Monday, June 30, 2008

Monday, June 30, 2008

We are now home and glad to be here. Fred got his white blood cell booster shot this morning and we then headed home.

Fred was tired this morning and this afternoon, but he is finally feeling more like himself now. He has been doing emails and talking on the phone. We hope this keeps up.

Thanks for all the well wishes. Fred and I appreciate them.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Today we finished the first round of chemo. Fred had the fludarabine and cytoxan again. It is strange that the pre-meds he gets intravenously (benadryl and Zofran (nausea medicine) makes him light headed and nauseous. But once that passes through his system he feels better. Just tired.

Monday he gets the white blood cell booster shot and then we can head home to Vero Beach.

Thank you for the prayers. We appreciate every one of them.

Friday, June 27, 2008

June 27, 2008

Today Fred had another treatment of the fludarabine and cytoxan. So far so good. He doesn't like the tiredness he feels all the time, but that will pass. So far his appetite has been good.

Tomorrow is another treatment of the fludarabine and cytoxan. The doctor has decided not to try the Rituxan until his next visit for chemo.

Please keep the prayers going.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

June 26, 2008

Today's chemotherapy went much better. They gave Fred fludarabine and Cytoxan. He was tired following the treatment but is feeling fine right now.

We will see what tomorrow's treatment brings.

Please keep him in your prayers.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

June 25, 2008

Today did not go as well as planned. After a little more than 1/2 hour after starting a low dose of Rituxan Fred's head felt strange and he felt like he could not swallow. The nurse stopped the IV and flushed the Rituxan out of his system. The doctor came in and feels that since the lymph nodes in his neck are so enlarged and the Rituxan goes directly to these and kills off the cells right away that this is why he had the feeling of his throat closing up. It was decided to stop for the day and retry tomorrow morning.

We came back to the hotel and Fred slept for a while and is feeling better.

Please pray tomorrow everything goes better.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Monday, June 23, 2008

March 24th Fred was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). The initial recommended course of treatment was to "wait and watch". We were not comfortable with that treatment plan and on May 2nd we went to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida for their opinion.

After a chest and pelvic CAT scan, several blood tests, a "fish" test (Chromosones) and a Bone Marrow Biopsy, Dr. Lawrence Solberg from the Mayo Clinic informed us that it was a more aggressive type of CLL and also Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL) with an 11q- anomaly and that it should be treated with chemotherapy in mid-June.

The question then became what drug regiment would be the best to put the leukemia in remission. Dr. Solberg set up an appointment for us at MD Anderson Leukemia Center in Houston, Texas. We went there on June 18th and after a B2M test, a course of treatment was recommended which followed the treatment recommended by Dr. Solberg at Mayo Clinic.

We have decided on treatment to be administered at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Chemotherapy will begin Wednesday, June 25th after blood tests and chemotherapy education training. Chemotherapy will be six hours on Wednesday and eight hours on Thursday. Due to the aggressiveness of the leukemia it is necessary to treat it aggressively. This will be followed up on Friday with a white blood cell booster shot.

For the pharmacuetical people the drugs used in the triple-drug regimen will be Fludarabine, Cytoxan, and Rituxmab.

Please keep Fred in your prayers. This will be a tough battle, but we will come through with flying colors.