Tag: leukemia
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Day +1
The day after transplant…Day +1 and George is doing well. He does have fatigue and started having some bowel issues today (diarrhea), which the nurse said is perfectly normal and to be expected after the chemo and radiation. His spirits remain good, but he suffers from….boredom. I told him to catch up on Peaky Blinders […]
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Day Zero! Happy Birthday, George!
The day we have been anticipating since George was first diagnosed with AML has finally arrived! Since we were told that the only route to the chance for an actual cure for George was a bone marrow transplant, we have been moving towards this day with intention and hope…completing all the tests required to clear […]
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Days -3, -2 and -1
George’s chemo ended on Day-4 and on Day -3, he started his TBI (total body irradiation). The transport folks come and get him very early in the morning, between 5:30 and 6:00 and wheel him down to the radiation department. He lies on his side the entire time and the staff there plays some classic […]
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Days -5 and -4
The day a transplant patient receives their new stem cells from their donor is referred to as Day Zero. The days leading up to it are listed in a T-minus manner, meaning in a way that indicates a specific amount of time remains before the main event. And the days after in the same way, […]
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What’s Your Line? (Central & PICC)
Friday, July 1, George went in to the hospital and had his Hickman catheter, or central line and his peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC line) placed. What are those things? I’m glad you asked. A Hickman catheter, or central line, is a soft, small hollow tube that is placed into a vein in the chest […]
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Here We Go….
Yesterday afternoon, we got the phone call we have been waiting for. We were informed that George has a bone marrow transplant hospital admission date of Saturday, July 2nd. The next day, he will start on his 2 day regiment of high intensity chemo followed by 3 days of total body radiation (twice daily). Then […]
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Playing the Waiting Game
It’s been a while since I have written anything. That’s because I feel like we have just been waiting for the show to get on the road and for George to be admitted for his bone marrow transplant. But in reality, a lot has been happening these past couple of weeks. First, George received the […]
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Friday the 13th
For the last few days, concern has been increasing over the fact that George’s white blood cell count hasn’t started going back up after this last round of chemo. Dr Ghimire expressed his concern on the phone when he called earlier this week to discuss the results of the blood work George had on the […]
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Bone Marrow Transplant Consult #2
Yesterday, we drove out to UPenn in Philadelphia to meet with Dr. Loren. We hadn’t seen her since March and we were hungry for information and for some kind of timeline for the transplant. Well, we did get a lot of information. Some of it good, and some of it rather daunting. GOOD NEWS: Dr. […]
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Reception into the Orthodox Church
This past weekend was one of joy for us. George was received into the Orthodox Church, something I had been praying for and hoping for years! I think the leukemia diagnosis nudged him in that direction – having a spiritual foundation and home base is a comfort when facing such a challenge as cancer and […]
Diagnosis: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). A Journey 