T-PLL update

Happy 4th of July!!
Sunday Bill and I took a ride to the Merritt Island mall. Bill wanted to get some exercise walking and we felt being inside would be better for him than outside. We walked most of the mall before Bill got tired and had to take a break. We sat for a few minutes and then headed for the car and went home. We had a very quiet and relaxing 4th of July.

Today was the beginning of Bill's second round of Cladribine IV and his 13th injection of Campath. Due to today being an observed holiday, the infusion center was closed so the treatment took place in the hospital. We were there for seven hours due to a few items. One, when in the hospital you get treated as if you were an inpatient which requires more steps. Second, the order for the premeds for Campath was not received, so that had to be resolved. Third, blood had to be taken and resulted to make sure Bill's levels were OK to receive the treatment. Although it took as many hours as it did, the nurses were great. They really took the time to not only explain everything that they were doing, but also to address items that they wanted to be sure Bill was aware of such as eating right and exercise.

When the treatment was ready to begin, the nurse accessed the power port. This was the first time the port was used and it was great. Bill did not feel anything when the needle was inserted. The nurse was able to draw the blood for the tests through the port and then started the saline IV. The saline was replaced with the Cladribine for the two hour infusion. When the IV finished Bill was given the Campath injection in his right thigh.

Bill was weighed when we got to the room and he is now down to 130 pounds. That is a loss of 13 pounds since May 2010. Bill's WBC is 2.1, which is 2.2 below the bottom of the normal range. Bill's Neutrophil count is 1.8, down from the count of 5.3 on June 15th and slightly higher than the count of 1.52 on June 28th. The doctor mention to Bill that he will probably need another Neulasta injection when this round of Cladribine is done.

Tomorrow Bill's sister Margy will be taking him to the infusion center for his next Cladribine infusion. Four more to go before this round of Cladribine is over.

We spent some time on Saturday night looking at video's about the bone marrow transplant process that were posted on the internet by Moffitt and Duke university. We learned a lot about the process and what to expect. We are starting our list of questions for the transplant team. Some time this week I will post some of the links for your reference.