After 9 days of being under the weather myself, I finally felt well enough to visit Dad this afternoon. Thank you to Sue who helped me out with the kids so I could even go.
When I got there, Dad was sitting in his chair, but looked pretty peaked. He said he didn't have any gas in his tank. His blood pressure was still causing him fits of light headedness. I stayed about an hour and 15 minutes and in that time he was trying to get motivated to shower - he was just getting in the shower when I left at 3:10.
They had changed his medication today to help with his blood pressure - so we were hoping to see some improvement.
This evening his doctor came in apparently. Mom just called to fill me in. She said he is very pleased with how things are looking. He wants to do a biopsy tomorrow or Friday to really get a good picture of what's going on. He went over his plan for the transplant coming up.
Right now, he feels that providing Dad's overall health stays the same or better, he can proceed with the most aggressive "prep" for the transplant which entails two days of heavy duty chemo and one day of radiation. If Dad's heart starts acting up or his blood pressure doesn't resolve, then he will revert to a less aggressive treatment of 7 days straight chemo. He told my parents that his staff are in contact with the donor and trying to make arrangements for collecting the marrow later in June.
Overall, the visit from the doc was a good thing. Mom said she talked to Dad this evening and he was sitting up in his chair working on a puzzle and said he felt really good. Hopefully, that's his new medication kicking in.
Today his numbers were WBCs 1.2 and ANC 180 - both good numbers.
Dad admitted to Mom he is scared - we all admit we are scared- but like I told Mom tonight let's just get him home next week, have a good couple of weeks there and worry about the next step after that. Other patients on the floor have run into my parents in the lobby or wherever and they've been talking about their own upcoming transplants and what not. One person told them that he knew of someone who was on his third transplant and it finally took. Another patient has never made it to remission and is only in his mid 40s, but they are going ahead with the transplant anyways. Dad has a lot to be thankful for and grateful for, but we are all hoping for a one shot deal on this transplant with a lot of success.
Tonight, give thanks for good news today and pray for those who are less fortunate than us. We have a lot going for us even on the darkest days. Thank you for your blessings and your gift of prayer. My family is so humbled by everyone's comittment to my Dad.
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