Bill said this morning, “If it wasn’t for this pain in my side, I would feel good”. It is such a shame that the catheter to his gall bladder is so painful for him. But he is a trooper and is getting through it.
Two weekends ago a pump for pain medication was placed in the room. That worked great until last weekend when we had an issue where the nurses and “sitters” were pushing the button for him. (A huge no-no) Once again Bill was over medicated. He received 20 doses in 2 days. That is only 2 mg of Dilaudid in 2 days, and a healthy person would not even notice this dosage, but it is way too much for Bill. After bringing this to the attention of the doctors, the pump has been removed and the nurses will administer the pain killer when requested. Yesterday he requested medication just 3 times. Today he is conversational and eating well. Something I haven’t seen for 3 days.
Bill’s blood work is progressing in the right direction. Neutrophils (the good guys) are being produced every day and increasing in numbers. Amen. He didn’t have any blood products last night and still the numbers are good. For those who want to know. White cells are at 1400. Hemoglobin is at 9.3. Platelets are 51,000 (this means he can brush his teeth and not bleed). ANC is 1600.
More good news. There is no sign of Leukemia Cutis, the skin rash. At this point, post chemo, he would have been covered in a rash. Remember that the skin is the organ that Bill’s leukemia decided to attack. The ABT-869 drug is working here, as anticipated.
The bad news, the cancer in is blood is back, and is doubling each day. Today the blasts are at 16%. This is expected. His bone marrow biopsy showed that there were blasts remaining, and those blasts will reproduce. Blasts are immature white cells, which we all have, and some of those blasts could develop into good white cells, as they would in a healthy individual. But Bill’s track record is not good here, so we will see what happens.
No new news on the bone marrow transplant process. Hopefully in a few days we will move forward.
Again our prayers are for healing and pain relief for Bill. We are taking baby steps in the right direction.
Love you all. God Bless.
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9 comments:
I think that he needs some good TN sippin whiskey or maybe that would be for Nancy. The man keeps fighting so we will keep fighting with him from a distance.
David Eaker
One of John's favorite sayings is that "It's never easy". At least Bill has some good with his bad, but I hope that things become a little easier soon in terms of alleviating the pain and building up more energy!
Hopefully no one plays any April Fool's Day pranks. Watch out, just in case. :)
I think we need to come up with your very own fight song! Any ideas, anyone?
Take care Bill and Nancy.
- Janet and John
So glad things are moving in the right direction - and maybe those baby blasts will grow into good cells instead of bad ones! Obviously they need better parenting!
FYI - our neighbor knocked on our door today to let me know that there were not just one but 2 rainbows over our house. Not looking for the pot of gold, but will take the good luck - twice over!
The luck of the Italian Irish be with you!!
Love, prayers and good health,
Gail
Uncle's Bill's labs sound great, considering all the work his body is doing. Hopefully this pain will lessen each day and the medicine will lessen as well. Praying for even better lab work and a more comfortable day. Also, praying for the staff caring for Uncle Bill, that they will use their best judgement and knowledge.
Much love,
E.B.
Bill,
We just heard about your illness this week. Sure sounds as though you are in good hands - Nancy will make sure of that! Keep up the good fight and the rest of us will pray for a quick and complete recovery.
Laura and Dale Walker
Your numbers are looking better. Praying that the pain will lessen each day , and the good cells get a chance to multiply and get those bad baby blasts under control.
Take care and praying often
Love,
Paula
Nancy,
Please give Bill our best wishes. It isn't clear from your posts whether Bill can see anyone and we sure wouldn;t want to jeopardize his recovery in ANY way but we are hoping to see that he is strong enough for a short visit. We will keep you both in our prayers and keep checking back to see how you are doing.
Steve and Marie Blubaugh
We'll take this news! We'll add walking to our oaryer list, too!
I hope Janine gets on Oprah's favorite things show!
Ann and Jim Reego
OOPS--that's prayer, not oaryer!
Ann
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