have doctor appointments. I see my Springfield infectious disease doctor and she sees her rheumatologist. Friday I have my CT scans and MRI scan.

I am looking forward this weekend, Daniel coming home on Friday and Jon is coming home on Sunday. It will be nice to spend some time with them again.

God continues to bless me and my family. I hope he blesses you as well.

Doc

Chemo Round 3 Day 37

Today was a pretty good day. I went out to Passavant Hospital today to get some lab work done. Teresa came with as she had some lab work to do also. The registration area was full and many of the patients were ill so I wore a mask till we were taken back to have our blood drawn. My hemoglobin is stable at 11.7. My white count and platelets were normal. My potassium is improved from 2.7 to 3.2(normal = 3.5-5.3). I still have a ways to go till it is normal but at least it is headed in the right direction.

We ran some errands today and saw Dr. Backstrom(one of the emergency room doctors). We talked for a while and he confirmed that all the hospitals are busy now. The other day he was trying to transfer a patient and Memorial, ST. John's, Quincy, Pittsfield and Louisiana, Missouri were all full. This flu bug is getting a lot of people sick and many of them wind up in the hospital.

My visiting nurse came and changed my dressing today. My vital signs were all fine and the dressing change went well.

We heard from my son Daniel tonight and he will be coming home for the weekend. That means I will have all but one of my sons home for at least part of this weekend.

I arranged my CT scans and my MRI for Friday morning. I see Dr. O'Marro, my Springfield infectious disease doctor on Thursday. Teresa is also going to see her rheumatologist, Dr. Stern that day. Her arthritis is acting up some. I have an appointment with my St. Louis infectious disease doctor next week Friday the 29th. After that we will be able to set a date for the transplant, I hope.

I spoke today with my transplant doctor to clarify some of the details of my transplant. We will find out more after the scans and my appointments.

I hope you all had a good day ,too, and that God blessed you as much as He blessed me. Try and keep well, we know so many people that have been sick personally, we are praying that this illness will be out of the area soon.

Doc

Chemo Round 3 Day 36

Today has been a good day. We spent the day with Michael and one of his friends, as they were off school for President's day. We had a good time.

We heard back from the St. Louis infectious disease doctor. He wants me to get a CT scan of my chest , abdomen, and pelvis. He also wants me to repeat the MRI of my head. They want to compare with the other scans to make sure things are getting better. I will do that this Friday and then see the doctor in St. Louis the following Friday. I will be able to do the tests at Passavant. Tomorrow I need to get some lab work done at Passavant.

Hopefully after all these tests are done we can get a date set for the transplant.

My son Jon is coming home for a week or so this weekend. He will get here on Sunday, then has to leave next Saturday. Hopefully we can spend some time together while he is here.

Hopefully God's plan is coming together. We just need to be patient till it becomes more obvious.
May God continue to bless all of us.

Doc

Chemo Round 3 Day 35

Today has been a good day. I was able to go to church with my family this morning. I really enjoyed being back at Westfair Baptist Church today. I really miss my church family when I am unable to attend. I don't know if all of you out there have a church you attend regularly, but you are always welcome to come to our church.

Kimberly was not feeling well today so she stayed home. Teresa and I were able to watch Ian some today. We watched him during his morning nap before church. Then Jeremy and Ian came over and had lunch with us after church. Jeremy , Michael and I played a game called History of the World this afternoon before choir practice. Teresa and I watched Ian while Michael and Jeremy went to choir practice.

Teresa was able to get a nap today. Hopefully she will start feeling better with a little more rest. She continues to do a good job as my nurse.

We plan to spend the day with Michael tomorrow as he is off for President's day.

I have to get my labs drawn on Tuesday and schedule my repeat CT scan for Friday. The doctors will call me from St. Louis and decide whether I also need to repeat my MRI this week.

May God continue to bless you as He blesses me.

Doc