Yesterday Ed had 3.97 million of his stem cells re-infused into his system. Three bags of his cells arrived by courier from NYC at 11:30am. in a large Styrofoam cooler laden with dry ice. They were then warmed in a water bath and one by one the bags are infused through an IV saline solution. Ed said they looked packages of thin cut steaks encased in plastic. Wishful thinking. You can see his appetite is not affected!
Today we are back on the regular daily routine of checking Ed's weight, blood levels, and IV fluids that include (flushing cell)solutions, and medications, and changing his dressing. Ed has daily injections of Nuelasta that helps the white blood cells come back. Bone pain will be a major side effect of this medication. He is still taking the other meds. listed in the previous Blog. His white blood cells are decreasing and have gone from 5.5 to 4.7 in one day. His red blood cells and hemoglobin are 10.9 and 30.8.
Platelets are 235 which is normal. Kidney and liver function are great and electrolytes are good. All I know is that the nurses are pleased with the statistics and things are progressing normally. His only issue right now is regulating his blood sugar levels, and adjusting his medications.
Daily I haul my thank you notes back and forth with good intentions. I just have enough time after the hospital routine to get the daily chores completed and food prepared. It helps that I am able to leave Ed home alone for short periods of time if I have to pick up groceries or go to the dump. Cell phones are a wonderful thing.
We love hearing from everyone - and I read Ed the daily facebook messages and e-mails. Too many friends and family to mention here - but THANKS!!! We both have Blackberries now, and we can continually check our messages in the hospital. We also want to give a shout out to our friends at the "Endeavour Pub" in Chelmsford, England for following the Blog! We always receive special update/cards/gifts from Lyn and Steve, and have heard from Joyce and Alan. Our Liverpudlian friends Julie and Stewart also regularly keep in touch.
Our Labor Day weekend will include the daily trips to the hospital - but there is a brighter light at the end of the tunnel with the progressing treatment. Finally we will be able to visit our family and camp in Indian Lake, and Ed's brother & sister-in-law John and Jan have kindly invited us to join them at their time share in Massanutten VA in late October. Ed will get to visit his dream trip to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello if all goes as planned. Great friends Sue & Dan and Pat and Carolyn have offered us use of their lovely homes on the Cape. We are more than grateful for these handsome offers and gifts. It has provided Ed with goals to look forward to an active and healthy future!
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Thanks for the blog. You two are constantly in our thoughts. We wish you could be here Sunday to party with us. We'll toast you sometime in the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteWe love you very much and know that when this bump in the road (that's what people called my cancer) is past we will again party on!