Day +5

As each day goes by Steve is feeling worse. Yesterday began the increased weakness and fatigue. We got him to take his daily bath and sit in the chair for a while but he never left the room to walk the hallway. It's important to his recovery that he be as active as possible and walking the hallway is key. It helps to avoid pneumonia, blood clots (he has a history of) and atrophy of his muscles. Please pray he'll begin walking the halls again and also take all of his medicines. He's avoiding the ones that taste bad and help with fungus and mucositis. He already has thrush and this morning there was a new sore in his mouth. His appetite is nonexistent, but he has been drinking juice, sprite, a little water and some ensure.

Blood Counts:

Sunday 11/28/10
WBC
1.43
Hemoglobin
10.5
Platelets
95,000
ANC
1.3

Today 11/29/10
WBC
.11
Hemoglobin
10.5
Platelets
68,000
ANC
Zero

Day +3

Steve ate breakfast this morning! Yeah! He had some pancakes and orange juice. He's feeling a little better but is still very tired. Last night he asked if he could use my pillow (I brought it from home) because he was uncomfortable. Then at bed time he asked if he could keep it for the night! Man.......only my husband would be allowed to separate me and my pillow. But he was nice enough to give me his hospital issued pillows, I mean rocks. Needless to say I will be heading home today to get his pillow.

We continue to persevere and trust in God.

Today's counts 11/27/10

WBC
1.47
Hemoglobin
10.5
Platelets
133,000
ANC
1.4 (Neutropenic)

Counts are Dropping

Today's counts are showing a significant drop, except for the hemoglobin. After asking Dr. S. why Steve's hemoglobin has been trending up and not down, he said it could be that he is dehydrated. We'll let's see, not eating, not drinking and vomiting for 2 1/2 days, could that be why he's dehydrated! Sorry I'm being a little sarcastic, but come on! The Dr. said several days ago that Steve's vomiting was unusual. They stopped giving supportive fluids after the chemo was done on Tuesday, and that night he started getting sick. In the past when Steve has been dehydrated it contributed to him feeling really bad and vomiting. So maybe now that they are going to give him some more i.v. fluids he'll start to feel better.

Today's Counts 11/26/10

WBC
2.0
Hemoglobin
11.0
Platelets
193,000
ANC
1,900

When his ANC gets below 1,500 he'll be considered neutropenic, which is expected.

Blood Counts Update

I forgot to post his counts for the past few days. So here they are.

11/25/10

WBC
4.1
Hemoglobin
1o.6
Platelets
179,000
ANC
Not given

11/24/10

WBC
4.2
Hemoglobin
9.6
Platelets
224,000
ANC
3,900

Day +1

I should have explained this earlier but didn't think about it until now. Steve's admission day was Day -3 and that began the count down to transplant day which was Day 0, his New Birthday! His daily progress is tracked from there. Yesterday was his first really bad day, actually it began Tuesday evening (which according to Dr. S is unusual). He started vomiting and not eating. He's been experiencing nausea and vomiting since. So they up'd his anti-nausea medicines, but if you ask me I don't think they are working like they should. Especially since they are giving him 3 different kinds. Dr. S said they expected him to get sick while getting the chemo, but not after......he says things as if he's thinking out loud. So I'm never sure what he means.........

He expects certain things to happen at certain times. W know his counts will be going down and we should see a significant drop by this weekend. This is when he'll be the most vulnerable to infections. And from what I hear he'll really start to feel bad. Right now he'll tell you he can't feel any worse.

On a good note he did take a bath this morning, and I was happy he was willing to do it. He's suppose to t ake a bath daily but there was no getting him in there yesterday. Daily baths and linen changes are part of avoiding an infection. Plus, lot's of hand washing and cleaning all surfaces in his room.

I expect to be tired and know that the days ahead will not be easy, so I covet every one's prayers for both of us. Please pray for the following:

Physical Needs
-No mouth sores
-No more nausea and vomiting
-Steve's appetite to return
-Energy for Steve so he will walk the floor as needed
-A successful grafting of his stem cells and quick production of new blood
-No new complications
-No infections
-Complete Response to the stem cell transplant
-Enough rest for myself

Spiritual Needs
-That our circumstances will not cause us to take our eyes off the Lord
-The Lord will be our source of strength and hope, everyday!
-Our lives would bring glory to him and a reflection of his love to others
-May our thoughts be pleasing to him

Transplant Day

Today was the day in which Steve has been preparing for since September. It was amazing to think that Steve's new blood was inside this container. The "gift" that our merciful Lord provided for him by making all of this possible. I'm reminded of the saying "There is power in the blood." As a Christian, I know this refers to the shedding of Christ's blood for us, on the cross.
The power to save us from our sins and the gift of eternal life with our God in heaven.

But there is also power in our blood, given to us from God, life. With out this new blood, Steve would not have life. God gave Steve enough stem cells for this transplant and all of them were given back to him today. Thank you Father!

Here the nurse's are comparing his name, birthdate and ID number on his wrist band to the labels on the 3 bags of stem cells pulled out of the container.

Here the nurse is thawing the frozen stem cells in a vat that has been prepared and heated to the correct temperature. The room began to smell like creamed corn due to the preservative they add to the stem cells before freezing. Steve's body will emit this smell for the next 24 hours.

And at exactly 11:14am the first bag was hung and connected to the tubing, leading to his picc line.

The nurse had to use a special syringe to hand push the stem cells into the tubing that leads to his picc line. The tubing in the picc line is too narrow for the stem cells to "drip" through.

And now we wait. We wait for the stem cells to find their way into the bone marrow, graft and begin making new blood cells. This should take up to 10 days and then he will hopefully be ready to go home.

Thanksgiving Eve, we have so much to be thankful for!

Doing Better Today!

He woke up feeling refreshed, had a great breakfast (Via Deanna's Delivery Service) and took a bath! They tell us tomorrow will be the day he begins to feel the side effects of the chemo. Essentially he'll be really tired, could develop mouth sores, stomach problems, nausea and maybe diarrhea. Pray for minimal side effects please.

Last night was pretty rough. From the lack of sleep to pain meds not being given on time, Steve had a tough time staying awake for the chemo. While he wanted to eat the popsicles he was too tired and they also tasted funny. So instead he fell asleep. But luckily for us after the chemo was finished the nurse made it possible for us not to be disturbed from 10:30pm until 3:45am! That allowed us to get a good nights sleep.

There is a direct line into the room, 310 area code, 267-6157. If you'd like to call, please do. Hopefully he'll feel well enough to talk.......if not I can pass on a message.

Today's numbers:

WBC
5.03
Hemoglobin
9.6
Platelets
224,000
ANC
4.9

Multitasking

It was a very long night. Apparently there were a few things that had to be confirmed and completed before Steve was given the chemo. So by the time everything was done it was 1:30 in the morning when he was given the melphalan. So there he was sucking on popsicles from 1:00am to 2:30am.

So here he is doing some of the things he likes to do......listening to Rush Limbaugh and Larry Elder, reading his Jeg's catalog while wearing his favorite hat. His hemoglobin went down last night to 8.5. So they are giving him a transfusion. We were told this is normal. I sure hope so because it looks like he'll be getting a lot of transfusions.

For those of you who might be interested in knowing his numbers I'll update them on a regular basis. Here are today's counts:

White Blood Cells (WBC)
4.o5 (Normal 4.3-10.8)
Hemoglobin (related to red blood cells)
8.5 (Normal 13.2-16.9)
Platelets
290, 000 (Normal 150,000-400,000)
ANC (Absolute Neutrophil Count, important for fighting off infections etc.)
Not given to us today, to early to be low.

All Systems Go!

We are comfortably settled in at UCLA. Friday we were told that the transplant could be delayed for another week if Steve's finger was not better by Sunday. It was recommended that he soak his finger 3-5 times a day in warm salty water. I made sure he had a nice cup of warm salty water for his finger 5 times a day! And by Saturday night his finger was looking a lot better. But we still had to have someone look at it and give the final approval. So before we were admitted the lead oncologist came down to admissions and examined his finger. What a relief to hear we were good to go!

They are giving him the high dose chemo today and tomorrow. The first dose will start at 10pm tonight and take 2 hours to finish. Steve will be sucking on popsicles before, during and after. I learned from the various threads and blogs that chewing ice chips or eating popsicles helps to reduce the mucositis (a very unpleasant side effect of the cheme, mouth sores like you wouldn't believe). I've been told there is no "clinical" proof that this works, but I'd like to think that other's who have been through this might know what they are talking about. Besides it can't hurt to try!

Love, Deanna
AKA Mrs. "Liscom"

Not by the Hair of My Chinny, Chin, Chin!

Couldn't resist! This is the first time Steve has seen his chin in over 30 years! He's had either a full beard or partial one since 1979. So take a good look. This may be the last time we see his chinny, chin, chin. Now on to today's news.........


The nurse examined his hand today and said it looked good and would not be a reason to postpone the transplant. But then.......

.......the lead oncologist looked at his finger and said we should postpone another week! Agghhh!!............then he told us to call them on Sunday and let them know how the finger is doing ..........(just what I wanted to hear), if its better then they will admit him. What do you think? Does it looked bad to you?

The wating and anticipation during each step of the process has been very stressful. I'm at a point where I just want this to be over. Please pray that his finger will be better by Sunday. I'm willing to wait if we need to (at least I want to be willing).

A "Splinter" in Time

I know the title is corny and many of you may not know who the rat is but I have to amuse my self some how. Steve's transplant has been postponed until Sunday. I'm not sure if I mentioned in an earlier post about the very large splinter Steve got in his hand about 7 weeks ago, between his thumb and forefinger in the "webby" area. It was huge! I pulled it out thinking I got it all. But it never completely healed even with all of the antibiotics. We've been showing it to "all" of the doctors and they just kept saying, "We'll keep an eye on it"!

So yesterday before we started the admission process I asked the nurse to look at his hands one more time (his self inflicted, nail trimming wound is still red). At long last the day comes for him to be admitted and they finally decide to lance it and see whats going on. Go figure! The nurse pulled out several tiny bits of wood and cleaned out the wound. We are very thankfull she did. Something as small as a splinter can be very dangerous for a transplant patient. Infections are their greatest risk to a successful outcome. Come this Friday they will look at his hands again and if all is well we check in on Sunday.

God is good all the time. All the time God is good!

Day 2 of Harvest

I apologize for not updating everyone yesterday. We were wiped out after 2 long days at UCLA. Steve's second day of harvesting (and last) was yesterday and they got an additional 2.02 million. More then enough! Here he is hooked up to the hemapheresis machine. The large needle in his left arm is drawing out the blood and the smaller one in his right arm is returning the blood. He humors me and allows me to take pictures of him. He even smiles for me even though he's not feeling his best.

So now we rest and try to stay healthy. He gets admitted on Monday and starts the high dose chemo and transplant. Any illness or infection can pose a problem. The infection on his finger is getting better and hopefully will be gone by this weekend.

Below was last Thursday after we found out his numbers were going up. We were happy to hear that he could be going home the next day, which he did. I had a habit of telling him to move over so I could lay down........it was the only comfortable spot in the whole room! Our nurse's aide LaShonda walked in and said "Where's the camera?, Where's the camera?" She was absolutely wonderful! She was working the first night we got there and made things much easier for us.

Day 1 of Harvest

Another long day. Just got home from the pharmacy. We were at UCLA from 8:00am until 5:15pm. I am happy to report that his first day of harvesting went well. They are looking to collect 2 million CD34+ stem cells/kg per patient weight (what ever that means?) and they got 1.73 million! Just a little bit more needed. So we are back to UCLA tomorrow for another long day.

Although his white cell count (over 12.0) and platelets (69!) were up, his red blood cells were way down. So after lunch he got 2 pints of blood. Hopefully he won't need anymore tomorrow. And we discovered a budding infection on the tip of his finger. Apparently when he was trimming his nails the other day he cut one too short...ta da infection! This just shows how vulnerable he is right now. That's why I had to go to the pharmacy.....more antibiotics.

Tomorrow after the harvesting he will be examined by the nurse practitioner who will determine if he is healthy enough for the transplant. I believe this will be the last hurdle to pass. Whew! They will also check to see if he'll need more blood or platlets. So for now adieu...I'm going to finish my dinner and take it easy.

Thankful and praising the Lord.

We're Home!

Steve's counts were up again today and high enough that he could be released from the hospital. He still has to be careful about where he goes and what he does. His immunity is still low and he could easily catch a bug. Also his platelets are the same, 38. He has to be careful not to cut himself or even fall down. So he plans on laying low this weekend.

The stem cell harvesting is still scheduled for Monday. If all goes well he'll only have to go once and then the following Monday he gets admitted for the high dose chemo and transplant. To our brothers and sisters out there, we pray God's blessings on you all and thank you for you faithful prayers. We already miss attending church and seeing all of our friends!

Please pray for Karin, Margaret, little Hayden, Natalie, Kryslynn, Ray and little Haven.

Good News Today!

We got some good news today. Steve's white blood cell count is up to 1.44! And his ANC is now detectable at .3 (The ANC is what determines his ability to fight off infections) and the platelets are holding steady. If this continues he may come home tomorrow!

The transplant oncologist doubled his daily dose of neupogen and scheduled the stem cell harvest for Monday. They believe that his white counts will go up exponentially now that there has been an improvement.

Our thanks go out to everyone who has been praying for us. We give God all the glory!

Blood Counts Still Low

Steve is feeling better but his blood counts are not improving a whole lot. Here is the break down of what has been happening. The white and red blood cells and platelets have been very low. Before he had the chemo on the 22nd he was already below normal (White 2.69, normal 3.28-9.29, Platelets 226, normal 143-398). His bone marrow only had six weeks to recover from the 5 months of chemo (MPT) before we started.

Friday his platelets were at 36, Saturday 22, Sunday 9, so he received some platelets via i.v. and the number went up to 18 that evening. Monday 42, Going up! Then today down to 26, so he received more platelets.

His white blood cells were .06 on Saturday, .08 on Sunday, .15 on Monday and .20 this morning. He needs to be at 2.0 to even begin harvesting his stem cells. I know these numbers are hard to understand but it helps me to write about it.

What all this means is his bone marrow is not working very well. Even with the neupogen shots (to boost his white blood cells) he's not where we expected him to be. His marrow could have been compromised by the melphalan he was on for 5 months. We were told this was a possibility, but its too early to tell if this is the case.
Thank you for your prayers and if you have any words of encouragement for us please post a comment.
Love Deanna
AKA Mrs. Liscom