ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER

Gee, where do I start. It's been a pretty hectic day. First change is no chemo tomorrow as planned. Dave has developed some shortness of breath so a pulmonologist has now joined the team. He's a great guy and we feel comfortable with his care. He ordered a CT scan of Dave's lungs and it showed some aspiration "gunk" and also some upper lobe pneumonia. Tomorrow morning Dave will have a bronchoscopy so we can get an idea of the most appropriate antibiotic to treat it. He is already on a few different ones, but not sure they are the right ones for this infection. As the doc said, we are not alarmed at this point. Consequently, the chemo won't start until Monday if his blood work is stable. I had planned on getting on the train Sun. night and coming home for a few days to work and gather up by taxes, but I guess that's not going to happen. I want to be here when they give him the "big guns". I guess I'll just have to ask for an extension on the taxes.

We are really in good hands here and Dave is keeping the nurses entertained with his quirky sense of humor and quick wit. He's also made friends with all the cleaning ladies too whether they speak English or not. What a guy - gotta love him!

FEVER, SHAKES & SWEATS

Dave has had continued fevers, usually running in the 103 range. Tylenol helps some, but I wish it would help him more. He had a good night - fever free until almost 4 a.m. when it spiked again. With that came some waves of nausea, but now that is controlled and he is sleeping as I write. He had his last dose of Hydrea this morning so, hopefully, tomorrow they will start him on his actual treatment with the "big guns". Please keep Dave in your prayers. Thanks everyone.

MOVING FORWARD

Today, within minutes, they will be taking Dave to put his Hickman catheter in. This catheter will be inserted in the right upper chest area and will be access to chemo drugs and stem cells. Dave has had fever spikes over the last two days which are being treated with Tylenol. According to the medical staff, this is not abnormal when dealing with leukemia. His whitecount has still not gone down to the level which would be ideal before beginning the treatment that has been recommended to fight this leukemia. They have again increased his dose of Hydrea to, hopefully, bring down his whitecount. This may take another couple of days, but no one knows for sure as everyone's body reacts in its own way. I hope Dave will be more comfortable after the Hickman is inserted.

TEST, TEST, TEST

We arrived yesterday with the help of our good friends, Orland and Jan, and believe me, it was hard walking back into this hospital. It was a lot tougher to do than 3 yrs ago. After taking a deep breath, I sucked it up and got ready for, as Dave says, "the bumpy ride".

We no longer got into Dave's room before it was swarming with nurses. It's amazing how efficient they are. We were very relieved to see Kristin who happened to be one of the nurses Dave had 3 yrs. ago. She is just a sweetheart and remembered us and greeted us with a big hug. Boy, was that a relief.

The evening was full of activity and tests, then Dave sneezed!! Well that took care of the ease of this transition. Immediately he was in isolatation and I was to wear a gown, mask, and gloves at all times when in the room. Have you ever tried to sleep in an outfit like that? I hope you never have to. I woke up with my mask around my neck and the gloves in a wad on the floor. OOPS! Hopefully, his sneeze was just allergies and he is out of isolation tomorrow. Maybe I'll get use to this new sleeping arrangment! No more midnight snacks for me:)

Dave did receive two units of red blood cells during the night and possibly will receive platelets tonight. We are thankful we arrived when we did as the leukemia is very aggressive. He is now on a chemo pill to slow that down. After all the tests are completed, we will know what the plan is going to be as far as treatment.

Those strange masked people in the photos happen to be Orland and Jan. Thanks you two for putting up with us.

Quite the Ham

I wanted to post a few shots from the other day. My Dad is pretty much the only one who "humors me", and would let me get away with this. Let's just say I hear a lot of, "Molly, get that camera out of my face" from everyone else I try this on. What a guy! Thanks Dad.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

It was a good day. We enjoyed relaxing and Orland driving, visiting, and doing a lot of laughing thanks to Jan and her quirky sense of humor. Of course, Dave had a lot to add to the conversation. The highlight was spotting a herd of 20+ Bighorn sheep walking along the railroad tracks along the Clark Fork river. I think that's the name of the river :). We made it to Ritzville where we stayed at the Best Western. Gotta go and catch breakfast!

THIS ONE'S FOR YOU

I'm pretty sure that everyone experiences "up" days and "down" days; I know that I have and always will. That is just the way it works. Yesterday was one of those "down" days for Dave. But, because of you: family, friends old and new, old school buddies, childhood friends, church friends, caretakers, and even friends of friends, you turned Dave's "down" day into an "up" restful night.

After going to bed early and neither of us being able to sleep, I decided I would take out my Blackberry and read Dave all the comments posted on the blog, all the emails, and Facebook entries. (Yes, Bud, I shook Dave's hand for you!) They were all so heartwarming, encouraging, and uplifting. Dave said "I had no idea; it makes me feel better."

It was one of those moments we will never forget, and we thank you for taking the time to send the prayers, laughter, and encouragement. YOU are the amazing ones - we love you all and look forward to hearing from you again. If you are ever in Seattle, I know Dave would love a visit.

Seattle Bound

Hello everyone! My mom has asked me to be a part of her blog so we can continue together, updating friends and family.

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance called yesterday and spoke with my dad about the results of his bone marrow biopsy that was done last Friday. Dr. P (from Seattle) told my dad that he does have Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML. The leukemia is at 80%, which is fairly advanced, and we need to make some decisions as to what the next steps will be. He also called Dr. B (in Kalispell), and had talked it over with him. Today my dad had an appointment with Dr. B, so my mom and I were also there for that. The chemo treatment that they want to start "as soon as possible", is quite the undertaking. My dad would have to be hospitalized for about a month, if not more. This chemo is intended to get him into remission so then he would be able to do a "donor stem cell transplant" following right after (that would mean 3-4 more months there). My Uncle Richard is "The Chosen One" for this. He was compatible 5 out of 5, which is pretty much 100%. (: This is good news because the more compatible they are, the chance of GRAF vs. HOST are less. This chemo can't be done here, but can be done in Missoula or Seattle. The reason we chose not to go to Missoula was because my dad would be "out patient", and not be fully admitted (would have to stay in a hotel and go in every day). The severity of the treatment would most likely cause multiple infections among other risks. We thought it best to go the Seattle direction because he would be admitted there, and would not have to be moved when it came time to start the transplant process. We also know that he would be watched over all day, and night by professional teams that know what to do if something should occur. My dad is such a FIGHTER and asked the Dr. "so when can I get there, I want to get this started? This week I hope"! He and my mom's strength through this has been utterly amazing. I have said it before and I'll say it again....... he is the strongest, most courageous man I know. Right now we are waiting for Dr.B to call us and let us know when and where in Seattle. I am so thankful & proud of my family for doing what they can to help out, and for all our wonderful friends who have offered help, support, prayers and well wishes. It just blows me away. Thank you to all and please keep praying for a MIRACLE. -Molly

UPDATE

We made it home Sunday evening, happy to be here, although pretty tired. As far as future plans, we are still uncertain. A bone marrow biopsy was done in Seattle along with some lab. The preliminary results will be back on Monday. These results will be relayed to Dr. Boehme here in Kalispell. We do know that stem cell transplant at this time won't be possible as Dave has to be in complete remission before that can be undertaken. I apologize for not being able to report more at this time. All I can say is we are glad to be home in our own bed with the sun shining through the windows. The pictures are pretty self-explanatory.

QUICK UPDATE

We made it to Seattle in one day and both of us were exhausted. So was Stella, Molly and Sully. We are staying at the Seattle Care Alliance House. Dave had a bone biopsy today and he breezed through that - or so he says. He then had lab drawn. Since there won't be any results until Monday we decided to come home tomorrow. If he's too tired, we will stay over in Spokane. We really don't know our options until the results all come back, but it doesn't look like we will need to be back here soon. I'm going to close as Dave is already sleeping and I'm not far from it. Thanks everyone for your prayers and support. I'll have a few pictures to share shortly.