Thursday, February 24, 2011

Craig is at UCSF with Dad today for the next several days. The doctor is supposed to be in this afternoon and Becky told me that they might have a plan for when he goes home. Craig will call me and let me know. I also asked him to ask the doctors why his numbers aren't climbing back up the way I thought they should. Seems to be a bit on the slow side.

I also heard from a friend that platelets donated from family members might last longer in his system. I asked Craig to ask about that too. Not many of us can get to UCSF to donate, but if it would make a difference, it might be nice to try!!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Talked to Dad today. He said they've been giving him the new chemo drug to try to break up and kill the last of the clusters of chemo cells. He thinks he'll be home around March 4th, depending on how his blood levels bounce back. He's already on neupagen which should help bring the white cells up.

He said he's been eating a bit better, but his weight is not really an indicator of that right now since they've been pumping him full of fluids to help flush out the toxic chemo drugs they've been giving him. He was down to 179 which is a total of a 90 lb. weight loss. Did I post that already? I can't remember if I just told people, or typed it. Hmmm.....?

Anyway, once his numbers come back up he'll get a lumbar puncture before he heads home for a week or two. He's really looking forward to getting the heck out of there for awhile!!!

I told him he has another granddaughter today - Chris and Suzanne had their second baby girl, and third child this morning, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs. 10 oz.! Dad was very happy to hear all went well and she's healthy.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Biopsy results are back! He has just over 5% leukemic cells so they are giving him more chemo today. They will also be doing a lumbar puncture to put chemo directly into the spinal fluid to ensure that there is no leukemia hanging out in there. He'll be at UCSF for another 2 weeks, then he'll go home to recuperate for a week or so then back to UCSF for day trip to have another biopsy to see how he's doing. 

At some point we will get a plan for more chemo, but at this point we don't know what will be happening after he goes home. One step at a time.

They are also taking away his Dilaudid button since he seems to have a hard time with the combination of that and the antibiotics. He has no more bone pain so he shouldn't need it anyway.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Dad had the ultrasound on his port today and received antibiotics to help take care of the infection. He also had the biopsy today where they were able to extract some aspirate which is a good sign! That means that the leukemia has subsided enough to get some fluid back into his bone marrow. We'll find out the results tomorrow. 

We're hoping for less than 5% leukemic cells for them to consider him in remission. If he has more than that, they will give him several more doses of different chemo drugs to get him under that 5% marker.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Dad seems to have some sort of infection around his port. They're going to do an ultrasound to see if his needles are in the right spots then probably give him some sort of antibiotic to clear it up. If it's an abcess, they'll have to drain it. It's causing him a lot of pain, but is not much of a worry medically speaking, so it will be fine.

He's down to 179 lbs. Not good. He said he's now lost 90 lbs. since getting sick last year. The new Vegan diet isn't helping matters any as his food choices are very limited and not at all appetizing to him. He needs to eat more since he's losing weight rapidly and getting really weak. He's dropping things and feeling like his body gets shut off for several moments before he can regain some sort of strength. I'm sure this is due to lack of proper nutrition starving his muscles for energy! Once he's out of the hospital, he'll be better able to find foods that he'll enjoy and have more access to. For now, he's going to have to choke down whatever they give him!

Biopsy tomorrow!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Craig and Doug couldn't make it after all this week since they were both a bit sick. Dad says they plan on coming out in March when he's home. Becky will be going back down on Friday and will spend the weekend and the next week with him at the hospital. She had taken a week off and they had plans to go to Santa Maria to visit family, so she will stay with Dad instead. I'm glad she'll be there on Monday when they do they biopsy and get the results. I think we're all a bit nervous!!!!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Dad is feeling better today. He started a different chemo medicine that may have less side effects and has lifted his spirits a bit. 

The doctors say he is responding very well to the treatment and his blood work is looking just as it should. They will do another bone marrow biopsy on Monday, the 14th to see if he is back in remission. If he is, they will finish out the rest of the treatment this month, then decide a new course of treatment which may be administered back at UCSF again. They will attempt to keep him in remission for as long as possible with the new regimen.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Chemo is going good so far. He's on steroids that make him feel not quite himself, and he's been retaining tons of water and is a bit puffy. He's also got a stomach virus that has been wreaking havoc with his system, but they've got him on some medication that should help to clear both those issues up soon.

Nancy is at the hospital with him now and spent the night there last night. Vicki is on her way tomorrow, and they both leave Sunday.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Dad has a new room number: 415-514-5412. He has been turning his phone off when he needs some rest, so don't be surprised if it just keeps ringing.

He started the chemo last night and is already off of the pain meds which is great. He'll be at UCSF for the next 3-4 weeks and there will be a new plan once he has completed that portion. The plan will be dependent on whether or not he goes into remission.

Nancy, Vicki, Craig and Doug will all be visiting in the next several days. Wendy plans to come out in about 2 weeks. I'll be down there this weekend also.