Friday, April 02, 2004
Day + 178 John still has until Monday. His blood work looked bad, but not terrible. His WBC was down to 1.9 with an ANC of 640 so he was given an extra shot of Nuepogen to get him through the weekend. His platelets are down to 30 and his hemoglobin stayed the same at 11.4. John is developing a rash on his face, it is assumed to be a bit of graft vs. host, but it could be a reaction to a slight sun burn John got at the car show last Sunday (even with 50 sun block).
John's biggest problem today is on the way to his advanced baking and pastry final he got stuck in the terrible bridge traffic even though he left at 1:30 for his 3:00 class. At 4:00 he ran out of gas on the bridge and at 5:30 he said he was finally on the way. I called the school for him and left a message for his teacher and we hope if he cannot begin his final today once he arrives, he will be able to do it after spring break. John has next week off from school, so if they want to treat him he is available, but the bigger question is will he be well enough to get back to school when it resumes?
I will post again on Monday and let all know what has been decided. Dr. Wolf was going to call Dr. Cassidy and get a report of John's blood test today so he has the weekend to figure out the best way to handle this set back.
John's biggest problem today is on the way to his advanced baking and pastry final he got stuck in the terrible bridge traffic even though he left at 1:30 for his 3:00 class. At 4:00 he ran out of gas on the bridge and at 5:30 he said he was finally on the way. I called the school for him and left a message for his teacher and we hope if he cannot begin his final today once he arrives, he will be able to do it after spring break. John has next week off from school, so if they want to treat him he is available, but the bigger question is will he be well enough to get back to school when it resumes?
I will post again on Monday and let all know what has been decided. Dr. Wolf was going to call Dr. Cassidy and get a report of John's blood test today so he has the weekend to figure out the best way to handle this set back.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Day + 174 First I have to express how touching it is that many people are affected by the news of Chef's relapse. I am still numb. We went to the doctor today and his platelets were a whopping 38, but it was higher than last Fridays which means Chef got a reprieve until Friday. He will have another CBC and perhaps they will continue to rise and the donor cells will be doing their work and kicking the leukemia in the rear.
His hemoglobin is still down,(11.4) the Epogen helps and he is on every other day shots of Neupogen too. This I am sure is helping the donor cells to stay ahead of the blasts as they are 2.2 today with an ANC of 1700 which is higher than Friday. Next Monday the plan is another BMB to get percentages and begin some sort of chemotherapy, but I have no drug names yet. Everyone at the cancer center and at City of Hope are still in shock about this relapse. It really came out of left field.
Chef is still in good spirits, he even moved out this weekend with his best friend (which was in the works already), continues culinary school (advanced baking and pastry) and tries not to dwell on his health. The most bothersome symptom right now is a pesky infection on both of his big toes! After two rounds of Levequin they will now try Keflex.
John has another appointment on Friday so I will give another update then.
His hemoglobin is still down,(11.4) the Epogen helps and he is on every other day shots of Neupogen too. This I am sure is helping the donor cells to stay ahead of the blasts as they are 2.2 today with an ANC of 1700 which is higher than Friday. Next Monday the plan is another BMB to get percentages and begin some sort of chemotherapy, but I have no drug names yet. Everyone at the cancer center and at City of Hope are still in shock about this relapse. It really came out of left field.
Chef is still in good spirits, he even moved out this weekend with his best friend (which was in the works already), continues culinary school (advanced baking and pastry) and tries not to dwell on his health. The most bothersome symptom right now is a pesky infection on both of his big toes! After two rounds of Levequin they will now try Keflex.
John has another appointment on Friday so I will give another update then.
