Another year and some bad news

Terry had her 1 year post transplant appointment with her transplant specialist. We were hoping and praying that her stem cells would keep her in remission for a while, but they pooped out and her bone marrow cancer is back. She will be starting a course of chemotherapy next week and it appears she will be getting chemo on an intermittent basis for the next 2-3 months. At that time she will be put through a bunch of tests to see if she is ready for another stem cell transplant. Last year she received her own cells. Although she has plenty of her own cells in frozen storage the medical opinion is to receive someone else's cells. The good news is that Terry's sister Helen is a perfect match. Helen is a wonderful lady and is more than willing to give her cells to help her sister.
There is some more good news. Terry will be able to travel to her home town of Rome, NY to spend Christmas with her family. Last year she was in the hospital for Christmas. I will be updating this blog as more news and events transpire.
In the meantime we wish you all a happy and holy Christmas.

'TIS A PUZZLEMENT

Well, nobody can explain why Terry's blood pressure and hemoglobin plummeted. As the King of Siam said, "'Tis a puzzlement."
Terry's blood pressure and hemoglobin are both normal and her cancer cells, which were making a bit of a resurgence are retreating. Today was all GOOD news. There is no tenable medical reason why what happened happened. It just might be that God is working in His mysterious ways again.

SHE'S FREE

The docs all agreed that Terry is too healthy to be in the hospital, so the wardens set her free. Her discharge diagnosis was acute dehydration. Now we have to find what caused that and what the long term ramifications are. Needless to say, everyone is glad to have her at home. Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers.

BUMP UPDATE

She looks good-but that is like judging a book by its cover. The Hospitalist came in and told us Terry's hemoglobin was looking good and that her blood pressure was close to normal. He is a bit worried about her renal function and the underscoring cause of these latest problems. He changed a few of her meds, cut her i.v. in half and told us we have to wait for the blood and urine tests to come back. Terry's renal ultrasound looked good from a macroscopic view-now we need to know from a microscopic perspective.
The good news was the Oncologist came by and as far as he s concerned Terry could have been discharged today. The Nephrologist never came in today. It is the Hospitalist's call as to her release date. Looks like she has one in favor of letting her out and we wait on the other two.
Maybe tomorrow????

THE BUMP LOOKS SMALLER

Still in the hospital, but things are looking better. Terry's hemoglobin is going up, blood pressure is going up, creatinine clearance is coming down. These are all good signs! There are a bunch of possibilities to Terry's current renal status. The most likely are:acute volume depression (which is reversible), a side effect to Diovan (which is reversible), myeloma kidney (which can be treated). We are hoping the problem is caused by one of the first two mentioned. There are other possibilities but they seem remote at this time. In the meantime we wait for the results of many tests that have been done.
She looks really good tonight compared to the past two days. Her color is back as is her mental acuity. We aren't sure how many more days she will be hospitalized but I'll keep you posted.
Keep up the good thoughts!

THE BUMPS KEEP COMING

Terry has been doing pretty good since January. She went through 3 months of cardiac rehab with flying colors. Her nickname was "Speedy Gonzales" when she was on the tread mill. Her strength was growing daily as was her hair. It is now the length and fashion of Jamie Lee Curtis in the yogurt ad. 2010 was looking bright!

And now the rest of the story. She has hit another bump in the road. For the past two weeks Terry was growing more tired each day and then an awful cold set in. She visited her primary care doctor and he unhappy with her low blood pressure and hemoglobin, both had been normal just 3 weeks ago.

I took her into the ER last night about 9 PM. At 3 AM she was admitted. And from 3 AM to 9AM there was no rest due to constant pocking, testing, beeps, etc. All day today was a parade of specialists, hematologists, oncologists, nephrologists, hospitalists and a few others. She received two units of blood and about 6 gallons of IV fluids. Her color has returned and her blood pressure is starting to come back up.

She has to stay in the hospital for at least two more days. Then depending on the many test results we will go from there. Here's hoping this is just another bump in the road to recovery.

2 MONTHS SINCE NORMAL

These blogs will become less frequent as Terry progresses in her recovery. She saw her primary oncologist last week and all lab work was completely normal. That continues to bolster our hopes and prayers.
Terry started some cardiac rehab one month ago. Three times a week she attends an exercise class where she has been doing the treadmill and weight lifting. Her nickname is "Speedy Gonzales". (No profiling intended).
Terry continues to get stronger every day. Among other things that Jim and I are grateful for is she is the full time cook now, among other chores she has resumed. The food is 1000% better than just a few months ago.
Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and well wishes.

SHE'S NORMAL

Terry had an appointment with Dr. Bloom, her primary hematologist/oncologist today. He read all of the test results and said, "Congratulations, you're back in the pool, you are normal." Her results show that she is between 90-100 % in remission. There is one small protein that showed up, but that could be interpreted as normal. She no longer has any restrictions other than she shouldn't lift heavy objects. He doesn't want her to do any jumping jacks either. She can go out in crowds, travel, kiss the cat, and just about anything she wants to do.
Terry will have to continue to see Dr. Bloom on a regular basis as her cancer can come back at anytime----but for the moment and who knows how long-SHE'S NORMAL.
Thanks to all of you who have done so much for us this past year. Now my prayer is to keep her normal for a long-long time.

SUPER RESULTS

What a week! Exhilarating might be the best descriptor. On Monday we got a call from Terry's Cardiologist. He sees no reason for her to continue seeing him and her heart follow up will now be taken care of by her Primary Care Physician.
On Monday evening we got a call from her Primary Hematologist/Oncologist with the initial results of her bone marrow biopsy. He started the call with, "Great news!".
On Tuesday Terry saw her Transplant Oncologist. He reiterated the good news about the bone marrow biopsy and is very pleased with how Terry progressed. There are a few test results he will get back next week before he makes his final interpretation and prognosis, however he feels she is at least 90% in remission. Terry doesn't have to see him again until December as he is turning Terry over to her Primary Oncologist.
WOW---What week!!!!

Cardiac Update

Some really good news! Terry saw the cardiologist in the congestive heart failure (CHF) clinic. He ran a slew of tests, but the most important one showed that her left ventricle has returned to normal. He is leaning toward a diagnosis of something called takotsubo cardiomyopathy. In layman's terms it is also called broken heart syndrome. It seems that stress can put someone into CHFand after awhile the heart will normalize. She will have to take some oral medications for awhile, but if she has takotsubo then those meds will eventually be withdrawn.
She saw her primary oncologist yesterday and had a bone marrow biopsy. Next week Terry will be having her 60 day post transplant check up and we hope to get a reading on how well she is doing with her fight against multiple myeloma.
Her spirits are great. She looks wonderful and we are getting out to movies, restaurants and grocery shopping. However we have to go when these places aren't loaded with people. Still it is out and about.
Please say two prayers for Terry:
1-Her bone marow biopsy shows that she is remission,
2-She has takotsubo and that her heart will normalize.

HOME AGAIN

Terry got sprung from the hospital today. I put up her bail and she promised to follow all doctors orders otherwise they might want to throw her in the UM slammer again. It is good to see her where she belongs---at home. She has a way to go for full recovery and this is the first step. FYI her preliminary cancer results came in and they look very promising-more to follow on that one in 30 days. Thanks again to everyone for keeping her on your prayer list.

WHAT A LOOOONG DAY

Terry was not allowed to eat or drink after midnight on Monday, a standard procedure when you are undergoing an operation or procedure that will involve anesthesia. We weren't sure what time Terry's cardiac cath would be, but we were hoping for a morning procedure. That was not to be, Terry finally was started at 6 PM and completed about 8:15 PM. She had a 70% blockage of one of her major arteries, so a stent was put in. The physician did say that a major heart attack was probably averted. Right now the cause of the problem seems to be Terry's recent chemotherapy. I am sure we will get a more definitive reading on everything tomorrow. Right now Terry is under the cloud of Versed and enjoying some well deserved rest.
Thanks to all for the continued prayers.

THE BIMP IS A MOUNTAIN

Terry had her echocardiogram this morning and it wasn't good. There can be a few different diagnoses and a few different treatments for whatever she has. We'll find out on Tuesday as Terry now has to have a double cardiac catheterization. When the cardiologists look into her heart they will know what the problem is and how to treat it. These bumps in the road are getting bigger, more frequent and just plain lousy.
Please redouble your prayers for a positive recuperation.

Day 30 - a bimp in the road

Inspector Cleauseu had many bimps in the road and so does Terry. Yesterday (Friday) was the 30 day anniversary of her stem cell transplant. Things were going along swimmingly until Dr. Mineishi mentioned that one cardiac enzyme was a bit elevated, so he decided to do an EKG. He then compared the new EKG to the one done a month ago and there were some changes that concerned him. He sent us to see a cardiologist who decided to admit Terry to the hospital for a workup, diagnosis and treatment. Her enzyme started coming down today (Saturday) but it was decided to keep Terry in the hospital, until Monday, for more tests. I know it wasn't the food that brought her back here, as it is mediocre at best.
We were informed regarding the stem cell transplant that everything was on course and we would get the definitive results in one more month. That was the good news. This other thing is just another test of her resilience. I have decided there can't be anything wrong with Terry's heart because it is 24 karat gold.