Not going home--

Well doc came in and Dan's heart rate was 148 so they have addressed that and it is now back to normal thank goodness. They will try and get a x-ray of the abdomen today.  If all stays stable we
will we probably get to go home tomorrow.

Back in the hospital....

Well it is Christmas Eve and we had to go in hospital on Monday, Dec 22nd. I have been posting when I can to Facebook but have neglected getting on the blog. We have been going 2 steps up and 3 or 4 back it seems. Dealing with the passing out with the blood pressure dropping and the stomach infection which has really got him down. We were on 14 days of meds for that (the infection he acquired while in the ATC(Ambulatory Treatment Unit) isn't that great! But he was tested again on Monday for that and it is still there so new medicine starting today which we hope will attack the infection and get rid of it.

This morning his blood count is way down so he is getting a blood transfusion. Potassium was high yesterday so they would not do the EGD (scope of his stomach). Poor guy went 16 hours without eating 14 of which he couldn't even have water to drink basically for nothing because they didn't do the scope.

We are so hoping they will get a grip on this so he can start to get better. He is so very weak.
I haven't left since we came in Monday so I am sure my clothes are getting a little familiar to everyone but you know I just don't care. I was going to leave yesterday to take shower and get fresh clothes for both of us. But we kept waiting and waiting for them to do the procedure and then once we found out last night Dan had started getting real sick to his stomach so I didn't want to leave him.

Once the doc comes in and we see exactly what the next steps are I may run to the house and shower and get some things he needs for up here. Of course he is hoping we go home but I am afraid that will not happen.

We want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for everyone including ourselves.. We Love and miss all of you and hope to see you soon.

Cherish all those precious moments you get with friends and your loved ones!

Dan and Rhonda

We get to stay home for now..... yeah!!!

They have decided to treat Dan with Mega doses of steroids for the next 3 days... at home... I will do the IV fluids and they have scheduled him for some scopes with biopsy next week. So unless things get worst than they are with his stomach we will get to be at home. I believe we will enjoy a little hibernation in the little house.

We have had appointments all day today and by the time we get home this evening we will just want to crash I am sure.

I did let them know at my job that I won't be coming back. It was such a difficult decision as I truly did love working with all my friends at Cook Children's. It is good though to get that decision behind me as it was causing me to stress not knowing what I was going to do.

For now Dan and I will just do the best we can financially without my added income and just take it a day at a time.

I know God always provides a way and I know that being there for Dan is where I need to be.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue this journey.
We love and miss each and everyone of you.

Thursday afternoon.... back in the hospital we go....well maybe

Dan has had a rough past 5 days or so with stomach issues and low grade fever. Dr. Jones will be
admitting back into the hospital so they can do a biopsy and possibly treat him with high dose steroids.

Actually Dr. Jones came in and since Dan has not had any diarrhea today--we are giving it one more day and see what happens.

Good morning everyone,
    We saw Dr. Jones yesterday and he feels Dan is doing quite well... his orthostatic blood pressure is common in Stem cell patients and it will just take time to level itself out. He said hopefully in another 30 days it will be resolved.

    We will have Thanksgiving Day off and looking forward to Roger and Mary coming for a short visit. We will have Thanksgiving dinner with the folks here at the RV resort.

    Saw the pictures of the early Christmas decorations and it made us a little homesick. They were very nice.

   We still are not sure when he will get to go home... and are concerned we may need to stay here longer due to the cold weather at home and possible snow and ice. So that is a decision we are thinking on.

    I will be so glad when Dan feels better and is able to take more walks... as it is right now with the blood pressure dropping we have to limit those so we don't run the risk of him falling.

    It is hard to believe it is Thanksgiving and Christmas soon.

  We hope everyone has a very Blessed Thanksgiving!  
  We love you all very much!!

Tuesday evening... nice and cozy in our living room...

We were very fortunate to get another 2 days off from the clinic... I am doing the IV fluids for Dan here at the house. It got down to freezing last night... yes even here in Houston. So Dan and I were very glad we didn't have to go out in the cold this morning.

He is still struggling with nausea, weakness and dizziness. He is getting very discouraged that he
isn't getting his strength back. I told him I really felt it was the medications he has to be on and for now we can't do anything about that.

It is nice though just getting to be in where it is nice and warm and cozy..

I am hoping tomorrow will bring a better day so he has the strength to go to the clubhouse and get a little exercise.

We sure miss being in our own home and friends and family.

We have had a few days off from the clinic....

Good morning to everyone..  Since our last report has been quite a ride. We had a brief hospital stay due to chest pains. They have ruled it to be acid reflux thank goodness.

We had the weekend off with IV fluids at home then back on last Monday and then Tuesday and Wednesday off again and IV fluids at home. It is nice to be able to stay at the "Temporary House" instead of having to go to clinic everyday.

Dan is still extremely weak hopefully just from them tapering his steroid dosage. We will see Dr. Jones (his stem cell doc) today and we will see what he has to say. It is very cold here today especially for Houston.

I started the truck got it nice and warm and bundled Dan up so he wouldn't get cold. He told me on the way to the clinic he loved me so much for doing such nice things for him.

I told him I took that after my wonderful mother... she is a very caring and loving women. I wouldn't know how to treat him any other way.

He is having a rough time with tremors right now due to couple of his medications. He can't write and sometimes can barely hold his eating utensils. We are going to talk to Dr. Jones about that today. Of course we know he can't go off the meds that is causing it but we will see what the doc says.

It is nice and peaceful here in his room at the ATC clinic. We have the light off and the relaxation music playing and he is snoozing. Some quiet time for me too.

Much love to all of you...

A week of ups and downs

Well Wednesday brought us a stay in the hospital. Dan had chest pains early morning and we ended up in the ER all day and then admitted to the stem cell unit in the afternoon. Finally got to a room on the unit at 10:15pm-- As it turned out they think it was just acid reflux.. although some of his cardiac enzymes were elevated. Dr. Jones his stem cell doc seems to think it is a side effect of some of his meds.

We were able to have 2 days off from the clinic again this weekend and I am giving him his IV fluids. One day at a time!

Weather here is cool... we are suppose to get possible freeze toward end of the week. Not the weather Dan and I like but it will probably pass quickly.

Saturday and Sunday off again....

Well we got a couple of days off from the clinic again. They do have Dan on extra fluids but I was able to give him his IV fluids at home which took about 6 hours. They also had him wear a Holter Monitor for his heart since he has been having his blood pressure bottom out quite often.

They think the reason his blood pressure is doing this is because of his electrolytes being low. But Dr. Jones wants to make sure something else isn't going on.

So I am posting some pics--Dan wanted me to take a pic with after I got him all hooked up on Saturday--this is an everyday event for us... the good thing is we are able to be together...

Happy Halloween!!!

We started day out early for lab @7:00am and then PT at 8:00 then Cardiologist appt. at 9:15 then we
will go to ATC and do his fluids which yesterday lasted 5 hours.

Dan is still having a great deal of trouble keeping his balance and his blood pressure continues to go real low and that is why they have scheduled us with Cardiology -doc in the ATC yesterday said that
Cardiology will probably give him a Holter Monitor to wear so they can track exactly what he going on with his heart rate. He is so very weak and unfortunately still very stubborn and seating down when I ask him to so he won't fall down. I may be a good caregiver but unfortunately I am not strong enough to hold him up for very long. I can at least keep him from hitting the floor hopefully.

Dr. Jones (his stem cell doc) saw us yesterday and said it is very normal for his blood pressure to go this after stem cell transplant... could be delayed reaction to all the chemo or just his body adjusting to his new stem cells.

It really is so scary to see him get this weak. He wants to get stronger so bad and I told him last night one day or one hour at a time. He continually tells me how much he appreciates me being there for him and he doesn't know what he would do if I hadn't been here with him. Of course as I tell him I
wouldn't be any other place. I told him last night the only bad part of any of this is having to see him
be in pain and go through all of this... the good part is I have been able to be with him everyday and I cherish all those moments we get together.

Everyone always cherish the moments with the ones you love even the bad moments as something good can come from those too!

Lot's to share......

Since we last posted quite a bit has happened. Dan had a fall -- he tripped he said he didn't pick his feet up but as I had last posted he is very weak. This was on last Saturday.. he banged himself up pretty good. Then Sunday evening late he was on his way to brush his teeth and he made it to the door of the bathroom but got extremely dizzy and he grabbed the door facing and slid down to the
floor. We addressed this with the doc on Monday and as it turned out his potassium level was extremely low and they also think he was a little dehydrated so they have him on extra fluids and he is somewhat better.

His blood sugar still will not go down so he is now on 4 shots a day. Fortunately he is handling all of
this real well.

Now after getting the not so good news out of the way. Here is the good.......

The doc gave us the results of the Bone Marrow biopsy and it was great!!  There is no evidence of any cancer cells and he has engrafted 99% or more of his donor cells-- so they are saying the engraftment is successful!! We thank the Lord for this news!

We still have lots of hurdles to get over but knowing this information will definitely help us know we
are moving in the right direction.  We have known this for a day-- but odd as it might be it was hard to post and make this known... almost like it might take it away. Sounds odd I know but after all Dan has been through we just have to step back and breathe.

The journey is has still just begun with his "New Normal Life" and we want to thank God for everyday we have.

Much love to all of you!!

2 days off really did not turn out well......

Dan's kidney function is very good due to some of meds he is on and his blood sugar being high- which also has to do with some of the meds.. They have adjusted a lot of his meds and now he is on insulin for the high blood sugar. The insulin will probably have to be adjusted as it hasn't brought the sugar down enough.

Dan is battling a great deal of fatigue partly due to them lowering the dose of his steroids. Seems one thing gets resolved and then something else is triggered and as the APN at the Ambulatory Treatment Center told us, "Welcome to the world of Stem Cell Transplant" Hopefully things will start leveling out.

We saw Dr. Jones today and he said Dan needs to walk. walk, walk. Dr. Jones also told him that he is giving me permission to kick his ___ if he doesn't get up and walk when I ask him to. I know Dan really is feeling very poorly because it is not like him to not be disciplined.

I did get him to eat better yesterday and today so that is a step in the right direction. Keep the prayers
coming so he will keep up the good work.

Sorry for delay in posting.

Friday evening...

Well we have some good news --I will be able to give Dan all his IV fluids this weekend so no going
to clinic on Saturday or Sunday!!1 Yeah!!!  We will be so glad to have a 2 day break and be able to just stay home and relax. At least I can get some things done around the house while his IV fluids run.

Now unfortunately Dan is not feeling well today. He is nauseated and his shoulder is giving him a lot of pain. His MRI on his shoulder we hope will be Monday. Also his Creatine Serum and his Blood Urea Nitrogen are both creeping up due to  one of his meds... we have to only give it by IV once a day instead of twice and this they are afraid will cause the infection to get worst. So say a prayer the infection doesn't get any worst than what it is.

Early Thursday morning.....

Just got Dan's IV med started and tucked him back in to sleep for a couple of hours before we need to leave for the clinic.

Infections are getting better according to the doc yesterday. We had our Diabetic Education yesterday. In case I hadn't posted this Dan's blood sugar is very high and it is due to the meds he has
to be on. They have him on oral meds for the blood sugar and hopefully that will stabilize the blood sugar. They believe
after he gets off the steroids it will level back out.

He had a pretty tough day yesterday just said he had the blah's. Top it all off we had to wait about an hour to talk to the diabetic education person and when we got to her office it was a total mess-- Dan or me felt very uncomfortable in the room. Plus she hadn't even looked over his chart when we got in her office. Her finger nail polish was about 1/4 on --just not a good experience... so you can bet I will be reporting this.

The medication I have to give him at home is starting to effect his kidneys so we are backing off of
it a little. All in all I think things are going well-- Dan is just having a hard adjusting to what his new "normal" will be.

Much love to everyone!

Early Saturday morning.....

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last few days. Dan has acquired 2 new infections-- Graft vs Host and CMV.  Yesterday we were at clinic from 8 am to 6:30 pm getting fluids and new meds.

This is a pretty high hurdle we will need to jump over and we are both exhausted. But with prayers and the Lord by our side I am sure will get over this one.

The CMV virus will need IV fluids twice in one day. So home health infusion care has delivered the supplies and the nurse will be here late this evening to teach me how to do the infusion. We both at times wish we were still in the hospital so the care was there 24/7 but we both know we can do this.

Dan is getting very down with the latest news of another infection so please send those good thoughts and prayers his way. Also, if anyone wants they can text him directly on his phone: 817-846-6249-- I think he would enjoy some direct contact.

I will post more often.

Love to everyone.

Going home from hospital..... Yeah!!

Well doc was just in... and we are going home... probably will be late this evening before we get out of here.... but we are going home...

Lots of prayers for us as we start the next part of the journey at home...

Pics to come later when we depart.....

Monday morning and awaiting the doc to come in....

Dan had another rough night last night... had extreme headache again. Didn't sleep. White blood counts are way down today... we will talk to doc about that this morning. Yesterday they were normal. Platelets are still up which is good.

Hopefully we will still get to go home today. We are both ready to get back to our house. I am ready to cook for us.

We will post again once we see the doc.

Sunday evening and feeling better.....

Well Dan took 2 hour nap this morning and 2 hour nap this afternoon and he seems to be better. We don't know why he was so nauseated but at least it passed.

We took walk up to 24th floor which is the observation floor. It is very nice there has a grand piano and at times someone is playing it not today though. You can see all of Houston it is very nice.

He ate a fair amount of solid food today so that is good. We are hoping the plan stays the same and we are discharged tomorrow. Even if we do get to go home it will be an all day affair getting everything taken care of to be able to leave. We have to meet with several members of the transplant team including the pharmacist so they can go over all the meds Dan will have when he leaves.
We think it will be like 8 different meds or more.

He is getting excited about getting out of here and looking forward to seeing Roger and Mary.
And frankly I can't wait myself.

We will post tomorrow when we find out the plan.
Everyone have a good night.

Sunday has come in like the roar of a Lion............

Well Dan has been up and down all night with headache and lower back pain. Finally just gave up and got out of bed and sat in recliner. Was drinking his morning juice and had ate a greek yogurt while waiting on breakfast to come. Well all of a sudden he was sick.. throwing up. Bless his heart--they had just given him permission to go off the floor for a walk outside. His counts are all up which is good.

Hopefully this has passed- he is back in bed resting for a little while. He is very concerned this may put a delay in him being discharged tomorrow... but I told him not to worry... just take everything one thing at a time.

He is so looking forward to Roger and Mary coming at the end of this week. I can't imagine what is like to have not left this floor for 30 days.. at least I do get to go outside from time to time. Doing laundry is actually a blessing since I get to leave the hospital.

Keep him in your prayers today that this will quickly pass and he an go home tomorrow.

Saturday and it is a beautiful day in Houston.....

We have been up this morning had a walk and breakfast and Dan is waiting to go down and have chest x-ray they are still trying to figure out why he has this cough. Dan did have solid food again this morning and last night.. throat is healing -still painful but getting better. Neuropathy in feet still the same but no worst he says.

We are still hoping to be discharged on Monday. I went home this afternoon for about 5 hours and did some cleaning so it will be ready for Dan to come home. I stopped and got us some Fajita's and Dan was able to eat one and some rice and beans-- yeah!!

Another new nurse tonight... wish we could have had one we knew. It is hard to break a new one in.
Ha ha! 

Talk with everyone soon!!

Friday brings hopes of going home....

Well Dan is doing good... or as good as to be expected. His counts are low today and he is getting 2 units of blood.. probably will take most of the day. He also has neuropathy in his feet due to the chemo. Just another wonderful side effect of the chemo. It is quiet painful when he walks but he is still taking his walks and pushing through it.

The doc said this morning we will probably be able to go home from the hospital on Monday.... Yeah!!  We will have to return everyday to the clinic and get blood work done and then hang around to see what fluids he will need like magnesium, potassium, blood or platelets. This will be an everyday thing and till counts stabilize.

In the beginning we won't be at the house very much during the day.. but hopefully he will enjoy sleeping in his own bed. And I can cook for us again-- this food is really getting old!!

Will be nice when things get to where we have a few days in between our clinic visits.

Love to all of you!!

Thursday.....

Well we started out pretty good today. Dan is in a little less pain. Unfortunately this afternoon his CVC (central venous catheter) slip out a little more--so they will have to replace it. Not quite as lengthy fix as having to start from stratch but still enough. They will come and do it in his room.

We don't know when but sometime this evening. That kinda got him down again along with the pain he is in.

We are still hoping to go home by Monday. Dan has been able to eat a little more solid food.

Will post a little later on.

Wednesday morning.....

We were up and down all night. The new pain med didn't do anything but make Dan feel blah he said. So we will not ask for that again. He is now asleep so don't know how the throat is today hopefully better and if not may have to do the EGD.

Such a blessing just to be able to be here with him. I am so glad he didn't have to go through this alone.

Finally got the docs to listen.....

Well finally convinced the docs to resume the requip (med for restless legs) of course this was after a horrible afternoon and evening yesterday and no sleep last night. Was up at 1:00 am walking the halls and then again at 7:00am walking the floors. He is still dealing with the burns in his throat and groin area from the chemo. Poor thing is in such distress. We did another walk in after the docs left and got his shower and lathered everything up with medicine he decided to stay laid down in the bed for a little while after we put medicine on and he took medicine to coat his throat and cough medicine. They have put him back on pain meds morphine now as needed for pain --I have my doubts about this but I spoke with the nurse who has been here for 7 years and she said it is a very low dose and is much different than it being continuous like the dilandid was. I sure don't want to go back down the road we were on Saturday night.

So say a little prayer this doesn't go the wrong way.

Walking the halls @1:00am........

Well just as we knew would happen Dan's restless leg syndrome has kicked back in again. Hopefully the docs will listen to him this morning and resume his medication as we had asked yesterday afternoon.

It is quite different in the halls @1:00 in the morning. Not too much going on. Nurses seem to be kinda scarce. Imagine that....

Guess when the nurse does her report she will mention Dan was up in the middle of the night walking. Hopefully he can go back to sleep soon. He is watching one of his Western's. Didn't want to keep me awake--but it doesn't bother me. Thought I would check out Facebook and see what is going on in the early morning hours.

Hopefully back to sleep soon..

Saturday night disaster....

Had posted on facebook but not on his blog... sorry for those of you who only look at his blog. Has been a very rough 2 days.. we started out around 10:00 Saturday night with a bad side effect to the Ambien and pain med combined .. at least that is what the docs think it was. At 10:00 pm Dan was not lucid at all was having leg jerking and body and arm jerking couldn't speak and they thought it was a stroke... the took him down for cat scan and thank the Lord that was good no stroke.. this continued on throughout the night and through most of Sunday.

Also he had very extreme stomach problems--- finally around Sunday evening he had gotten all the pain meds and ambien out of his system and he was acting like the old Dan.... him and I held hands and talked and laughed about all that had happened in the night before.

We both got good sleep last night and he is still himself this morning. His counts are all good--and they will continue to level out the doc said. So as long as his mouth and throat continues to get better and he is eating and drinking and up walking we will probably look at going home by end of the week.

Thank you dear Lord for your healing hands and for all the answered prayers.
Thanks to all our dear friends who are keeping him and I in there thoughts and prayers.
We love you all very much!!

A wonderful start to a Saturday....

Dan's white blood count has went from 2 to 13 Yeah!!! The doc says with this wonderful news his mouth and throat should start healing quite quickly! She also said he may be a little more tired today because of the count going up quickly but we are hoping for great days ahead.

Thanks to of you for your wonderful prayers!! Keep them coming!

White blood count is up a little....

Well the white blood count is up a little... the doc is happy... unfortunately he is retaining fluid again and has congestion so they are taking him down for a chest x-ray. So prayers the chest x-ray will be
fine.

Another walk this afternoon....

Well we were able to get in another walk this afternoon... they gave him a little boost of his pain medicine after he had a few bites of chopped beef and peach cobbler. Then after a little while we took a walk and now he is resting again.

The pic below if of his door.. each time he walks he gets a "little m&m" to hang on his door once he gets so many he get a prize pendant and he has earned 2 bandanas but I haven't convinced him to try one on... sorry Roger.. maybe a little later.

The hair started falling out last night... luckily he doesn't have a lot on his head.. as well as all of you who have been thru chemo know... you can just take a pinch of it with your fingers and it just comes out.

Something we knew would happen... Hope all of you enjoy the pic....

We took a walk this morning....

Well even though Dan doesn't think his mouth and throat are better we did take a walk this morning and then get a shower. Bless his heart he is now asleep in his recliner. The doc came in and said everything is going as it should. Blood counts are not going up yet so we are anxiously awaiting that to happen. We are at Day 10 (Day 0 was transplant day) so we are just glad to be this far in our journey. I do get a nice smile out of him from time to time and even though it is hard for him to talk right now--he still tells me he loves me. And gives me a hard time like this morning on our walk he acted like he was going to fall and leaned on me and of course as he laughed I was telling him don't do that that is not funny. He is on the pain med thru the IV 24/7 so he is pretty out of it most of the time.

He was awake long enough to have a vanilla milkshake..

I thought I would post a pic of Dan he was having his vanilla milkshake and here is latest and greatest IV pumps. He tried to smile but this was about as good as he could do.

Another hurdle to jump over.....

Unfortunately Dan now has along with the mouth issue, esophagitis--yet another effect of chemo. Until his cells start engrafting it will probably not get better. They have started him on IV meds since he has hard time swallowing and also a pump for his pain meds. He is very discouraged as this means he doesn't feel up to doing his walking. As I told him that will come in time. We had a lady in room next to us who had a very rough night and also morning.. I don't know her name but keep her in your prayers as well.

I am praying the cells start engrafting soon so his mouth and throat can start healing. I was able to get him to eat some greek yogurt to try and keep up his strength. He was down 4 more pounds this morning. I had lost a few pounds.. but knowing me.. since I am a stress eater.. that may go the opposite.

We love all of you very much and miss you....

Spoke a little too soon....

Well Dan's mouth just isn't good. He is in so much pain. Can't swallow very good now without severe pain. His itching on his hands is worst.. So they gave him another antihistamine but as we all know that won't help his going to the bathroom. Poor thing try to fix one thing and the other gets worst.

Maybe the pics will come tomorrow. Hopefully with all the pain meds he will at least be able to sleep tonight.

Somewhat better this morning....

I kinda hesitate to say that. But the doc was in and said his mouth may look just a little better--so we will take the blessing it doesn't look worst. They did increase his pain meds last night which helped him get a little rest. He is sleeping now. Although I will have to try and get him to wake up in a little while to rinse his mouth--which really helps the healing process.

He probably won't like that very much--but I will stand my ground-with kindness and love.  The doc also told us maybe after a couple of days we will see his counts start coming up and this means he cells will start engrafting. This also means it will closer for me to take him home-- I can hardly wait to get him back to our little temporary home and I can cook for him. These little things you once dreaded to have to do all the time become something you wish you had back.

I will be sending pics later today of his door to his room. He collects little m and m's as they call them each time he walks. He has won 2 bandana's for his efforts.

A little sleep last night--probably due to increased pain medicine

Well bless his heart his mouth doesn't seem to be any better. They have increased his pain medication which helps some.. but unfortunately he sleeps more so I can't get him to rinse his mouth as often as he should. But I am working on it. Got a dirty look from him last night imagine that.Ha!

All in all when we walk the halls and see some of the other patients we know he is really blessed to be doing as well as he is. Some never leave their beds. Him and I are so ready to be back in our little temporary home. It will be so nice just to be to ourselves and I can cook for him again.

The weather is nice here today--will be in the 80's with low humidity... which is a first since we have been here.

We have had the same nurse for 3 days now and her name is Britney -she is another very nice nurse.
We had to dismiss one of the nurse assistants.. we have asked she not come in Dan's room anymore.
I am very tolerable but she is just not a pleasant person and she works night shifts and someone like her coming in in the middle of the night just was not working. That is why I am here I have to look out for Dan's best interest.

Will try and send some pics later today.

Not any better this afternoon.....

Well unfortunately as they told us his mouth will get worst before it gets better--and it has.. Poor thing can't even hardly talk. Also, if that was not enough he had to start his Neupogen shots--which have to be given in the stomach. They are pretty uncomfortable. Dan told them- what is up with
that I don't have rabies. Ha Ha

At least he still has a little humor. He is also dealing with a rash which is driving him crazy. So I have ordered his delicious dinner-- soup and yogurt.. now doesn't that sound yummy...

He will have to let the soup cool.. hot will not be good for his mouth--but everything else I suggested he declined. And unfortunately he cannot have fresh veggies or fresh fruit. So he is pretty limited.

But as we know this will too pass. We just want it to pass soon.

As always keep those prayers coming..

Evening not going so well....

Dan has developed the mucositis which is a very painful mouth and throat and actually can go down into the stomach inflammation which we have to try and keep under control so it doesn't cause infection.

He could not eat hardly anything for dinner--he is having trouble swallowing also. So they tried one pain medication and that didn't help so they are looking at one that is IV-- bless his heart.

This could last up to 3 weeks... hopefully for Dan it will not. But they told us it will get worst before it gets better.

So say a little extra prayer for him this evening.

A nice Sunny Sunday...

Well Dan and I both got some rest last night. Unfortunately he has mouth sores starting.. a very common side effect of the chemo. They are treating him with some meds and we are hoping to keep it in control. It can within hours to a day get so bad he won't be able to drink or eat anything. So lets keep our fingers crossed we don't go down that road. So many hurdles to jump over --but we are still
a team and we will work on those hurdles together!!

I will attach a pic of his nurse today--her name is Stephanie and she is friends with Nicole his other favorite. She will be in Nicole's wedding. She is very kind and sweet. We have had her 3 days in a row which has been real nice.

A very restful night!!!

Thank goodness Dan got some rest last night and so did I. He looks good today and the doc was in and said everything going well. Magnesium is low but that is not unusual so they did more blood work and will up his Magnesium if needed (possibly is why his restless leg syndrome flared up).

It is bright and sunny here today and that helps. We are watching restore a home on TV--we love how they take these old houses and restore them back to the original.

Hopefully he will feel like eating a little more today--his appetite just isn't there.

Friday.... Dan is a little restless...

Dan didn't sleep last night... said he felt like he was wired or something. I told him it was probably those 26yr old cells trying to stay up and party all night!!!! Guess I better try and rest up. Ha Ha!
They have changed some of his anti-fungal meds -they have went from pill form to IV form-- his liver enzymes are a little elevated --Dr. Patel said not much to worry about but they are watching it.
Just another one of those nasty side effects....

He is real restless... as I knew he would be. He can't believe he has to stay in the hospital for so
long. I feel guilty when I get to run home... even though I am constantly doing things--at least I get to
get out in the fresh air.

Here is a pic of him this morning while he was waiting on the docs. He forgot to smile..

Thursday brings lots of fluid gone!!!

We are pleased to say that Dan has lost 17lbs in the last 2 days and that is a good thing. Fluid seems to be leaving-- he is breathing much better and lungs sound like they are back to normal. He did stay up most of the night again going to the bathroom but we have had breakfast, taken his morning meds and also taken a walk. He is now resting in his recliner and we are waiting for the docs to make their rounds.
He will be getting some more chemo again today-- he also got some on Tuesday. It is a mild chemo which helps to get rid of his cells --it does not affect the new cells--now tell me how that works. Oh
well guess that is why they are the docs and I am the caregiver.
This has all been such an amazing journey. As we took our walk this morning--we saw outside 2 different peoples room --the nurses and docs preparing for stem cell transplants --so amazing how much good they do here. We will just pray those people have good results.

I will try and post some more pics later today or tomorrow. Things have been quite hectic but hopefully will be a little more calm today.

It has been raining here for 3 days... so I am just keeping my happy little self right here- I brought my medicine and clothes for several days and Dan has plenty of clean clothes so we are set.

Love to all of you!!
Dan and Rhonda

Has been a quite day....

Well the day got started around 2:30 when Dan got really sick and he has also been getting rid of the
fluid which is good but also very tiring for him. He is so very fatigued. And that will only get
worst once all the blood counts bottom out.

Today he says he just doesn't feel well... he said he can't pin point it... says he just feels blah.
I am going to go out tomorrow and see if I can find some games for us to play. There is only so
much walking he can do and he cannot leave this floor. So that kinda limits his activities.
He is not use to being without something to do.

We have checked on our friends we met during our pre-admission class and his transplant was this afternoon. I spoke with her earlier before the transplant but haven't spoken to her since. Hopefully everything will go well for him too. He has acute myeloid leukemia.

We will check in tomorrow again.

Our best wishes to Sandy/John and hope she is feeling much better.

Dan and Rhonda

We had to jump a little hurdle last night....

Well Dan had a rough night... more fluid built up and he had chest pains and shortness of breath. So they gave him Lasix --which of course kept him up going to the bathroom till around 6:00am --so he is one tired puppy... he is resting now.

He says he is extremely fatigued so I know the counts have probably dropped more as they are expected to. So this is just a little hurdle in our journey we have to get over.

We will pray for a better day today...

A Quiet evening.....

Well things have calmed down considerably -Dan's blood pressure after another change of his meds has leveled out and we hope it stays that way. We took a walk late this afternoon and then ordered a late dinner. Dan ate very well tonight which is good--he said he hopes it all stays down.

We are hoping for a quite night... and hopefully some needed rest. We are so glad this day came and is now behind us. We just pray everyday brings a little more strength and good news.

Hopefully if Dan is doing good tomorrow... I will go home for a few hours and do a little laundry and oh yes I guess pay the rent would be good. My how you loose track of time while here.

We met another couple in our pre-admission class and he will have his transplant on Wednesday so keep those prayers coming and include him in your prayers- his name is Roger Gainer and his wife is Sandy. They are from Virginia I believe if mine and Dan's memory is correct.

It is so good to hear from everyone by commenting here or on facebook--makes this journey a little
easier to be on.

Love to all,
Rhonda and Dan

The stem cells are in.....

The cells were done going in @11:50 and so far all is going well... Dan has a little chills and his blood pressure is up but nothing we haven't encountered before... they will continue to monitor him throughout the day.... as his counts get even lower.... he will get more and more fatigued and they will continue to watch him for any rejection and or GVHD (Graft Versus Host Disease) -- so we will continue on this journey slow but sure.

He did get very sick during the cells going in... probably more reaction to the chemo from previous days. Once he got past that he seems to be resting as they gave him more phenergen to help keep him
calm so he won't throw up hopefully.

Below is his pic..... covered up like a mummy.

The new rebirth has begun.......

The cells are going in.... it is a new day..... God be him and me......
Love to all of you.....
Keep the prayers coming....

Chaplain was in....

The chaplain was in and we had a nice talk, some scripture and a prayer. He will be back a little later when Dan starts receiving the cells. The nurse said he will get his pre-meds around 10:15 then the stem cells around 10:45.

So we are about set.

Rebirth Day!!!!!

Today is the big day.... we don't know what time the transplant will start but I will post what it does get started with a pic. Then nurse will stay here in the room with him while he is getting the stem cells. It will take somewhere around 3-4 hours.

Everyone please say a prayer that his body will except the cells and he can start the process of healing

We love all of you very much!

Rocky start to Sunday.......

Well bless his heart he was awaken with throwing up and diarrhea early this morning. What a way to wake up. Well we got all that taken care of and the nurse gave him some phenergen and Imodium and he is resting right now. They have are still battling with his blood pressure but they assured us this morning that all is okay and they will watch it closely and adjust his meds as needed.

This is all so hard for him--as he hasn't been in the hospital since he was just a little boy. He was apologizing to the nurses for getting sick this morning and they said well no worries this happens and he said well not to me.

We had a nice evening last night--watched some Hallmark movies. So we will really cherish all the good moments and just embrace the bad together.

A better day today!!!

So far this day has been much better. Only dealing with blood pressure.. but as the nurse told us that will be an ongoing thing due to the medications. We have another new nurse today who is very nice.
So far we have lucked out only had one that I really wanted to kick. It so happens the day after she was here the head nurse director of the floor came in to see how everything was going and asked me a bunch of question and Rhonda told her exactly how she felt. She said I appreciate your information because if nobody tells us we can't correct it.

Dan and I are dining in our room with our beautiful view and I am so glad he is feeling better today.. so he can build his strength for the days ahead.

Sunday we have a "day off" as they call it.. no chemo or anything just still has IV's but at least no chemo. Then Monday is the "New Birth Day" Yeah!!!  Still have the days ahead of counts going to 0-- but we will make it through I am sure.

Below is the pic of Dan this afternoon sitting in his recliner watching his Western's--(wonder where he got those) ha ha... he loves them.

Take care and everyone have a good evening!

Now we have spiked a fever...

Well lets see around 5:30 Dan got the chills and now he has definitely spiked a fever and will have to go on IV antibiotics... these fever is a side effect of the IV regimen from today they think.

Poor thing is all covered up like a mummy.

Just have to push on. I love him so much! Hate to see him hurt.

Seems like Dan doesn't have the luck today...

So after having they started the IV regimen-- had been getting it for around an hour --his blood pressure would not come down. Then he started having some chest pain and leg pain. So the nurse got right on it and call the team (all his daughters here on the stem cell floor) and they got an EKG and chest x-ray for him.
After that the cardiologist came and said she did not think it was a heart attack.. but she was going to
be sure and advise the team what meds he should be on for the blood pressure issue. Now poor thing
is having issues going to the bathroom so they will check for urinary tract infection and possibly call in an Urologist.

Sure wish I could help make this easier for Dan--he got really scared when he had the chest pains but
I assured him they were checking everything out and unfortunately these chemo regimens have really
bad side effects.

Well as I was typing this Dan now has the chills so they will take his temp again.. The fever and chills is a common side effect of the regimen he got this morning.

Keep the prayers a coming!

He is resting for now...

They gave him the premeds for the IV regimen... so he is resting for now.

A Rocky start to Friday....

Well still having a few bumps in the road. They just can't seem to get a grip on the blood pressure.
It is going up and down frequently. The nurse this morning said she was going to page the team and try to get Dan on a more scheduled regimen. He has another new regimen of meds he will be given today just another part of the protocol before the transplant on Monday. Unfortunately they have some pretty bad side effects. So give us a few extra prayers today.

Here is the real Dan that everyone knows and loves.....

Still having bouts with the blood pressure and the fluid buildup... but all in all he is feeling pretty good. When Dan gets ready to take a shower they have to put saran wrap taped over his CVC so it won't get wet then the IV pole/machine stays outside the curtain.

Nicole is the nurse today and was yesterday--she is very sweet and will be getting married in 48 days in the Dominion Republic. She got Dan all fixed up to take a shower and she said you need a picture of the super Catheter cover. So Dan said ok will you be in the pic with me. She said sure.

So the below pic is of Dan and Nicole. She is one of my favorite nurses so far. She is very kind and really listens to what you have to say.

I decided not to run home today and just stay till tomorrow then I will run home for a little break.
And do Dan's laundry. The Lasix medication they have given him is really causing issues with his prostate-- dear old Roger can feel for him on that. But they are addressing it and will see where to
go from here.

All in All everything is going well. It was a little tough this afternoon for us --while we were out walking we noticed a lot of family members here for one of the rooms down from Dan and we later
found out that person died. It is very hard here but we talked with the nurse and as they say this is
a cancer hospital and unfortunately things like that will happen. It is just pretty hard to swallow.

Hope everyone loves the pic... I think it is precious.

Thursday started out with a bang...

Well either taking the Dilantin on an empty stomach and or the chemo has made Dan very sick this morning. Has been throwing up. Nurse happened to be in room and immediately went and got him
anti-nausea medication for the IV. Within around 30 minutes it had subsided.

He was so sick. Poor thing just isn't use to being sick. So I will stick by his side today. He is resting
now and catching up on a little sleep.

The Stem cell team came in ( all of his many docs and nurses and pharmacist) They feel he is retaining some fluid because of all the meds and IV fluids which is a normal reaction so they
are prescribing some meds to help him get rid of any extra fluids and also will increase blood
pressure med to.

We just took a walk around the whole floor and are back and Dan will rest a little.

Will talk a little later today.

Wednesday pretty rough day.....

Well a little late posting anything today. Dan did not sleep last night again. Blood pressure will not
stay down. He was feeling quite lousy this morning. He is somewhat better this evening and he did manage to make 3 walks around the 4 wings of the 18th floor. Several members of the treatment team came in today so no rest for the weary during the day until later this afternoon and he caught a few little naps then.

I was able to get my doctor from Denton to call me in some medicine.. so I will be on the mend.

We are watching the Lone Ranger .. and after meds come @9 we will probably be turning in early if possible.

We start somewhere between 3:30 and 4:00 am on another round of blood work and chemo.

We are so enjoying the comments on Dan's blog and the many comments on Facebook. It really makes us feel everyone is a part of this journey with us.

We love all of you very much!

Tuesday evening and so far things are going pretty well....

Well Dan is feeling good and only issue right now is the old blood pressure is going up. They are right on it though and they will increase his medication if needed. Dan has the same nurse as last night a young male nurse who is very nice -Dan likes him because he seems to explain things on mine and Dan's level instead of over our heads.

Dan has went on 4 walks today. The picture you see below is him getting ready for his 4th walk.
He has to have on mask and gloves when he walks.

Our view is beautiful as we are on the 18th floor. We have all day room service and we just call when we need something to eat. Of course mine is not included....but I don' eat much anyway.

I haven't been feeling well- the old sinus/allergies have started bothering me.. so I will be calling my
doctor at home tomorrow to see if she can send me a script to the pharmacy here.

I can't afford to get sick--Danny boy needs me.

Hope everyone enjoys the pics. The top one is our view. Guess if you have to be here for 30 days the view isn't bad.

Tuesday, up early for chemo

Well we got to our room last night around 7:15 pm.  By the time we got everything organized we attempted to go to sleep around 11:15 but unfortunately it was extremely cold in the room and since Dan has no hair now... he slept with his cap on ... well let me correct that he attempted to sleep with
his cap on. Between the bed which is an air bed pumping up and down all night and him having to go
to the bathroom constantly due to the amount of fluids they are running in him-- he didn't get any
sleep.

Our day started at 3:30 with an IV started for his every hour blood draws.. then at 4:00 he took his Dilantin (anti seizure medicine) before the 1st round of chemo started at 4:30 and now we are on the second round of chemo which will run for 3 hours. Our days will start at 3:30 for the next 4 days so we will probably try and get a little shut eye in the afternoon.

Dan has his western movies on which he loves-- we brought the DVD player with us and I managed to get it to work. He says thank you very much to Joy--he really appreciates the DVD's and is really getting good use of them.

Here is a pic of Dan with all his IV bags.

Monday.... waiting to be admitted

Well we have had 4 appointments and a haircut... pictures to follow.  We are waiting on the
admissions office to call us to go back sometime this evening. Dan is not very thrilled about
his buzzed hair.. but I think he is handsome. Chemo will start in the morning.

A quiet Sunday.....

I did the laundry this morning. We have been getting Dan's things together to take to the hospital with
him tomorrow. We do blood work first thing in the morning then they need more signatures then we see Dr. Jones (his transplant doctor) he will then send the orders for his admission. We have been told
we may have to go home till they call sometime late in the afternoon.

It has been raining this afternoon no end in sight for now. I was getting ready to go to Target and pick up a few things and decided to wait till the rain lets up. Unfortunately that may never come.

So Dan has been watching his Western movies Joy got him (he just loves them) . But as you see in the picture he tends to fall asleep quite a bit. He says he is really fatigued again probably from the
test chemo they did on Thursday.

He says he is also going to go to the barber shop they have there at MD Anderson tomorrow and go ahead and shave his head as he feels that will be easier to deal with than his hair falling our all over
his pillow. So he wants me to send pics of that tomorrow.

A very relaxing day today.....

We both slept in a little late today and rested up. It has rained off and on all afternoon today.  We have just been taking it real easy today.

Up fairly early in the morning to go to MD Anderson and have Dan's CVC dressing changed and also have it flushed... we will then attend a class on how to take of the CVC so I will be able to flush it and dress it once he is home from the hospital.

Just a whole new world and learning all kinds of new things.

Will go for now ... think we will watch a movie and maybe have a little popcorn!!

Take care everyone,

Dan and Rhonda

Just about 4 1/2 more hours and we go home....

Well we actually will be done around 9:45 ... we just ordered our dinner of course we are
sharing as usual. I have taken a couple of walks and stretched my legs some. We are looking
forward to going home.. The nurses and tech's have been very nice -- we are in the clinical research area. Most everyone here are on clinical trials.

We will talk with everyone a little later on!

Thanks for all of the support from everyone and means a great deal to Dan and to me!

We have started the long day a little late of course......

Had to be here @7:45 but didn't actually get started till 9:00 so his last blood draw will be @10:30pm. So we plan on sleeping in tomorrow.

I am going to attempt to put a picture or 2 on here... this is all new to me... and I have a new
laptop to make it even a little more difficult.

 Just love this man to pieces!!!

Starting the day early....

We are up and getting ready to head out the door for our 11- 12 hour day. Blood work every hour.
Dan ran a little fever last night and we will address that when we get there. Hopefully everything
will still be a go for the trial run of the chemo.

Keep those wonderful prayers coming!

We love all of you!

Dan and Rhonda

The transplant is a go!!

Dan got his CVC put in and that went good. The cardiologist has changed his blood pressure medication and we are hoping that will help that issue. He (the cardiologist) did give us an
all clear to go ahead and get the transplant. He spent a great deal of time with Dan and I explaining
why his EKG looked the way it did.

Tonight he starts on anti-seizure medication (Dilantin) the chemo he will be getting with the small dose starting in the morning has a risk of seizures so they put him on Dilantin to counter act that
reaction hopefully.

We are both getting very anxious--I ventured out in the truck on my own this afternoon.. managed
to get back home okay.

We will talk again tomorrow..

All the comments on facebook have been great!

Dan and Rhonda

An extremely long day at MD Anderson......

Started with blood work @7:45 then we arrived in Cardiopulmonary @8:45 for a 9:15 appointment for Nuclear Stress Test... well we ended up leaving MD Anderson @5:30.  More appointments
tomorrow-- also the central line will be put in for his extreme chemo and transplant. We also see the
cardiologist tomorrow for results of the 7 hour stress test.

Dan is very tired and hated that I had to sit there all day .... but as I told him it is all a part of the
process. Hopefully we will both rest well tonight for the early day tomorrow- first appointment is at
7:00am.

Will talk later tomorrow with good news we hope about the stress test so that everything can continue
as planned with the admission to the hospital on Monday, Sept. 8th.

Keep those prayers coming!!

Rhonda and Dan

Back home in Houston.....

Well we arrived back in Houston around 2:30 today. I drove in most of the way. Dan had a very ruff night last night. He doesn't know if he caught a bug or what but he had fever and chills during the
night. He slept most of the way home. He seems to be a little better just really tired.

I told him to just sit and rest as he has a Nuclear Stress test first thing in the morning.
Everyone say a little extra prayer for him today -he is really isn't feeling well today.

Take care and we will talk with you tomorrow.
Rhonda and Dan

Home for a couple of days...

Well we had 4 appointments today and then came home for Saturday and Sunday then we will
go back to Houston on Monday. Have a little bump in the road with Dan's EKG-- so they are
having him to a nuclear stress test on Tuesday --but so far everything is still going according
to plans. Still expected to be admitted to the hospital of Sept. 8th and start the extreme chemo and then have the transplant on Sept. 15th.

Everyone have a nice Labor Day weekend!

We will talk next week...

Rhonda and Dan

Dan is off to an appointment with Neurologist

Dan is at his appt. by himself... we had scheduled Dish to come out today and do an install so
we can record our favorite shows. After we did that they added an appointment today for the
Neurologist due to Dan having trembling in his hands. So unfortunately he had to do this appointment on his own. The trembling has gotten a little better since starting the blood pressure medicine.

We have a full day of appointments Friday morning, then if all goes well we will head home for a couple of days for the Labor Day weekend.

Yesterday was a busy day with a 1-1/2 hour class on care during hospital stay. We received lots of good information and some not so good news-- Dan won't be able to even blow his nose in the beginning after the transplant while in the hospital... no flossing, etc.  This of course is all due to his
immune system being at 0.  To say the least he is getting a little anxious. But we are going to get
through this and loo forward to him getting to come home.

We will talk soon,
Rhonda

7 more appointments today...

Here we are for another 7 appointments. Dan didn't rest well last night... they have taken him off several of his medicines and supplements in preparation for the extreme chemo before the transplant.
But we are ahead of the game again on our appointments so maybe we will get out early again.

Thanks to everyone in continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
We love all of you very much!
Talk a little later today.
Rhonda and Dan

A long day at MD Anderson

Well we had 7 appointments today. We weren't suppose to be through till 7:30 this evening
but we managed to move everything around and we were through by 2:30 as Dan says
due his good looks and charm. For those of you who will see us this weekend you may want to
widen the doorways in order for Dan to get his head through since several of the clinical coordinators and nurses think he is in his early 50's.

Tonight our entertainment will be watching a video on how to take care of his subclavian catheter.
They will put the catheter in next Wednesday, Sept. 3rd. It has been a very full day with promising
information but yet very scary to think about.

Our plan was to come home Thursday evening for the weekend but that has been changed to Friday
evening due to appointments till noon on Friday.

Until later,
Rhonda and Dan

Blood pressure up and down

Well the blood pressure just continues to go up and down. At least it is staying down most of the time. Starting tomorrow we have 14 appointments within 2 days.
We hope to come home Thursday evening  for a few days for Labor Day weekend. Then back to Houston for more pretest and then admission to hospital on Sept. 8th.
Our heat index right now is 109.... so we are staying in where it is cool.

Blood pressure is down!!

Well after 2nd day of an additional blood pressure medicine things seem to be much
better-hopefully they will stay that way.  We had planned to drive to Galveston but
changed our mind due to the blood pressure. We had a nice dinner here at the Park Model and
Dan took a nice walk around the lake.

Oh and yes Dan's blood pressure is much better-- he is back to his mean self!! Ha! Ha! I am glad
he is better and feeling himself again.

We miss everyone very much.

Just still waiting to get the blood pressure down.....

Well the beta blocker is lowering the heart rate-- which is making Dan very fatigued but not lowering the blood pressure very much. We have put a message in for the PA and Doc so there know the blood
pressure is still up. We did go for our walk this morning just not as brisk as usual.
So we will just wait for word as how to precede.

A day of relaxation and rest........

We have been taking it easy today--took a walk around the little lake here at the RV park and Dan is taking a a little nap- we are waiting for blood pressure medicine to kick in.

Additional update......

Tues, August 18th Dan had his 3rd Bone Marrow Biopsy-- and also lab work. We met with his PA and Dr. Kadia today and Dr. Kadia mentioned his blast are at 2% which has remained stable since
starting the chemo (the blast have to do with the bone marrow) the fact they have remained the same
is very good. When we see Dr. Jones in the stem cell department next week we will find out
results of the rest of the bone marrow biopsy.
 Dan has had a little problem with his blood pressure since Monday evening so Dr. Kadia and his PA are addressing that with some medication.
 

As always Dan and I appreciate all your thoughts and prayers!!

Arrived in Houston, August 17th and got settled in to our "New Home" at least for around 4 months.

Another weekend of packing--

Time will soon be approaching for us to leave Sunday, August 17th.

Preparing for 4 month stay in Houston

Dan and I are making our lists in preparation for our stay in Houston.