Back at home! H1N1 test came back negative and the doctor decided to discharge her this evening. Hemoglobin was up to 8.9 today- she'll have another blood test Monday. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers

Blood cultures came back negative- still waiting on H1N1 results. The doctor said her lungs are sounding better and that she will likely get to go home Thursday. Hemoglobin is down to 8.4 and not sure why but they are not planning on giving a transfusion yet.

Terry is feeling a little better today- she didn't need oxygen today either. They are continuing the IV antibiotics. They did test for the H1N1 virus and said that she cannot be released until those results come back which can take a few days. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Just before Christmas Terry was saying that this is the first holiday season in a couple years that she hasn't been in the hospital.......then this morning she came down with a fever. The UCSF doctor told her to go to the hospital in Fresno and they ended up admitting her there. The x-rays showed that she has pneumonia and they have already started her on IV antibiotics. The Fresno doctor is keeping in touch with UCSF. We'll keep you posted on her progress, thanks for all of your prayers.

Tuesday's clinic visit went pretty good. She doesn't have to go back for 2 weeks- this will be the longest time so far! Hemoglobin was 9.2 which they thought would have come up- the doctor said he is perplexed as to why it is not higher. He is going to try to get the insurance to approve medication that will help to increase the red blood cells. We'll keep you posted!

Sorry for the long lapse in updates. Overall, things have been going pretty good. There was one little bump in the road when Terry got a fever and cold symptoms but after clinic visits and an ER visit the doctors started her on antibiotics she has gotten better. The last blood test showed that her hemoglobin was a little low but that was possibly due to the antibiotics. Platelets were good. She has another appointment tomorrow- hopefully we'll be able to keep up with the updates again- our lives have been a little busy lately! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Friday's appointment went very well! The PIC line has finally been removed- yipee!! Dr. Martin also said that the bone marrow biopsy looked very good- it showed very little fibrosis. The next few weeks Terry will be going to the clinic weekly but then they may stretch it to every 10 days, then every other week. This weekend was also her first week back to church! She is still avoiding crowds but slowly increasing exposure. Things are looking good and we are all grateful and appreciative for everyone's thoughts and prayers.

The biopsy showed some fibrosis in the marrow, however the doctor said not to expect it to be gone completely since it has only been 3 months. They are waiting for one more test to determine how to proceed. They are still considering a round of treatment that can be given in the oncologist's office in Fresno. Blood counts were down just a little but overall things look good.

Sorry for the lapse in updates. Blood tests have been pretty good overall, but white cells have been on the high side so last week they decided to do another bone marrow biopsy to see if this could be from the myelofibrosis. The biopsy was done last Friday and results should be back in 2 weeks. The doctor did say that this could actually be from graft vs. host disease instead. We'll let you know when we get the results. Thanks for praying!

Friday's clinic visit

Platelets were down a little but still in mormal range and hemoglobin was up a little bit. A previous blood test showed that there may be some blood cells that are type A and the cells should actually be type B so they took another blood test to determine if this is accurate- they should have the results this week. If they are the wrong cell type then they will have to give an IV medication once a week for 4 weeks, but they should be able to do this at the oncologist's office in Fresno. We'll keep you posted.

Everything is going pretty well. Last week Terry went to the clinic on Thurs instead of Fri because her arm has been hurting. They have scheduled an MRI to check for the cause. Her hemoglobin was down a little and the doctor said that if it drops more next week they will want to go back to 2 clinic visits a week. They also have started to decrease her immunosuppressant medication. We are getting closer to the 100 day mark.....Oct 2!!!!

Yesterday at the clinic went very well. Platelets and hemoglobin both went up so she didn't need a transfusion. The doctor also decided that starting next week she can go down to 1 clinic visit a week. They also said that she can go back home!! They are still waiting to taper off the immunosuppressants for at least another week. We'll keep you posted on her progress, thanks for all your prayers.

Good News!!!

Friday's clinic day went really well- the blood test to determine how the donor cells have taken came back very positive: all counts were 100%!!!! The nurse practitioner said this is great news but not to get over excited- there still may be some bumps along the way. Terry's hemoglobin was down some so they may do a transfusion on Tuesday, but platelets are at a normal range. Thanks for your prayers-looks like they are working!!

Friday counts were good! Platelets were in 140s and hemoglobin was 9.3 so she didn't need the transfusion after all. The doctor decided to hold off on tapering the prograf. We'll keep you posted.

Platelets up to 110!!! Hemoglobin is down a little and they may give a transfusion on Friday. The doctor also said they will be starting to taper her off of the immune suppressants on Friday- let's pray it goes well!

Friday's clinic visit went really well Platelets went up to 89 (up from the 60s)without a transfusion!! This is very good. The doctor even let her go home for the weekend. In the next few weeks they will be decreasing the immunosuppressant medication and begin watching for graft-vs-host. They want/expect some to occur but hope that it doesn't get severe. We'll keep you posted. Thanks for all of your prayers.

Terry and Dan celebrated their 33rd Wedding Anniversary this last weekend! Grandma and Grandpa Dooley were also able to make it over for a visit. The clinic visit went well today- blood counts are pretty good- no transfusions needed right now and hemoglobin was even up 3 points! Friday they will draw the blood sample to see if the new cells are working- but the results will not be back for some time. We'll keep you posted.

Overall blood counts were good today- no transfusions were needed today but they may give her some blood on Friday. Platelets dropped a little more today but not as much as they have been so the doctor thinks that her body may be starting to produce them (yeah!!!). The liver enzymes are still an issue but they adjusted her medications a little- hopefully this will help some.

Terry is back at Jodi's- she was discharged Saturday evening after getting platelets and will go back to the clinic tomorrow. Her blood cells are doing good and platelets were still low but will hopefully pick up soon. Right now she is feeling really tired and her legs are bothering her, hopefully she will get some strength back soon.

The test for cytomegalovirus (CMV) came back positive so they believe this is where her fever has been coming from. They are giving her medication and she may be discharged on Sunday if all goes well. Most of her blood counts look good but the medication they are giving to treat the CMV may actually lower platelets even more. They are tentatively giving another platelet transfusion on Saturday. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Right now we are waiting for results of the cultures they have taken. They started a variety of different antibiotics hoping to cover anything that might be causing the infection. The cultures don't look to be growing anything yet, but they observe them for 4 days and then if they still turn up nothing they will suspect that it is graft vs. host. Blood counts were good today but she did receive a bag of platelets. We'll let you know as we learn more.

Today Terry spiked a fever of 101.9. After calling the clinic they told her to go to the ER at UCSF. They are running lots of tests trying to find a source of the infection and are likely admitting her tonight. Thanks for praying we'll let you know when we hear more.

Terry was discharged today! She will be staying close to the hospital at Jodi's and goes back to the clinic on Friday. Her white blood cells are looking good but platelets are still low, they will have platelets ready for her on Friday. Thanks for praying.

More good news today!! White cell count up to 5.5, may be discharged on Wed!!! We'll keep you posted.

Good News!

Today we got some good news...... Terry's white blood cell count, which has been at 0.1 for a very long time, went up to 0.5!! This is probably the new cells at work! She's still having a few side effects from the chemo and her hair is beginning to fall out again. But she did get to see some fireworks from one of the family rooms on the floor. Thanks for praying- hopefully we'll be updating with more good news soon.

Things are getting better- today she was able to eat more- mostly because the nurse practitioner told her that they were going to start IV nutrition if she couldn't start eating. Her throat is pretty sore from the chemo. The doctor said that we should start seeing her blood counts rise next week, they started medication to stimulate production yesterday so let's hope we see some results soon!

Not much more news- still having uncomfortable side effects from the medications but not too bad. She is ready to get out of the hospital- it's getting a little boring! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Terry started feeling better on Saturday and is still feeling pretty good today although she was getting another headache. They are watching blood counts- she has a chart in her room on a wipe board where the nurses post them. The counts are still pretty low but that is to be expected. We'll keep you posted.

Well the donor cells are in! Yesterday around 3:45 the cells were infused. Last night a few hours later Terry's face and ears began to swell and she developed a fever. The doctors were very quick to manage the situation and seem to be monitoring closely- Dr. Martin was reassuring telling us that this does not mean anything about the stem cells. Today she has had a fever again and they think it may be from the chemo rather than the transplant. They are ruling out infection and are supposed to do a CT scan today of her chest to be sure. They do have her on antibiotics. We will keep you updated as we learn more. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Tomorrow is the big day!! Terry is feeling better, the vomiting has stopped and the fevers have not been as big of an issue. The donor cells arrived today ready for tomorrow- they are thinking it will be sometime around noon. Thanks for all of your prayers.

Today was a really tough day. The chemo has started to get to her- lots of vomiting and nausea and she spiked a fever that had the doctors and nurses concerned. The last I talked to them it had come down some. Hopefully she will get through this rough patch quickly. I think she is feeling really weak, hopefully she can regain some strength before Wed. Thanks for your prayers.

So far everything is going really well. Dr. Martin is very pleased with the way things look and feels confident in her success this time around. So far she still hasn't gotten very sick- partly because they know a little more about how she responds to the chemo and have given her pre-medications to prevent the side effects. We'll keep you posted on her progress- so far Wed the 24th is still the big day!!

Terry is settled into the hospital. Yesterday was the first plasmapheresis- which went pretty well. They have been giving more chemo and so far she hasn't been getting sick which is really good. Tomorrow she will have another day of plasmapheresis and chemo, gearing up for next Wed. Let's pray this time the transplant takes! We'll keep you posted.

Chemo was started last Wed and the second dose was given on Saturday. The chemo that she is undergoing right now is used to reduce the amount of antibodies in her system which will hopefully make the transplant more likely to take. This weekend was a little tough because Terry had to miss this year's golf tournament and family reunion. Another dose of chemo will be given tomorrow and the plan is still to check in on Wed. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

Yesterday was another busy day- the HLA cross-matched platelets on Monday did not take. Platelets were at 2 from the first draw on Tuesday so the doctor called the blood bank to try and get more platelets- they found some but they were being donated at that very moment in Shasta. The doctor talked to the blood bank to have them transferred from Shasta to SF without the 2-3 day holding period since the patient has donated recently. They admitted Terry into the hospital since the platelets were to arrive around 9 last night. The doctor also spent quite some time yesterday with the insurance trying to get an approval for the chemo which isn't typically used for bone marrow transplant. They are supposed to be giving the chemo today and again on Sat, then Tues and Fri next week. They are still intending to admit her to the hospital on Wed. The extra-special platelets gave a big boost to 122!!! We'll keep you posted- thanks for all you prayers.

There have been a few changes in plans- and I guess some things are still undetermined. They might start outpatient chemotherapy today and still check into the hospital next Wed. The doctor is not completely certain about the plasmapheresis but may do it right before the donor cells are given. More extensive matching procedures have been done on this donor so this match is considered better. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Last week was a really busy week. Terry spent 3 days at the clinic receiving blood, platelets, and running pre-transplant tests and meetings. The tentative date set is the 17th and she is on house-arrest until then. Dr. Martin has been talking to other doctors trying to figure out what the best action plan is- they are going to try to first replace her plasma (I think this is called plasmapheresis) to reduce the number of antibodies and then give her chemotherapy- a little different than that she has already received. Then she will have another transplant, this time with a different donor which they have found already and will hopefully take better. We'll keep you posted.

Terry received more blood and platelets last week. It turns out that the platelets from relatives (they tried Jodi's which matched but didn't take) didn't work and they said that it is unlikely that the other relatives would work if Jodi's didn't. After those platelets she received HLA cross-matched platelets which did give her a better boost. There aren't any definite dates set yet for transplant but the doctor did say he would like to start within 2 weeks or so and that was last week. Tomorrow she sees the doctor again so hopefully we'll know more. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers.

Last Friday they gave Terry platelets that were HLA cross-matched and they gave her a boost up to 87! Today they were back down to 47 but we are hoping they will bump up again on Friday. The tests they have done show that there are none of the donor's cells left in her system and that the myelofibrosis is still present. Because of this they have decided to go ahead with stronger chemo and another transplant with a different donor. The chemo with the first transplant was not as strong because the doctors did not feel that her liver could handle it, but now the benefits are outweighing the risks. The plan right now is to wait about 3-4 weeks and then begin the process again. We'll let you know as we know more, thanks for all of your prayers.

We don't have a lot more information today, platelets are still really low and not increasing with the transfusions. They did transfusions on Monday but platelets actually decreased after and they gave more platelets today and plan on giving more Friday hoping that they will find some that work with her body. The doctors have said that she may respond better to platelets from siblings or children so we are planning on trying that. Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers.

On Saturday, Terry was released from the hospital even though her platelets were at 20. She will go back to the clinic on Monday to test her blood and receive more platelets. Tuesday she will meet with Dr. Martin- the doctor who has been following her throughout the transplant, to discuss options and where we will go from here. Let's keep praying! We'll keep you posted when we learn more.

The last platelet count was 33 but they have given 2 bags of platelets since. Those results should be back soon. They did another CT scan of her head last night and the bleeding looks better so if the platelets come up the doctor said she can go home to Jodi's today and be back at the clinic on Monday. Hopefully these platelets will work and she will be out of the hospital for Mother's Day! We'll keep you posted!

We still don't know a whole lot more. Today they continued to monitor blood counts. She received a blood transfusion last night which brought her hemoglobin up. The latest platelet count was 51- so it dropped some since last night and they would like to keep it above 50. Right now they are just monitoring the bleeding- they said that it is small and not putting pressure on her brain so they will eventually do an MRI to see if it has changed. They also did a chest x-ray today which should have results tomorrow. We'll let you know, thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

It has been a really long day- as you know Terry's blood counts have been very low- especially her platelets which have not been increasing despite repeated transfusions. Yesterady after the bone marrow biopsy (results should take about 10 days) she was feeling sick- throwing up a couple of times and had a bad headache. They assumed it was from all of the stress and the medications she had yesterday but then this morning Jodi called the clinic to tell them and they told her to take her straight to the ER and have a CT scan done or to call 911. Jodi took her to the ER in Mountain View and they found a small lesion on her brain that was bleeding. After a few bags of platelets and medication they transported her to UCSF. After another bag of platelets her count jumped from 5 to 77- which is really good- they have not been that high for a while but her hemoglobin and hematocrit have dropped (most likely from the bleeding). She is resting right now in the hospital and we are not entirely sure what their plan is. We will keep you updated as we know more.

Lately there’s been a decrease in blood counts and them not doing what they should, as well as a rapid drop in platelets even after 3 infusions in the last week. Given this, the dr has determined that the transplant did not take or work. They believe that the myelofibrosis cells have grown back and are killing off all the cells, like the platelets, as they are infused. Similar to what was happening prior to transplant. The ultrasound from last week was normal so that is part of the reason they think something else is going on. Tuesday they are going to do a bone marrow biopsy to determine exactly what is going on in the bone marrow, such as the amount of the bad cells and if they’ve taken on a new form and if her condition has progressed into leukemia. Because of the low platelets, the biopsy is somewhat risky since her body is unable to stop bleeding. As of today the dr. believes that the most favorable route to take would be to do sessions of chemo over the next 4 to 6 months and at that point determine if an additional transplant is a good idea. After the biopsy they will determine for sure what approach they’d like to take from here. If she does go to the chemo for the next 4 to 6 months, she will be able to do the chemo in Fresno and stay at home which will make Dan and herself very happy. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers, we'll keep you posted.

Happy Birthday Terry!! Unfortunately it wasn't the best birthday- she went to her normal clinic appointment and platelets were down to 13 so she had to go back for a transfusion in the afternoon, however the transfusion didn't take so they will have to cross-match platelets which she will receive tomorrow or the next day. They also discussed the issue of her blood counts not going very well so they have decided to start another round of chemotherapy next week- this round will be outpatient though. Lastly there is a possibility that her body is growing another spleen- they will do an ultrasound to examine this further. Hopefully this is just a minor setback and things will come around. We'll keep you posted, thank you for your prayers.

Today was another long clinic day but this should be the last day where she is getting the IV medication at the clinic. She has also been taken off some of her other meds so hopefully things will continue to go well. The doctor wants to see the donor T cells start working harder- if they do not they are planning on doing another 5 day course of chemotherapy followed by more stem cells- there were enough donated. This round of chemo will be a little different and it shouldn't cause the hair that is growing back to fall out! Hope everyone has a happy Easater!

Everything is going pretty well after a couple of really long clinic days. Friday Terry was given a blood transfusion and also the IV medication so they did not get home from the hospital until 11 at night! The doctors have decided to take her off of one of the immunosuppresants so now they are closely watching for graft vs. host disease- let's hope for the best and pray that she stays healthy. We'll keep you posted on her progress- today is day 61 and the first 100 are the most critical. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Today we got the results of the liver and marrow biopsies. It did not look like graft vs host disease or myelofibrosis so that is a good thing- the doctors believe that the elevation in her liver enzymes must be from the medications and so she is getting an IV infusion of another medication on clinic days. The hemoglobin was 8.8 today so she will probably get a blood transfusion Friday. Overall things are going well-we'll let keep you posted!

Terry is out of the hospital but we don't have all of the results yet. She had to go back today for blood work and again tomorrow- hopefully they will give her more information on the biopsy results at that time. We'll keep you updated as we learn more. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Back in the hospital

Today Terry was readmitted to the hospital so that a few more tests can be run to determine why her liver enzymes are still elevated. There are 3 possibilities: the medications she is taking may be the cause; this may be a sign of graft vs. host disease; or it could be from the myelofibrosis. Tomorrow they are doing a bone marrow biopsy and possibly a liver biopsy- they may have to do this the following day depending on scheduling. There is plan for each complication- if it is the medication they will change to an IV form infused at the clinic twice a week. If it is graft vs. host they will begin to treat that and if it is the myelofibrosis they will give a mild course of chemo on an outpatient basis which the doctor was considering doing anyway. We will keep you posted when we know more. Thanks again for everyone's thought and prayers.

Terry has been going to the clinic on Tuesdays and Fridays- everything is going well. Her counts were down today but that is to be expected. They are planning on giving her blood on Friday. Her liver enzymes were elevated also but the doctors are watching closely and adjusting her medication accordingly. So far everything is going great. We'll keep you posted!

Discharged!!

Terry is at Jodi's now! We'll keep you posted on her progress.

Great News!!

White blood cell count has been going up.....yesterday it rose to 8.2 and today it was 14.9!! Platelets were up to 14 and they are looking at possibly discharging her tomorrow!! Today a discharge educator went over a lot of information they have to know- what to watch out for and all that. She will still have the PIC line in so Jodi will learn how to take care of it. They will have to go to clinic every Tues and Fri. They also said that most patients do end up back in the hospital. We'll let you know when she is released! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Just a quick update:
Platelets have been very low even after a few transfusions, a different kind of cross-match was done to choose more compatible platelets and we will get the results after that transfusion soon to know if they were effective in bringing the count up.
Today the white blood cell count went up to 1.7- it was 0.3 yesterday!!!! Yeah! This may be a sign that the stem cells received in the transplant are maturing and taking to their new home well!!
Terry's hair is starting to fall out a little more and she has had some issues with neuropathy affecting her feet. She has been started on another medication to try to help the neuropathy.
Things seem to be going well overall- we'll keep you posted.

Everything seems to be going smoothly so far- the doctor said if things continue on this path Terry may be discharged a week from Friday!!! Then it will be house arrest at Jodi's! The doctor said that we might start seeing her blood counts come up sometime around Monday. She will begin medication to stimulate their production soon. Thanks again for your prayers- hopefully the good news continues!

Just a quick update- everything is going well. Terry has been feeling pretty good, today she was feeling tired. The side effects from the chemo may start to show up soon- hopefully they won't be too bad. Thanks again for your prayers.

So far Terry is doing great. She sounds good, looks good, is eating well and walking around the hospital floor a couple times a day- 12 laps is 1 mile! We look forward to watching her new cells and counts go up and up back to normal. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers- let's continue to pray that the new cells will take and Terry will be back to normal!!

As I type the last of 8,000,000 stem cells are being transfused. Now we just have to wait and hope and pray that those cells get in there, find a home, like what they see and hang out to party.

It’s only the beginning, but we have a lot on our side. We found out this morning that of the 3 levels of matching, all were met perfectly. Including the blood type being the same which is great. They also were able to harvest a lot of cells from the donor and they only needed about a 1/3 of them today. So, as a plus they were able to freeze enough for 3 – 4 more transplants, just in case it takes more cells to stick. She’s looking and feeling really healthy today, and much stronger than some of the patients we’ve met here.

So here we go, ready for battle!


Thanks all for your thoughts and prayers.

Jodi

A message from Terry- written Monday the 26th

Hi everyone, just an update to let you know how I am doing. Started my first chemo Thursday night. I have had 3 different kinds of chemo. Today is my last day and then I get two days of rest. The worst one has been the ATG made from rabbit. They give you medications for reactions, however you can still get a reaction. I got a really bad headache and tightness in my chest. They have a medication for everything and anything. The doctors and nurses are very caring and do not want their patient in any pain if can be helped. I will be given two medications tomorrow and Wednesday for fungi and Graft vs Host. Then on Thursday we will have the transfusion of my donor’s blood cells. Please pray for him, we aren’t sure if he is doing his part today or when because he could be in the US or over seas. Sorry I don’t have a time yet for Thursday, but I figured we could pray all day long that my body will accept the new blood cells.

After the transfusion, the first 100 days are the most critical. I will be here for at least 5 weeks and then to Jodi’s for two to three months. The graft vs host can show up very soon or years from now. So if it doesn’t show up in the first few months, I will just have to be on the lookout for the reactions of it.

I can’t get over how exciting it will be to see my counts go up and stay up! Amazing that a 27 year old man is going to save my life, of course along with our faith.

Jodi has been staying with me since Dan went home on Saturday. Nice having her with me but I can’t expect her to be here all the time. Today she has done a lot of work on her computer. I have a bulletin board in my room full of pictures of family, so nice to look at it during the day and all the nurses comment on what a good looking family! My doctor said wow what a gallery, I will bring pictures of my sons to hang up. I said sure, I would claim them. If anyone wants to send pictures, feel free to do so!

If anyone wants to visit, the doctor said to check with Dan first to see how I am feeling. No one under 12 and no one who has been sick can visit. Also no fresh flowers or plants or fresh fruits and vegetables.

Well, everyone take care, I will be home in a few months to see everyone! My new birthdate will be January 29th!

Terry has been receiving the chemotherapy and so far so good. She has been very tired but able to rest. She had some nausea but the nurse gave her medication right away to stop it and it seemed to help quickly. She is eating good and in good spirits. Let's hope that she can continue like this- she's so strong!!

Admitted!

Terry has now officially been admitted to begin the transplantation process. She said she has a decent view from her room- some buildings and she can see a church. The first week will be chemotherapy. Her platelets were at 38 today but they decided not to give another transfusion. Because the platelets are still low the doctor decided not to put the port in for chemo but rather just a PIC line which should be sufficient for the entire course. They will be inserting the line tomorrow but may still start some of the medication tonight. A few people have told her that she will breeze right through this- we know she is strong and pray that this will be the case! I'll keep you posted on how she is feeling and her progress. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.

There has pretty much been a daily trip to the hospital/clinic to check platelet levels and so far so good this week- no transfusions needed yet, although the numbers are still on the low side. Terry will be going to the hospital at 8:30 Thursday morning and as long as her platelets are above 40 she will be admitted. I think we are all ready to get started so she can get better and back to a somewhat normal life! We'll let you know when she is admitted for the transplant- let's keep praying!

Sorry for the lapse in updates- I have been away from the computer this week. On Monday Terry's platelets rose significantly and she was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. She was able to return home for the night and then had to be back in SF for labs today. She received another bag of the cross-matched platelets today and is waiting to hear if she has to be there on Sat or not for more testing. Right now she is on strict orders not to go anywhere and many other restrictions- like no fresh fruit or vegetables to minimize the chance of infection. This is similar to how life will be after the transplant- almost like a practice run. Someone told her to treat herself like a newborn baby. I think she will still be checking in for the transplant on the 22nd. Thanks again for your prayers!

The infection (diagnosed as C. diff.)is clearing up. Terry's platelets did not rise with the next bag so they did a cross-match to try to get a better response. After that was infused her platelets rose to 12 (previously at 3 and they want to keep them above 10), which is good. The plan now is to monitor for 48 hours and if they do not drop she should be able to go home and prepare for the transplant, if they do drop she will receive another bag of the cross-matched platelets and then be observed for another 48 hours. Right now is just a lot of watching and waiting, everyone is really nice and she has a good view from her room. There is a prospective date of the 22nd to return to the hospital, but I think we will know more as Terry improves. Thanks again for your prayers.

Back to San Francisco

Terry had to have her blood checked again today to see if her potassium and platelet levels were better after yesterday's treatment- they weren't :( The white cell count was also too low. After reviewing the results the doctor called and they decided together it would be best to admit her tomorrow for a few days- this way he can also address the possible issue of infection (the flu symptoms still haven't gone away) by putting her on antibiotics. They are still waiting for culture results to determine if an infection does exist. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers, they are appreciated.

A Change in Plans

Terry went to the hospital as planned today and took some more preliminary tests (echo, chest x-ray, blood tests, etc) then talked to Dr. Martin (the transplant doctor). They decided that it would be better for her to get stronger before starting. Her potassium was low again so she received an infusion to bring it back up and her platelets were low as well so she received a transfusion of platelets. They have adjusted her medication and are planning on postponing only 2 weeks. She is to gain 10 pounds (she lost 12 over the last week and a half) and start her exercises again which she has been too weak and exhausted to do. She is eager to start the transplant and be well again, but I think she also wants to start a little stronger so the delay is okay. We'll keep you posted as we know more.

I can't believe the day is already here. Tomorrow (Jan 6th) Terry is checking into UCSF hospital. The last week has been a little rough. Christmas Eve she received a transfusion and was feeling good, then that weekend she came down with the flu and has had a terrible time trying to fight it off. Friday night the transplant doctor had her sent to the ER in Fresno due to low potassium levels but she was able to return home after receiving fluids and a 7 hour wait. She is feeling a little better but would like to feel stronger going into this. The current plan is to check in on Tuesday morning. This day they will put in the port for chemo which should begin on Wed. The actual transplant is currently scheduled for the 15th. We'll try to post updates often- thanks for your thoughts and prayers.