Wednesday, April 28, 2010

the details

Here’s the details:
Mike left for a trip to MD on the 17th to visit with his family. Towards the end of the trip he started to notice his temperature going up and was getting cold chills. His doctor at Moffitt told him to get to Johns Hopkins immediately. Upon being admitted they told him that his white blood cell count was dangerously low and that he had pneumonia. They started treating him with antibiotics, expecting to release him within a few days. Two days later, his WBC was even lower and he was still spiking high fevers, so the doctors added an antibiotic to treat fungal pneumonia. When I spoke to the doctor on Tuesday, he was confident that Mike would no longer have fevers and he should be able to come home by Thursday.
Unfortunately, last night, Mike took a turn for the worse. They discovered that Mike’s red blood cell count was very low and started a transfusion. During the transfusion, his fever went up to 103.5 and they had to stop giving him blood. The Oncology team came in and told Mike that they were going to have to do another blood smear to check for lymphocytes (leukemia cells). I don’t really know how to give words to the way I was feeling last night. My husband was 1000 miles away and at the end of every phone call I wondered if it could be the last time that I would hear his voice. I wanted to turn on a video chat and leave it on 24/7, just to be by his side. I have heard many positive testimonies of people who have recovered from ALL – but not many from patients who contracted pneumonia. Those were the worst stories I heard. Everyone kept saying, “He will be fine, as long as he doesn’t get sick during his treatment.” As much as I know that God is the Author of life and completely in control, there was such an urgency to get to MD and be with him. I booked the first flight out and got here this morning.
A few hours ago we received the awesome news that Mike’s cells are all normal. They think the fevers were caused by a drug (neupogen) to increase his WBC count. His temperature has been normal all day today and the doctors think he should be able to come home by Friday or Saturday. He will be able to fly but he has to wear a special face mask in the airport and on the plane. They are still treating him for the pneumonia and now checking for one additional infection that they may require changing one of his antibiotics, but the prognosis is good. THANK YOU GOD!!!
Many friends and family have asked about coming by to visit, but Mike really just needs to rest. We appreciate everyone’s sentiments and prayers so much. Please keep lifting us up as we continue this journey.