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.