Doing Well

Greg is doing pretty well, following the pattern he's supposed to, according to everyone here. His lab values continue to drop, but he hasn't completely bottomed out yet. He actually got a "boost" to his white count from the donor cells (not much, but some), and has been needing platelets about every 2-3 days and blood about every 4 days (well, nights, actually. They do everything around here at night -- that's to ensure no one gets any sleep.)

The most major side effects are the Revenge and now, mouth discomfort. I hesitate to call it "mouth sores" as he really doesn't have any, but his mouth feels dry, uncomfortable and his taste is "off." He doesn't have any appetite and I have to remind him to eat. He's also pretty tired. But, these are all the things he's supposed to be experiencing at this point, so that's good. GVHD won't become an issue until late in the weekend or early next week. Remember, he has to have some to show he's grafting, but too much is bad.

The VRE is here to stay. I got more clarification on that. The "E" is a bacteria in your gut. Its always there. Its really not a problem ordinarily, and isn't for Greg right now. However, under these circumstances, it could spill over into his bloodstream, causing an infection. If it does, its resistant ("R") to Vancomycin ("V"), the antibiotic usually used to treat it. So, the test they ran to find out he's VRE positive is just to tell them that. The HazMat suits are just to help prevent the resistant strain from being passed to others here on the floor. Its really a fallacy, kind of like airport security. I don't think they really do any good. Sometimes the nurses don't even wear them. Plus, the only way anyone could come in contact with it is from handling bodily fluids (which I don't even go near). Many times the techs do their job without gowns or gloves. I can leave the floor & go to the main cafeteria (or anywhere else) without a gown. So, following their logic, I could theoretically infect the whole rest of the world. But, the pretty yellow gowns make the infectious disease department happy. So, that's what its all about I guess.

Other than that, things are pretty uneventful so far. Grandma and Auntie Skibby continue to torture Matthew by taking him to the zoo and cooking him steak. Eric is keeping busy working and studying for the ACT (6/13!). We're getting a little stir crazy, but Greg's brother Tom & his fiance Tammy are coming to take over kid kare & will visit this weekend. (They're flying into the brand new Branson "International" Airport.) I get to see Matthew & he wants to go the Science Center and Ted Drew's again (I told him we have to eat some REAL dinner, too).

Thanks to Dana, Leah and Anna Kate for the pictures. Uncle Greg has them hanging on the wall where he can see them. He especially likes how you drew him. Thanks to the Whereley's for the DVD set. I have a feeling its going to come in REALLY handy as time goes by. MML: we started "John Adams" and its very good. When I told Greg it was in 7 parts, he reacted like our clients: "THAT LONG?" I just looked at him. "What, you got somewhere you need to be?" We both started laughing 'til our stomachs hurt. Joanie, thanks for the card. Its OK it was "Irish." He read it while wearing a red shirt. The St. Peregrine medal was great, too. He forgot to bring his. Speaking of forgetting, its always a good idea to put the lid on the popcorn pot. Unless you have a dog. Kim, we loved your card -- laughed 'til it hurt. Are you SURE they're supposed to open in the back? Maybe that's why he was getting all those funny looks.

That's all for now. Thanks for all the prayers. They must be working. Please pray everything grafts well, and that we continue to be boring. Boring here is good.

Love,

Us