Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Fred and I are actually in Orlando tonight. Fred got permission to travel for the moment so we are headed to a VERY chilly Chicago tomorrow morning. This will be our trial on travel. Fred is not happy about wearing his mask in the airport AND on the WHOLE plane flight, but he is willing in order to travel. He is going crazy being home all the time, and so am I.

We are just hoping everything goes well. COLD at least kills germs right?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Fred's blood work was really good today.

white blood cell count: 7.2 (NORMAL)
red blood cell count: 3.55 (low, but not bad)
Platelets: 156,000 (NORMAL)
Hemoglobin: 13.5 (NORMAL)

Did you see (3) NORMALS? We are still waiting to hear about his retic count and his bilirubin (these tests take longer).

We are also waiting to hear from Mayo Clinic because I am sure they are waiting for all the tests before they tell us the next step.

NORMAL - something came back NORMAL!!!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

I guess Fred is having a delayed reaction to his chemo treatments. Yesterday he slept almost all day. He is somewhat "out of it" and he complained of a headache and his stomach felt funny. He did not want to take any nausea medicine and he ate well, so it must not have been too bad. His temperature was ok so I guess he just slept it out.

Today he has been sleeping a lot also. Rest is good for the body, so I am not complaining. If this is all he has we cannot complain.

We go for blood work (CBC, retic count and bilirubin)on Thursday to our local doctor. Keeping our fingers and toes crossed for good results.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Sorry I did not post yesterday, but by the time we got home I was too exhausted to even concentrate.

Fred received his Neulasta injection at 2:30 pm and then we headed home. When we left Jacksonville the sun was shining and we had good weather most of the way (however Friday afternoon drivers was something else). Anyways about an hour from home Fred makes this comment about how good the weather was and within 20 minutes from that I was driving in a downpour and then a sign posted an accident 8 miles ahead. We soon came to a complete stop. Inching bit by bit it took us an hour to go maybe 3 miles. A cement truck was overturned and we have no idea if a car was involved since the cement truck was twisted and on its side who knows what was underneath the mess. So it took us 4 hours to get home.

Fred is doing surprising well. No nausea and feel well. Strange, but good. He is however still driving me crazy. I couldn't wait to get home to have room (not a hotel room) to do things, watch my TV in the other room, etc. I have had enough of the stock market. That is too depressing and there is nothing you can do about it, so watch something funny already!

Now that I have vented I need to clean and do laundry while Fred watches his sports on TV.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

This cycle of chemo is done. We just have to wait 24 hours before Fred gets his Neulasta injection before we can head home.

Surprising to both of us this cycle has not been as bad. We don't know if his body is just getting used to the chemo or what. He hasn't felt very sick at all and does not seem to be "out of it" as long as before. I guess we will see what the next few days bring.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Day 3 was a repeat of Day 2. Again, Fred is sleeping. He felt good this morning though, which is different from the other cycles of treatment. Even Fred has commented on how good he feels in the morning. Hopefully this will continue.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Day 2 of cycle 3 of chemotherapy is over for the day. They are pumping the drugs through Fred at a faster rate than the last two cycles.

He had 50 mg of fludarabine and 500 mg of cytoxan today. He is sleeping now. It takes a lot out of him.

Two days down, two to go!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Dr. Solberg was pleased with Fred's blood work today and so we started chemotherapy. Fred received 1,000 mg of Rituxan today. He is tired, but doing fine.

His bilirubin is back to normal and his blood work was:
white blood cell count: 4.0
red blood cell count: 3.43 (low but good)
hemoglobin: 12.7 (low but much better)
platelets: 158,000 (good)
glucose: 94 (good)

Tomorrow is the fludarabine and cytoxan. I will let you know how that goes.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Sorry I haven't posted, but Fred has been doing well on the Prednisone, which the doctor has slowly been reducing the dosage and his blood work has been good.

We are in Jacksonville and tomorrow Fred has blood work at 9 am and we see the Dr. Solberg at 11 am. Fred is scheduled for chemotherapy this week after we see the doctor.

I promise to keep you posted.