Off Until Monday!!!!!

We are off until Monday! He had that "lovely" test this morning but we don't know the results yet. We will go back Monday and they will hopefully give us the results of all the tests. Lidia said they had to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Dr. Vaughan is back so I know he will be in on all the fun now. He poked his head in this afternoon and said smart little remarks. Accused me of doing it to him. He is a funny man!!! We were supposed to go to Guntersville this weekend for my family reunion and will know tomorrow if we get to go at all. We had gotten it approved earlier last week before all this started. We just gotta have patience. On another note, when we were in the hospital there was a family experiencing so much more than we were. A man that we had seen several times in the BMT unit was admitted on Saturday while we were in there. We were down the same hall as him. I watched alot of family come in and out Monday and Tuesday. He just was not getting better. He had gotten something in his lungs and they could not figure out what it was. He has been on a respirator since Sunday. We learned today that they would pull him off the respirator at 5 pm this afternoon. My heart goes out to this family, it is all I could think about at 5 today. So I sat in silence and prayed in my office for this family. That could easily be us. So next time you see Terry and he is in a place he could get mold or fungus, get on to him! I make him wear a mask in our basement all the time! When we learn more about what the docs think is going on, I will update again. We love all of you, never knew so many looked at this! Hugs and kisses and God Bless You! Alyce

More Tests!

We got to come home today!! YEAH! Not at the doctor's choice but she made the mistake of giving him a choice and of course he chose to come home, who wouldn't! He had two more tests done before we left and we have to be back at the BMT at 8 am for bloodwork and then go to Kirklin for another test. A fun one! Then we will go back to the BMT and discuss the results of the tests they have been running and what they think is happening although I am not really sure they know. They have their theories and guesses but don't really know why he has an air pocket in his body cavity. They think something has burst or has a hole in it or had a hole in it and has sealed itself. I guess that is why they are looking at all organs and all around the organs. He's just happy to home tonight and in his own bed. I will update again tomorrow when we find out more! Hugs and kisses! Alyce

A Night In The Hospital

Kristina took him to the BMT unit today to get his phospherus(6 hrs worth). I was taking them some lunch and she called an told me they were admitting him and a surgeon was coming to talk with him. Of course, I got there as soon as I could. Well, two surgeons came to talk to him and examine him. They ordered another test and made him stay overnite to get more tomorrow. He is NOT a happy man!!! He is not having any symptoms of any type of illness except a pocket of air trapped under his diaphram. This is dangerous according to all the doctors. We know fluid is in his lungs but his oxygen was up today and that is a good sign. They are doing a ultrasound of his heart tomorrow to see if fluid is around his heart and look at the heart muscle. I just talked to him and he told me to tell everyone he is going to be fine and don't worry! You know him!!! Just wanted to update everyone and thank you for all the prayers! Will update tomorrow! God Bless You! Alyce

Not A Good Father's Day!!!!!!!

We just got home from the hospital(10:30 pm) We just thought we were going in JUST for a coumadin level. The nurse took his oxygen level and it was low so they made him walk around the unit 2 times and it went down, not a good thing!!! So they drew more blood and sent him for a chest x-ray. It looked fine so Dr. Salzman decided a CT scan needed to be done today. So we were there 3 hours on Saturday and today we spent 8 hours there. He had 2 CT scans today, one on his chest for the lungs then we were called back for a lower scan on his abdomen. He has air trapped right below his diaphragm(don't know why)but suspected a "perforated bowel" but it wasn't, thank the Lord! That would have meant surgery. His feet are still really swollen and they did blood tests that proved he has fluid in his lungs. He is now on lasix and potassium to get the fluid off. They suspect fluid around the heart so he is going back tomorrow to have an ecocardiogram done. He is losing all his electrolytes so today he drank potassium and also got an IV. He got magnesium through an IV too and pills! This is all related to the heart and the nurse asked us if he had a certain kind of chemo(Donarubison) and he had gotten it in Carraway. This chemo can do alot of damage to the heart and a body can only stand a certain amount in a person's lifetime. I am very tired but wanted to let everyone know to keep him in your prayers. We have made it this far with God's help and your prayers! Will update tomorrow after we get home. Love to all! Alyce

Port Pulled Out!

We went to the BMT today for photopheresis and met with Dr. Salzman and she decided his temp port should come out, so they used it one last time. Then one of the fellows pulled it out. We discussed his swollen feet and the color of them and they did not seem to be TOO concerned. This will all go away in time after he is off the steroids. He is going down on the dosage tomorrow to 2 mg every other day. He should be totally off by July 16th. We asked about going to the family reunion(Thrasher's) in Guntersville next weekend and a trip to Mobile the first of August. They seemed to be ok with it as long as we did or didn't do certain things. We just have to be SO careful! He goes back Saturday for a coumadin level to make sure his blood stays this enough not to get another blot clot. We are discussing some surgery but won't know for sure until some tests are done in July. I will update again soon! He doesn't go back for photopheresis until the middle of July. YEAH!!!! Butch is taking him tomorrow for his second round. There is a little girl in Children's that has AML just like T. She is 8 years old and is going through her third battle with chemo and when I say battle, that is exactly what it is!!! It's not a fun thing and it is making her very sick. Her name is Victoria, please pray for her! You can visit her caring bridge site and look at her story. It is at www.victoriasutton.caringbridge.com. She is a brave little girl! We love all of you for hanging in here with us! BIG hugs and kisses! God Bless You! Alyce

100% His Donor(Karen)

We found out today that he is still 100% donor and that would be Karen! I had asked that question two weeks ago when we had gotten our great news but the test was not in yet. So today I made sure we found that out! That is SOOOO great! Many patients have problems and sometimes loose their transplant or keep having to get t-cells from their donor. We are SOOOO blessed! We came down on the steriods again, only 6 mg every other day. His feet are looking better but definitely NOT normal! Hopefully soon he will be able to get around more people and go back to work soon! But not TOO soon! We are getting together with Butch, Jackie, Rick and Karen this weekend to celebrate with them. I thank God for Karen and for being here for him! God always has a plan for all of us! We love all of you and thank you again for hangin' in here with us! Hugs and kisses! Alyce