Thursday, October 29, 2009

Still Here

To All:


Well we're still here at the UW Med Center, seems as if Ret hasn't been able to get her fluids and nourishment to stay down like they would like. So until she keeps her stuff down we will be here, actually they're trying to spring us this Sat 10/31 just in time for Halloween. If so I have to come up with some sort of costume that will accent that beautifully smooth chrome dome that she covers up with all the cool hats she has, the kids will love it. Anyway we won't push going home too soon though it really is best for her to be here for the time being.


Unfortunately she's also developed a bacteria called C.difficile that we all have and carry with us, but because her immune system can't fight it normally they have to treat it with antibiotics. While it certainly can be dangerous they have a handle on it and aren't overly concerned. They are just as concerned about us passing it along to the other patient population here, so when we're with her we gown up and use latex gloves to prevent the transfer of the bacteria.


Also unfortunately she has pulled a rib muscle because of so much dry heaving and its extremely painful which is no fun what so ever!! Sorry about being graphic but it's all part of the deal.


Take care.


Love,

Ret & Jack

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Bump in The Road

To All:


As they say "To good to be true"!


As well as everything has gone I guess it was only a matter of time before we reached that bump in the road, which was this last weekend. Unfortunately Ret has developed a condition called Mucositis, not uncommon however, that is basically mouth and throat sores. They are extremely painful and prevent her from ingesting anything, meaning no medications no food taken orally, and that's a bad thing. We had to admit her to the UW Medical Center on Sunday so not only could they monitor the situation but also provide her the necessary medical and nutritional supplements intravenously. In addition to the pain this condition is one where the body creates excess mucus and saliva that settles in the GI tract causing nausea and vomiting, just one more thing to deal with which causes more pain...........vicious circle! So she's pretty well medicated which makes for some funny conversations. All and all they're taking great care of her and as I have said on numerous occasions I'm blown away at the level of care and detail they provide, it's truly amazing...................maybe better said extremely comforting.


This condition should turn around in the next 3-5 days. The issue is because at the moment she's not creating any red or white blood cells, which heal the body, so until that process begins she has to deal with whats happening. They say post transplant the re-generation of cells begins around day 12 and she's at day 9, so we just have to wait but it will happen.


Ret's sister Kath, Kim Christensen and I are rotating nights at the hospital to keep an additional watch on Ret and her condition. Which I can't thank the two of them enough!!! I know it's also a good deal for Ret because that way she doesn't have my overbearing butt lording over her 24/7.


Even though I've done it before Ret wants me to thank everybody for all the cards, calls, prayers and well wishes! So there you go I'm actually doing what she told me to, because I'm actually afraid that one day she'll read all this and if I didn't man I'd be in deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep S---!



Love,
Ret & Jack

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Day Has Come

To All:


Well here we sit at the SCCA/Hutch getting Ret reintroduced to her stem cells! They call it her new birthday, unfortunately the gestation period was longer than nine months but we'll take it anyway. The procedure is an all day gig but the actual stem cell infusion takes only about a half an hour. That's partly due to the little "Over Achiever" kicking out so many cells during capture but also there's med's, hydration and general stuff they have to monitor so that adds to the day. After that we head home hunker down and wait for hopefully the re-graftment process to take hold. I say head home and hunker down but really we have to be here everyday for them to monitor Ret's process, so we continue our daily trips to the SCCA.


Some may be asking or saying home, yea home, they are letting us manage this whole thing from home. Actually they say it's better for the patient if you can manage from home and given the fact we're so close that's what we're doing. I really believe it's because Brandstrom, Miller and the Krekows made a large contribution to the SCCA/Hutch so they let us go home instead of us staying with any of them! Oh well their original offer seemed nice anyway.



Gotta go the stem cells just showed up for the Birthday party!!



Love,

Ret & Jack

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Getting Close

To All:

Been a while since my last post and the reason is...........................well I just have to blame Ret! As you know by our recent posts that she's doing so well there's nothing to blog about, which isn't a bad thing now is it?

After her stellar performance during the stem cell capture procedure they said, meaning the SCAA/Hutch, that they didn't want to see us for a week. It was hard but I convinced her to load the truck and head east for the week to spend a little time R&R'ing at the river. There was some R&R but also quite a bit of work getting everything ready for the winter, given the fact that this year we won't be there for at least 3-4 months during her recovery.

With that a little news on the transplant front. We should be headed down to the Hutch the week of 10/12 for her final chemo treatment then 48hrs following that they'll reintroduce her stem cells and hopefully she's on the mend. The time following the reintroduction is the most critical and it's possible that she may be admitted to the hospital for varied reasons, which is quite normal following a transplant. That said some of the larger issues are infections, illnesses, inability to take in food or fluids so they monitor that quite closely, hence the hospital stay. I just told her keep performing as she has and there won't be any problems.....easy for me to say!

All for now.

Love,
Ret & Jack