A Busy Week

Since being released from the hospital last week, Jill has been spending most of each day at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance clinic having tests and receiving IV infusions of fluids and immune-suppressing drugs. She continues to have occassional bouts of nausea which cause dehydration. In addition, the immune-suppressing drugs reduce the levels of trace minerals, so she gets daily infusions to maintain hydration and replace the minerals. She also requires occassional infusions of blood components.

Jill is happy to be out of the hospital and to spend some time with Turbo (her dog) and Kishka (her cat). Scott flew out for the weekend which gave Sylvia an opportunity to get some other things done while Scott spent time with Jill at the clinic.

Next week Jill will have tests to determine the degree to which Sylvia's bone marrow stem cells have engrafted.

Home again

Lots of news this week. Jill was released from the hospital today. The doctors were able to get the nausea and pain under control sufficiently to allow her to go home. Jill has had recurring bouts of pleurisy for the last few months probably caused by the radiation. The condition is quite painfull. On Wednesday Jill had a scan to determine if there was something else causing the problem. The scan confirmed that the problem was pleurisy but also showed no active cancer spots so that was very good news. This week Jill's white blood cell count started to rise indicating that her new blood had engrafted. Everyday that passes now Jill's immune system will strengthen, reducing the risk of infection. So, all and all, this was a very good week.

Sylvia got a bit of a break from caregiving because Scott visited for the weekend. He returned to Boise this evening.

Two weeks post-transplant

It has now been two weeks since Jill's transplant. Jill had been in the hospital since the transplant to guard against infection, especially respitory syncytial virus (RSV), which had been quite common in the Seattle area this winter. On Friday she was released from the hospital based on the assessment that the risk of infection had decreased sufficiently. However, following bouts of nausea Friday night she went back into the hospital on Saturday. She is now rehydrated but still in the hospital where the doctors can more easily monitor her condition and deal with the side effects of the chemo she is receiving.

Sylvia is now almost fully recovered from her surgery and is able to care for Jill. I returned to Missouri on Friday.

tom

Making Progress

We are now 5 days post-transplant. Sylvia is feeling much better. She was stiff and sore for the first few days after surgery to harvest bone marrow but is able to get around much better today. Jill is tired and a little sick but doing better than expected. Her symptoms are the result of the drugs she is receiving as well as the transplant. Her blood counts are where they should be at this point.

Scott returned to Boise yesterday and I will stay on until Wednesday to help out. By that time Sylvia will be ready to take over full-time care-giving for Jill.