Hi Everyone-
Kurt is now in the ICU in critical condition. The doctors are still testing to see what is causing all the fluid in and around his lungs. I will keep everyone posted as the days go by.
Thank you for all the support you have and continue to give him.
Evey
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Round 2 - Day - %&*!!
Hi Everyone-
The past few days have been tough. I had a hard time breathing this past week so they are monitoring my oxygen. Thursday night Evey and I pulled an all nighter since the oxygen machine kept beeping because my oxygen level was going below 90 (which happened a lot). I found out that I couldnt breathe because the liquid around my lungs had gotten worse which was putting pressure on my lungs. They did a procedure Friday morning where the doctors inserted a tube near my ribs to help drain the fluid. It immediatley drained over 2 liters of fluid from around my lungs. They are keeping the tube inside for at least a few days.
The bone marrow results came back and it looked good. There is no evidence of leukemia cells at the moment. There are other studies (chromosome, etc) that take longer to get back. The focus now (or next steps) is to get rid of my pneumonia and lung infection so I can get consolidation chemo to keep me in remission to do the bone marrow transplant.
Thanks again for reading and for all the encouragment you are giving me. Please continue to send the thank you cards for my donor. I know he will appreciate reading them.
The past few days have been tough. I had a hard time breathing this past week so they are monitoring my oxygen. Thursday night Evey and I pulled an all nighter since the oxygen machine kept beeping because my oxygen level was going below 90 (which happened a lot). I found out that I couldnt breathe because the liquid around my lungs had gotten worse which was putting pressure on my lungs. They did a procedure Friday morning where the doctors inserted a tube near my ribs to help drain the fluid. It immediatley drained over 2 liters of fluid from around my lungs. They are keeping the tube inside for at least a few days.
The bone marrow results came back and it looked good. There is no evidence of leukemia cells at the moment. There are other studies (chromosome, etc) that take longer to get back. The focus now (or next steps) is to get rid of my pneumonia and lung infection so I can get consolidation chemo to keep me in remission to do the bone marrow transplant.
Thanks again for reading and for all the encouragment you are giving me. Please continue to send the thank you cards for my donor. I know he will appreciate reading them.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Round 2 - Day - %&^*!
Hi Everyone- sorry it has been awhile since I have written. It has been a really rough couple of weeks battling the pneumonia, pleurisy, fevers, stomach pains, lung infections, and trouble breathing. I finally have good news to report that at Day 27 (Sunday) my white cells finally decided to come back. This means that the doctors will be doing my bone marrow test hopefully at the end of this week to see if the last chemo put me into remission.
On another note, we got news about my donor. Apparently he removed himself from the national bone marrow registry after he donated his stem cells for me a couple years ago. He decided he didn't want to do it again. However, my transplant coordinator called the transplant coordinator in Sweden to have her let the donor know it was for me and he said, "I will do it again for him". This was such incredible news. My marrow coordinator said it would be a very good idea if we could gather thank you cards from my freinds and family for him.
SO... this is where all of you come in. If you would like, please send a thank you card to me for my donor and we will put them together and have my coordinator mail them to him. You can say that you are my friend and appreciate what he has done for me (both in 2008 and now) and whatever else you want to say.
Please mail the thank you card to:
Thornton Hospital 3 West
Kurt Thallmayer Rm 359
Mail Code 7608
9300 Campus Point Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037-1300
Once we receive them, we will put them all together and have them mailed to him. The fact that the guy wasnt going to do it all again and is doing it for me is incredible- and he doesn't even know me! If you are a donor, it is 100% voluntary and this guy is amazing for going through it again for me.
Thanks for reading and for all the comments, they really help... Thanks again for taking the time to mail the thank you card. It means a lot to me that everyone has been so supportive.
On another note, we got news about my donor. Apparently he removed himself from the national bone marrow registry after he donated his stem cells for me a couple years ago. He decided he didn't want to do it again. However, my transplant coordinator called the transplant coordinator in Sweden to have her let the donor know it was for me and he said, "I will do it again for him". This was such incredible news. My marrow coordinator said it would be a very good idea if we could gather thank you cards from my freinds and family for him.
SO... this is where all of you come in. If you would like, please send a thank you card to me for my donor and we will put them together and have my coordinator mail them to him. You can say that you are my friend and appreciate what he has done for me (both in 2008 and now) and whatever else you want to say.
Please mail the thank you card to:
Thornton Hospital 3 West
Kurt Thallmayer Rm 359
Mail Code 7608
9300 Campus Point Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037-1300
Once we receive them, we will put them all together and have them mailed to him. The fact that the guy wasnt going to do it all again and is doing it for me is incredible- and he doesn't even know me! If you are a donor, it is 100% voluntary and this guy is amazing for going through it again for me.
Thanks for reading and for all the comments, they really help... Thanks again for taking the time to mail the thank you card. It means a lot to me that everyone has been so supportive.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Round 2 - Day - %@!!!
HI Everyone- a lot has happened between last week. I wish I could say it was all good but I can't. Seems that through the ecoli, fevers, food poisoning, stomach pains, etc, I very well could have picked up pneumonia. In fact, I do now have pneumonia and pleurisy. It is unfortunatley the kind that is pretty painful so anything that has to do with headaches or my other pain has now shifted to my lungs and diaphragm which is where my pneumonia lies.
All it takes is a simple shift, movement, breathing, walking, coughing, practically anything sets off a mountain of pain. I have been battling this pain, high fevers, and complete loss of all my taste buds since last week.
Unfortunatley, the only thing that can really treat my pneumonia is my white blood cells and they do not exist due to the chemo that I finished. I am now on all kinds of anti-fungal, anti-biotic, and basically the strongest drugs they make. The doctors are saying my white cells should come up after Day 21 and today is Day 15 (from my chemo treatment). The fact that I have no taste buds has made it quite difficult to eat. My hair is also starting to fall out so I had Tommy give me a nice buzz cut today.
Thanks again for checking in. I know you guys have a lot going on in your own lives. Its a really good feeling knowing that there are people out there that are thinking about me.
All it takes is a simple shift, movement, breathing, walking, coughing, practically anything sets off a mountain of pain. I have been battling this pain, high fevers, and complete loss of all my taste buds since last week.
Unfortunatley, the only thing that can really treat my pneumonia is my white blood cells and they do not exist due to the chemo that I finished. I am now on all kinds of anti-fungal, anti-biotic, and basically the strongest drugs they make. The doctors are saying my white cells should come up after Day 21 and today is Day 15 (from my chemo treatment). The fact that I have no taste buds has made it quite difficult to eat. My hair is also starting to fall out so I had Tommy give me a nice buzz cut today.
Thanks again for checking in. I know you guys have a lot going on in your own lives. Its a really good feeling knowing that there are people out there that are thinking about me.
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