Hello Everyone
Well, we've had another uh-oh on this very challenging road back to good health. Marcia went back into the hospital Friday morning after a very nice family Thanksgiving. Problem was that she has been unable to either eat or "retain" anything she eats for about the last week. Along with that being very bad for her health in general - she lost 10 pounds in that week - whatever is causing it has to be researched and diagnosed and treated and very quickly. Fortunately they didn't wait and called and went down to Fred Hutch right away on Friday morning so the doctors feel that they caught and dealt with it right away. We're not sure what is causing this trouble but we'll let you know as soon as we know. They do say that her "numbers" - blood counts and etc - continue to be OK so this is most likely yet another of those awful "side" issues we've been dealing with all along.
We'll let you know more as soon as we know.
Thanks,
Marcia's Family
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Marcia's News for November 25th
Hello Everyone!
Were happy to tell you that Marcia made it back home from the hospital late on Saturday evening and she's been able to stay at home, except of course for the daily trips down to Fred Hutch.
She continues to do well and all the numbers related to the transplant are going in the right direction, although a little slowly. With time the process will sort of push itself forward as her blood and marrow numbers increase and the medications she requires go down. When that happens she will feel much better and the side issues that keep coming up and having to be dealt with that are so time consuming and discouraging will happen less and less.
So, she's at home and doing better. She is "callable" (if you can catch her there and not down at Fred Hutch) but not yet visitable except by the very closest people, but the "open for visits" day should come before too much longer.
We wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!!
Thanks and keep up the good thoughts and wishes and prayers!
Marcia's Family
Were happy to tell you that Marcia made it back home from the hospital late on Saturday evening and she's been able to stay at home, except of course for the daily trips down to Fred Hutch.
She continues to do well and all the numbers related to the transplant are going in the right direction, although a little slowly. With time the process will sort of push itself forward as her blood and marrow numbers increase and the medications she requires go down. When that happens she will feel much better and the side issues that keep coming up and having to be dealt with that are so time consuming and discouraging will happen less and less.
So, she's at home and doing better. She is "callable" (if you can catch her there and not down at Fred Hutch) but not yet visitable except by the very closest people, but the "open for visits" day should come before too much longer.
We wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!!
Thanks and keep up the good thoughts and wishes and prayers!
Marcia's Family
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Marcia's news for November 18th
Hello Everyone:
The wild weather knocked out my Internet last night and into today, but we're back and here is the latest.
We'll start by saying that Marcia is not very happy about it, and that's putting it mildly, but she went back into the UW Hospital yesterday. She has some sort of bacteria that they must identify and treat right away and vigorously. It may be a systemic thing again... those things that as we've mentioned before we all carry but that get a good hold on you when your immune system is wiped out, and/or they are also looking into it coming from her port. If that's the case they will have to fix it... maybe by taking the port out, as it would continue to feed bacteria into her system so long as it's there.
So she is back to hating the food and missing being at home, although the amount of time they were spending away from home and on the freeway and at Fred Hutch - which was lots, lots, lots every day, sometimes twice a day, and at all hours - just tells you how very much she does not want to be in the hospital.
The good news is that all the transplant numbers that matter are going well and going in the right direction. They say she is doing fine on that front so all the rest of these issues are being dealt with so aggressively in order to keep that happening until her immune system builds back up.
Her direct phone number at UW is 206/598-3910 and she is in room 8224. She is determined to get back out as soon as she can and she is absolutely determined to be at home for Thanksgiving!!!
We'll let you know!
Marcia's Family
The wild weather knocked out my Internet last night and into today, but we're back and here is the latest.
We'll start by saying that Marcia is not very happy about it, and that's putting it mildly, but she went back into the UW Hospital yesterday. She has some sort of bacteria that they must identify and treat right away and vigorously. It may be a systemic thing again... those things that as we've mentioned before we all carry but that get a good hold on you when your immune system is wiped out, and/or they are also looking into it coming from her port. If that's the case they will have to fix it... maybe by taking the port out, as it would continue to feed bacteria into her system so long as it's there.
So she is back to hating the food and missing being at home, although the amount of time they were spending away from home and on the freeway and at Fred Hutch - which was lots, lots, lots every day, sometimes twice a day, and at all hours - just tells you how very much she does not want to be in the hospital.
The good news is that all the transplant numbers that matter are going well and going in the right direction. They say she is doing fine on that front so all the rest of these issues are being dealt with so aggressively in order to keep that happening until her immune system builds back up.
Her direct phone number at UW is 206/598-3910 and she is in room 8224. She is determined to get back out as soon as she can and she is absolutely determined to be at home for Thanksgiving!!!
We'll let you know!
Marcia's Family
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Marcia's News for Monday November 9th
Hello Everyone:
Sorry for the slightly late notice for this great news but....... MARCIA WENT HOME ON MONDAY!!!!
She was so happy to get home... She was really done with the hospital food and all she wanted was ribs and creamed onions! Tina made her some great homemade soup for her first meal back at home since October 5th.
She is doing very, very well and all of the numbers that really matter are going in the right direction now. This week she (and her chauffeur Pat) will have to be at Fred Hutch for blood checks and treatments every single day and the platlets and red blood cell transfusions continue.
Although the transplant process is working well, there continue to be some "peripheral" issues that must also be monitored and dealt with too, along with everything else. She now has a virus that is common to everyone however when you have no immune system it can get a quick hold on you and become a real problem. This one carries with it the threat of pneumonia. For that she will need infusion therapy twice a day for three weeks and then once a day for another four weeks after that, on top of everything else.
So please keep up the great thoughts and prayers. Hopefully she has the worst behind her, but this is a marathon, not a sprint and she continues to need all of your wonderful good wishes and positive support. She can accept phone calls at home - if you can catch her there - but she cannot have visitors yet as she still has almost no immunities.
Thanks to all of you!!
Marcia's Family
Sorry for the slightly late notice for this great news but....... MARCIA WENT HOME ON MONDAY!!!!
She was so happy to get home... She was really done with the hospital food and all she wanted was ribs and creamed onions! Tina made her some great homemade soup for her first meal back at home since October 5th.
She is doing very, very well and all of the numbers that really matter are going in the right direction now. This week she (and her chauffeur Pat) will have to be at Fred Hutch for blood checks and treatments every single day and the platlets and red blood cell transfusions continue.
Although the transplant process is working well, there continue to be some "peripheral" issues that must also be monitored and dealt with too, along with everything else. She now has a virus that is common to everyone however when you have no immune system it can get a quick hold on you and become a real problem. This one carries with it the threat of pneumonia. For that she will need infusion therapy twice a day for three weeks and then once a day for another four weeks after that, on top of everything else.
So please keep up the great thoughts and prayers. Hopefully she has the worst behind her, but this is a marathon, not a sprint and she continues to need all of your wonderful good wishes and positive support. She can accept phone calls at home - if you can catch her there - but she cannot have visitors yet as she still has almost no immunities.
Thanks to all of you!!
Marcia's Family
Monday, November 2, 2009
Marcia's News for Monday November 2nd
Hello Everyone:
Marcia continues through the process and the good news is that some white and a few red cells are showing up and attaching into her bone marrow. It is normal that the red cells show up later and more slowly than the whites however this is good news so far. The pleurisy has improved quite a bit and she is requiring less pain medication for it. She is having a lot of trouble eating as nothing tastes good at all and she has been unable to keep down much of what she does eat so that has been a big challenge. Her doctors tell her that when the cells begin taking in numbers she will feel much better. We are all looking forward to that!!
Although her "visitable" status can change very quickly, right now she can have visitors. She is in room 8256 - on the eighth floor of UW hospital. She can also have phone calls, although sometimes she is very groggy so she can't talk for very long. She cannot have fruit or flowers or other kinds of gifts however she still loves the grande size of caramel frappachinos! The visits should not be too long. At this time visitors aren't being required to "suit up" with gowns and etc. so that is a plus for everyone.
We will continue to keep you posted. It just may be that the worst is behind her. Time will tell of course but for right now everything is going as it should.
Thanks and keep up the positive thoughts and prayers,
Marcia's Family
Marcia continues through the process and the good news is that some white and a few red cells are showing up and attaching into her bone marrow. It is normal that the red cells show up later and more slowly than the whites however this is good news so far. The pleurisy has improved quite a bit and she is requiring less pain medication for it. She is having a lot of trouble eating as nothing tastes good at all and she has been unable to keep down much of what she does eat so that has been a big challenge. Her doctors tell her that when the cells begin taking in numbers she will feel much better. We are all looking forward to that!!
Although her "visitable" status can change very quickly, right now she can have visitors. She is in room 8256 - on the eighth floor of UW hospital. She can also have phone calls, although sometimes she is very groggy so she can't talk for very long. She cannot have fruit or flowers or other kinds of gifts however she still loves the grande size of caramel frappachinos! The visits should not be too long. At this time visitors aren't being required to "suit up" with gowns and etc. so that is a plus for everyone.
We will continue to keep you posted. It just may be that the worst is behind her. Time will tell of course but for right now everything is going as it should.
Thanks and keep up the positive thoughts and prayers,
Marcia's Family
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