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What a week! Gary was released from the hospital on Tuesday of this week. He was able to keep his doctor’s appt. in Chicago on Wednesday. His blood counts were back up. Dr. Mehta decided to stop three of Gary’s medications. :) The best news is that Gary has no doctors appointments for nine days. :)
The beard is slowly going away. It is now shortened and in a few days Gary will probably be clean shaven. (There will be pictures.) His last chemo treatment is starting to affect his hair. The next chemo will be starting Tuesday, Aug 7. This time the treatment will be at Northwestern. The transplant has been set back one week, to September 5.
It is official…Gary is on disability leave. Today Gary learned that his doctor has classified him as not able to work. The boat is hooked up to the truck; we will be fishing tomorrow morning, bright and early.
-Patty
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Saturday, July 14. Gary ended his week of chemotherapy at Genesis West. He had enough time to get home, take a short rest, and head on out to his benefit at Antl Hall in Savanna. It was a wonderful night! We enjoyed the bands, the food, and especially the warm wishes from all our friends and family.
Monday, July 16. We left at 7am for a doctor’s appointment in Chicago. Gary came home in good spirits. His blood counts were up and the transplant is still on schedule.
Thursday, July19. Gary had to go to his doctor in Silvis for a shot of Nuelasta (to increase white blood cells) and for his usual blood tests. We learned that his hemoglobin and his white cells had a drastic drop.
Saturday, July 21. Our son, Zachary, was married. The day was perfect; Gary was able to attend the rehearsal and the ceremony. Later that evening his low blood counts got the best of him. Alicia, Tony (son-in-law), and I took him back to Genesis West in Davenport to be admitted.
Monday, July 23. Gary is still in the hospital. He is anticipating leaving tomorrow morning. While in the hospital, he received a blood transfusion, extra antibiotics just in case he caught something at the wedding, and some drugs to increase his white blood cells. The doctor is trying to keep Gary healthy so that the transplant can be done as scheduled. Only 20 days until the stem cell collection and 35 days until the actual transplant of the stem cells. Yahoo!!
Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
-Patty
Gary re-enacting Field of Dreams Dweebs
in his sweet corn patch in early July.
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Gary has now been in the hospital for four days. He is planning to be released Saturday morning. His chemo drugs are very potent. Reading the drug information is quite scary. Gary is still struggling with anemia and very high blood sugar. Today the nurses taught us how administer insulin shots. We are happy when his blood sugar count is below 200, as he has had some 600+ counts. This is just supposed to be temporary due to the steroids that he has to take. Steroids greatly enhance the chemo drugs. The bottom line is… the doctor cannot collect stem cells if his cancer is not in remission. Gary needs to produce a minimum of 10 million stem cells, five million for each transplant.
Gary has doctor’s approval for attending the benefit at Antl Hall this Saturday. He is looking forward to the music and being with you all. Please remember that he does not have a strong germ fighting system at this time. Keep your distance if you are not feeling well. Thanks. See you Saturday!
-Patty
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A brief news story about Gary’s benefit this Saturday appeared in the Prairie Advocate this week (second story on the page):
http://www.prairie-advocate-news.com/7-11-07/more7_11_07.html
Gary is expecting to be discharged from Genesis West on Saturday morning. You can send Gary an e-card through the hospital here (they will print it and hand deliver it for you): http://www.genesishealth.com/email/emailpatient.aspx
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Gary is currently in room 6028 at Genesis West in Davenport, IA. He is receiving a different chemotherapy treatment that requires close monitoring. He had a blood transfusion Monday night to help with the anemia. Also, the steroids have affected his blood sugar and the doctors are working to get it under control.
You can send Gary an e-card through the hospital here (they will print it and hand deliver it for you): http://www.genesishealth.com/email/emailpatient.aspx
