Tag: bone marrow transplant
-
Fighting the Fight
Today is December 18. George has been in the hospital since October 18, with the exception of 5 days after Thanksgiving weekend. It has been a hard stay this time. One, because it is so long. But also, because of the extremely discouraging news we received, George’s weakness and all the other challenges he is…
-
Clinical Trial – Week 5
Wednesday: George texted me this morning at 9:34 saying he was being transported down to IR (interventional radiology) and so I started getting myself ready to head up to the hospital to visit him. Normally, the biopsy takes around an hour and a half. It is now 1:20 and he’s still not back in the…
-
Clinical Trial – Week 4
This week has been a tough one. It started pretty well…on Thursday, the 9th, the doctor said George’s inflammation markers were going down and he thought that perhaps the CRS has peaked. That was good news! Friday, George started having gastrointestinal issues – bloating, gas and occasional diarrhea. Saturday is when things started to really…
-
Clinical Trial – Week 3
All my days are starting to run together and I am finding it hard to remember what happened during which week. One new thing is that after George’s fever spike last Thursday night, X-rays showed he had fluid on his lungs. He was given Lasix ( a strong diuretic) and was put on oxygen when…
-
Clinical Trial – Week 2
On Sunday, Oct 29th, George started complaining of chills and he was cold. Hello, fever. We have been expecting you. The nurses followed protocol and took blood cultures because it could be an infection causing the fever. George’s blood counts are extremely low and he is severely immunocompromised. They immediately started him on broad spectrum…
-
Clinical Trial – Week 1
George was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, October 18. He woke up that morning with an almost debilitating back ache. The pain was in the center of his mid-back and made working a challenge. He could not get comfortable in his chair and it hurt to make pretty much any movement. Because of the…
-
Clinical Trial Date Set
This past couple of weeks has been a busy time for us. George started his chemo infusions on Sept 25th and finished them up on Oct 3. He was also taking the oral chemo pill venetoclax. During this time, he had an echocardiogram and an electrocardiogram to clear him for the clinical trial. Because his…
-
Office Visit
Wednesday, we drove to Philadelphia again and met with Dr. Loren, George’s primary oncologist/hematologist. She said that although Dr. Lai believed he didn’t need any chemotherapy while we wait for his CART-38 cells to be manufactured, she thinks he does. Dr. Lai felt that since his higher than normal blast counts were confined to the…
-
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…
-
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,…
Diagnosis: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). A Journey 