Jeff finished up his chemo today and is still feeling okay. Over the next couple of days his blood counts will start to drop and he'll start to feel pretty crappy. Hopefully, he won't feel quite as badly as he did last year. He's been discharged from the hospital, but we'll be going back and forth to Day Hospital now so that Jeff can get red blood and platelets as he needs them.
We're all moved in to our new digs here in Hummelstown and it's nice to have our own place. JD is starting to become accustomed to his new surroundings, and he only woke up once last night (although it wasn't all that easy getting him back to sleep). I think he misses his crib and is wondering why the heck he has to sleep in a Pack n Play.
We're still taking things one day at time, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Monday, February 09, 2009
Day 2
I was hoping to never use my blog for this purpose again, but I guess I don't have much of a choice, and as Henry Kissinger once said,
Since we don't really have any alternatives, here we are. Jeff was admitted to Hershey Med Center yesterday afternoon and had his first round of chemo (through a peripheral IV) last night. He had his new central line "installed" this afternoon and is just finishing up round 2 now. This particular chemotherapy regimen, known as MEC, is the same as his second round from the first time. He'll have three more day's worth and if he doesn't get a fever, will be discharged from the hospital on Thursday. At that point, his blood counts will be dropping and we'll need to go to Day Hospital everyday for check-ups and blood transfusions.
Hopefully, the MEC wipes his bone marrow clean and sends him into a remission. On Day 14 they will do a biopsy, and if all looks well, they'll give Jeff a booster dose of Mark's stem cells in hopes of stimulating some graph vs. host disease, which has an anti-leukemic effect.
AML relapse after a stem cell transplant is not a good thing, but Dr. Claxton is hopeful that this round of treatments will work to keep Jeff healthy for a long time.
Our new address is:
7 West Main Street
Suite 301
Hummelstown, PA 17036
The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
Since we don't really have any alternatives, here we are. Jeff was admitted to Hershey Med Center yesterday afternoon and had his first round of chemo (through a peripheral IV) last night. He had his new central line "installed" this afternoon and is just finishing up round 2 now. This particular chemotherapy regimen, known as MEC, is the same as his second round from the first time. He'll have three more day's worth and if he doesn't get a fever, will be discharged from the hospital on Thursday. At that point, his blood counts will be dropping and we'll need to go to Day Hospital everyday for check-ups and blood transfusions.
Hopefully, the MEC wipes his bone marrow clean and sends him into a remission. On Day 14 they will do a biopsy, and if all looks well, they'll give Jeff a booster dose of Mark's stem cells in hopes of stimulating some graph vs. host disease, which has an anti-leukemic effect.
AML relapse after a stem cell transplant is not a good thing, but Dr. Claxton is hopeful that this round of treatments will work to keep Jeff healthy for a long time.
Our new address is:
7 West Main Street
Suite 301
Hummelstown, PA 17036
Friday, February 06, 2009
Relapse
Jeff went to Hershey yesterday for his regular check-up feeling fine, and to make a long story short, his blood did not look good and a bone marrow biopsy confirmed an AML relapse. He'll be admitted to the hospital Sunday to start the next round of treatments. I'll write more later.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
One Year Check-up
JD had his one year check-up last week. He was 31.5" (90th percentile) and 22 lbs 12 ounces (50th percentile). I guess that means he's tall and skinny, but he looks just about perfect to me!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Splash Lagoon
Jeff, JD and I spent New Year's Day, JD's birthday and our anniversary in Erie at Splash Lagoon. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Update Your Address Books
Because my Alltel e-mail address is going defunct and I don't particularly like Windstream's online web program, I'm switching to Gmail. Please update your address books to jmw280@gmail.com.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year
I can't believe that it's 2009 already, and in case anybody else is counting, Jeff has made it to the one year post-transplant mark without too much trouble. Yay for that!
Now, back to all of these great comments.
Rachael - It took my milk almost 3 full days to come in, but I was in the hospital and was able to get lots of advice from some excellent consultants. I believe that most babies can handle the time between birth and their mother's milk coming in with just the colostrum that they are getting, but JD's mouth got quite a bit dry. So, the lactation consultant suggested we give him an ounce or so of formula, and then had me pump after every feeding for the next 8 hours or so. The pumping, along with the regular feedings helped my milk to come a bit sooner, so thankfully, that was the last bit of formula he had to get.
As nursing becomes more and more commonplace, issues like you had will be much less likely to happen, because there will always be someone around to help who has already been through the nursing process. But you are right, nobody should make you feel ashamed for doing what you needed to do. I do hope that if you have any more babies that you will give it another try. For me, nursing has been one of the most wonderful things about being a mom, and when JD is done, I know I will miss it. I truly believe it's been the most worthwhile and rewarding thing I've ever done.
Now, back to all of these great comments.
Rachael - It took my milk almost 3 full days to come in, but I was in the hospital and was able to get lots of advice from some excellent consultants. I believe that most babies can handle the time between birth and their mother's milk coming in with just the colostrum that they are getting, but JD's mouth got quite a bit dry. So, the lactation consultant suggested we give him an ounce or so of formula, and then had me pump after every feeding for the next 8 hours or so. The pumping, along with the regular feedings helped my milk to come a bit sooner, so thankfully, that was the last bit of formula he had to get.
As nursing becomes more and more commonplace, issues like you had will be much less likely to happen, because there will always be someone around to help who has already been through the nursing process. But you are right, nobody should make you feel ashamed for doing what you needed to do. I do hope that if you have any more babies that you will give it another try. For me, nursing has been one of the most wonderful things about being a mom, and when JD is done, I know I will miss it. I truly believe it's been the most worthwhile and rewarding thing I've ever done.
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