Update 5/30/11

Well today has not went as well as Mary had been doing. Late yesterday she broke out with red blotches in several areas, but they were not itching. They thought it may have been related to her platelet count which had fallen to 5. They had already given her platelets to raise the count, but the red areas were worse today and so they thought she may have had some reaction to one of the antibiotics she is taking. They have switched the suspected antibiotic with another.
 
Mary was a little apprehensive this morning so they gave her the same medication for that which she had been taking, but with the full recommended dose. After a light breakfast she felt as if she may get sick so they gave her something for nausea. She was very drowsy after this and slept most of the day. When they checked vitals in early afternoon her fever had spiked up to about 102 degrees, so they have given her Tylenol, fever has went down at an earlier check, but she has slept most of this evening with only two small cans of soup to eat since breakfast.
 
I am speculating that her hemoglobin will drop enough by Tuesday to require some more infusion of red cells, but I have misplaced my Medical Degree so it is strictly a guess. It is of little consequence at this point, but her hair is thick and plentiful as always up to this point. Let's hope for a better day tomorrow.
 
Windford

Update 5/28/11

     Well, Mary finished her first 7 day cycle of Chemotherapy last night about 10:30 PM. We spent a quite night without the machine beeping at times as usual. We now wait and see how effective this first round was. They will monitor her for 4-5 days and then do another Bone Marrow Biopsy to  find out more specific results. Further treatment schedule will be decided based upon these results and I suppose the cytogenetics of her particular type of Myeloid Leukemia. Although they have not seemed to concerned with those cytogenetic numbers yet. I think it takes awhile to get those results. Steven and Brad, I will let you know when I find out what they are.
      Overall I would say Mary has has held up better than I thought and better than expected in general. The doctors continue to warn us that it is about to get rough iin the next few days, but we will have to wait and see. Everyone has different reactions or degrees of reaction. Thanks for all your prayers, concerns and support. Thank God for our children and their spouses. They have pitched in together and made everything as smooth as possible while dealing with their own concerns, They most assuredly have made Mary and my struggles easier.
 
Windford

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Thank you to everyone who has called, sent cards, and left messages! Mom (and all of us) truly appreciate it!!
~Melissa

May 23 Update

Mary is finishing her third day of chemotherapy and they start the fourth day of chemotherapy tonight around 7:00PM. The bags run for 24 hours and usually finish and start every night about same time. She is doing OK with the physical aspects so far, emotionally she is strained. The doctor says things seem to be going as expected on the kill rate on the white cells. That is what we have to get rid of to start getting her back on track.
 
Windford

Really?!?!

Where to begin....after a tumultuous week of appointments, doctors, and LOTS of bloodwork, we finally have diagnosis for Mary.  She has Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).  This means she has cancer in her blood and bone marrow (which is where the blood cells are made).  She will need to begin chemotherapy treatment right away, in fact it's already running as this is being written. She will have 2 chemo drugs...one that she gets as a short infusion in three days and one that runs continuously for the next 7 days.  That is actually the easy part.  The hard part will be the side effects for the weeks after the chemo. 

The effects might include nausea, vomiting, mouth sores, and who knows what else.  The other physical effect will be losing her hair.  That will probably happen during week 2 or 3.  She is very aware of this and is actually ready to get some scarves...not thinking she wants to mess with a hot, itchy wig.

The other big piece of information that is important...this initial stay will be 5-6 weeks.  After that, there will be more treatments planned and that will be based on the bloodwork and biopsies...but that will be a decision for a later time.

During this time she will be able to have visitors (most of the time), BUT YOU CANNOT BE SICK!  If there are too many of us at any given time, there are nice family lounges throughout the floor and we can rotate if necessary.  If Mary is feeling up to it, she could even join us in those areas.  Another important thing to note:  Mary CANNOT have fresh flowers, fresh fruit, or latex balloons. 

She can get emails, cards, and messages:)  Her room is 3 East, C-26 at the IU Simon Cancer Center (535 Barnhill Drive Indianapolis, IN 46202-5116).  If you would like the phone, please send a email or call any of us on the cell phone.

 

We appreciate all of the care, concern, prayer, and support.  Mary's asked that you add her to your prayer chains.