Category: leukemia
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Bone Marrow Biopsy #9 and Pre-Donor Evaluation
George had his bone marrow biopsy on Wednesday, Sept 13 and for the first time, we had to wait almost two hours for him to be taken back! Poor thing was starving, as he couldn’t eat. As always, everything went well and he was ready for a snack when he was rolled back to recovery…
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A Bridge to Transplant
After meeting with Dr. Lai, the research doctor, we got some clarification regarding the clinical trial/ CART-38 cells. After George completes this current round of chemotherapy, he will undergo a bone marrow biopsy (the week of Sept 12). If he has less than 5% blasts, then he will be eligible to go directly to transplant,…
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Bone Marrow Biopsy #8 and More
We started this week off with a trip to the cardiologist to get an EKG and a chest x-ray for George. There was still some concern about the fluid/edema in his feel, ankles and calves. The doctor wanted to make sure there wasn’t any fluid around his heart. He got the all-clear from that visit,…
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Challenge accepted (like we had a choice…)
In my last post, I wrote that we are moving towards a second bone marrow transplant and that there is a delay because of the results of George’s bone marrow biopsy: he had too many blasts (immature white blood cells). So, on Wednesday, we met with Dr. Loren to discuss the results and plan our…
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Well, Damn.
We actually got the preliminary results from George’s bone marrow biopsy on Friday, June 30th, but I opened them first and when I read them, I chose not to tell George they were available. Why? Because I saw words that I knew would cause him stress and fear….”increased blasts” and “the findings are consistent with…
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BMT #2 Scheduled for July
But when in July? We aren’t sure yet. All I can say at this point is mid-July. Last weekend, Dr. Loren (oncologist) and Dr. Heyman (pulmonologist) both happened to be working and consulted with each other about George. Dr. Loren asked Dr. Heyman if she could possibly taper George off the Prediosone faster so that…
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It’s been a minute…
Well, I haven’t posted anything in a while because honestly, we have just been in what seems like a holding pattern until George gets his second bone marrow transplant in July. But, now that may be delayed. George started his chemo rounds in February and has now undergone 4 cycles. The last two were with…
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New Chemo
George started his next round of chemotherapy on Monday, April 17. Because the doctors suspected that the lung issues that landed him in the hospital were caused by the chemo med Vidaza that George had been given before, he was given a new drug this time. The new drug is called Dacogen (decitabine). It’s a…
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He’s Home!
After 9 nights in the hospital, George was finally released yesterday! The doctors ran exhaustive tests and cultures and everything came back negative (and they tested for A LOT). No pneumocystis pneumonia (whew!). That left them with the conclusion that George’s lung issues were caused by the chemotherapy drug Vidaza that he had been receiving…
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Making progress!
Today marks one week since George was admitted to the hospital. He has had some tough days at the beginning where he was out of breath walking to the bathroom, coughing fits that brought him to tears and retching, and complete frustration that every day was no better than the last. But a couple of…
Diagnosis: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). A Journey 