Still at LGH

Richard has been at LGH since Saturday night. They took blood cultures right away. So far, nothing showed up (infections) in the cultures. His counts were still low, so they gave him more red blood cells on Monday. His platelets were okay. His white blood cell count is still really low.

His cough has been worse, and he still has fevers. He is on medicines to help control the cough and open up his lungs for breathing better. They also are giving him meds for the fevers, which he still continues to have throughout the day and night. Besides the coughing and general fatigue, he doesn't really feel too bad. He wants to come home and wishes a diagnosis of a specific infection could be made. He is on general antibiotics, but if they can diagnose an specific infection, they can put him on specific antibiotics to get him better sooner! The doctors drew more blood for new cultures yesterday. They want him to stay in the hospital until his fevers are consistently gone, and his blood counts are higher. The doctors and nurses are working hard to help him get better. It just takes time!

Daphne

Back at LGH

Well, this is one you haven't heard in quite a few months. On Saturday night, Richard's fever climbed up to 102, so we called the doctor who sent us to the ER at LGH. We went in around midnight. Thankfully, Richard had a room upstairs at 8 Lime by about 3:30 a.m. He has a cough which is progressively getting worse. He has some sort of infection, most likely some kind of repiratory infection (the cough gives it away). They have him on general IV antibiotics for now. They took blood cultures and a culture of brain/spinal fluid from his head port (just because he has infection there before, they want to cover all the bases). We are waiting to see if they grow anything. The chest x-ray was inconclusive because in order to see pneumonia on a chest x-ray, the body has to have white blood cells clustered around the infection. Since Richard has virtually no white blood cells right now, the x-ray isn't accurate. His red blood cells and platelets were also very low, so he got an infusion early this morning after he got the room. He has a nice big room up there and is in a corner suite. This is all disappointing because of it being his last round and all, but again, we just have to deal with it and pray that they find the problem so we can get him on the right antibiotics. The sooner they can do that, the sooner he should be able to come back home.

Well, it's always drama, drama, drama with this guy. Sooner or later our lives will be back to "normal." At least he's feeling okay (besides the cough). He has TV and car magazines to keep him occupied until the cultures or scans show the infection.

Daphne

Laying Around

Richard has been tired this week. At the end of the week, he has been coughing a little bit. He's had a bit of a temperature, but not enough to go to the hospital. He has been doing nothing but resting and eating. His white count was low, but should be climbing back up at this point so we're hoping his body will fight off whatever is happening on its own. Other than that, Richard is feeling okay. He's anxious to be stronger again and up and about.

Daphne

Home Again

Hello everybody! We are home from HUP! Round 8 is complete! We are so excited that he has completed all of his rounds. Yesterday, he had his Neulasta shot and bloodwork. He will have bloodwork and his intrathecal dose of Ara-C (chemo. in the head port) on Thursday morning. He hasn't been feeling sick; mostly, he's just been tired. He hasn't wanted to sleep a lot, just rest his body.

We will have a follow-up with Dr. Andreadis the week after Labor Day to discuss the plan for follow-up care/treatment.

Rich is resting up, hoping to go back to work part-time as soon as he feels up to it. He thinks maybe mid-September.

I'm getting ready to start school again. Next week will be here before I know it!

Daphne

Heading Home Today

Well, this is it. Richard's Methotrexate level is below 0.05, so we will be heading for home today. I can't believe this is number 8! We are so happy to be moving on in a new direction. The next couple of weeks will be about the same as they have been - Mon./Thurs. lab work, resting, etc. In about 2 weeks, Richard will have a follow-up appt. with Dr. Andreadis to discuss the next steps - this daily chemo. pill he will have to take, how often to get bloodwork and scans, etc.

Richard isn't feeling too bad today, just a little tired. Thanks for your prayers and keep them coming!

Daphne

Hello Friends And Family!!!!
Well, it is official. I am now able to officially join the "O.B.W.C.". Or. also known by its full name, the "Official Bed Wetters Club". No, it's not exactly what you are thinking. This morning, Daphne and I awoke to a large wet spot on the bed between us up around my chest. As if I hadn't experienced enough comedy of errors from my first night, somehow while I was sleeping I unscrewed the tubing that hooks my chemo and liquid saline pump to my chest port, and it was just pumping juice into my tee shirt for a period of time. So needless to say I am taking my last round and going out with a bang! Nothing normal here for me. Ha Ha Ha. Hopefully the rest of my stay will be as normal as can be. No other real news yet. Everything else remains uneventful. Even though I am not in a private room, it is okay because my roommate is a very nice, respectful middle age guy who is quiet, shuts his TV off at normal hours, and doesn't yell into his cell phone. A far cry from my 18 year old, MTV watching, rap music blaring, NBA watching, cell phone yelling roommate of round 5 or 6. I don't have my own refrigerator, but Daphne and I keep a cooler in the community fridge and it is working out just fine. Improvise, overcome, and adapt I always say. Well, goodbye for now. I will post some more when I get some time. Hope everyone is happy and healthy as I will be soon enough!!
Love Richard David

Here We Are

We arrived here at HUP last night around 8:30 p.m. Things got off to a bit of a rocky start here. Instead of accessing his port, the needle was placed incorrectly. Richard ended up with a pocket of fluid on the right side of his chest (just saline, not chemo). It wasn't really painful for him, just awkward. They had to access him through his hand to give him fluids last night. The swelling went down by this morning, and they were able to reaccess his port today for the chemo. He should start chemo soon. It's been ordered so we are just waiting on the pharmacy to get it mixed and sent up here. Everything else should go as scheduled. We'll keep you updated!
Daphne

Heading Back to HUP #8

We are heading back to HUP this evening for Round 8! Let's pray for no complications! We should be heading home on Sunday or Monday. LAST ONE!
Daphne

Low Red Blood Cells Again

Today's bloodwork showed low red blood cells again. They're supposed to be at least 8, but he's at 6. Richard will get 2 units tomorrow at Outpatient Oncology in LGH. I'm not sure how this will impact his return to HUP on Wednesday. They may not want him to come back until his counts are higher because this last round is a B round, and B rounds really knock out the red blood cells and platelets. I'll keep you updated on whether his return to HUP is Wednesday or later in the week.

Daphne

A Few Extra Days

Richard finally started really feeling better about the middle of this past week. His red blood cell count is a little low, but not quite low enough to make a transfusion necessary. (They gave him the choice.) As long as his counts look decent after tomorrow's bloodwork, we will head back to HUP on Wednesday evening. Last round...!!!!

I've been working on things to prepare for the upcoming school year, and Richard has been doing odds and ends around our house. I am posting some pictures of our house for those of you who may not have seen it yet. The things we're working on now are light switch covers (Rich is replacing some of the recepticals), light fixtures for the kitchen, and getting the hot tub up and running. Most of the pictures turned out okay, but I took some of them at night, so lighting was challenging. As far as our furniture and other things in the house, some of it was gifts and some of it we purchased with money we saved before Richard was sick. I only included pictures of rooms that are finished or have something done to them. Most of the half basement has nothing in it, so I didn't put any pictures of the spare room, family room, or powder room up. Things are coming together slowly, but we like our little cozy home!

Thanks for your continued prayers. One more round, and then it should be all up hill from there!

Daphne

Front

Back patio and deck

Richard's organized shed

Living room

Living room

Kitchen

Office (not quite finished yet - sterilite will be replaced with

real furniture, but it will be awhile)

Our room

Our room

Bathroom

Ups and Downs Again

It's been over a week since I last updated, and I apologize for not writing sooner. Richard was feeling nauseous for most of this past week. Thursday he started to feel better, but then Thursday evening, he got a call that he needed red blood cells and platelets. He had to sit all day in outpatient oncology at LGH on Friday and get the transfusions. Since Friday evening, Richard hasn't been feeling very well. He said his stomach feels "gurgly" but not really upset. Tomorrow we will go to LGH for bloodwork, and we'll see what they say there. Richard is really ready to be done with all this. Please keep up the prayers. The end here seems to be some of the toughest times.

Daphne