Jay is now done with Chemo!!! Well at least until August! To celebrate the 4th Jay was moved to the largest room on the floor, 663. It’s big enough to hold a town hall meeting for a small town. He now has TWO windows, TWO recliners, and an exercise bike; besides living within the confines of a hospital and being subject to the less than gourmet food that comes with said living arrangement, he is living large. The new view allowed Jay to watch approximately 6 of South Bend famed fireworks shows simultaneously last night with his late night guests.
Though the drugs are no longer pumping through his veins, he will still be on a saline drip and might need more transfusions of blood. You still can't tell that he's sick from his appearance, but the doctors say that day 10 (Saturday) is when he'll start to feel the side effects.
One of Jay's colleagues from St. Joe, Cynthia MacWhorter, has graciously volunteered to come over to garden today, and Sean has decided to give her an old electric chain saw and tell her that his dad wants the small woods behind the house cleared. Once she finishes that task, all subsequent volunteers will be given shovels to build a new backyard pool.
That's it for now. You can post well wishes on the comments section of this page, or send an e-mail to the Fitzpatrick family member of choice. We've been printing them out and taking them to Jay who thoroughly enjoys reading them all.
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Information about Jay's treatment
Really want to send flowers? Read me first!!
Because of the risk of infection, Jay cannot receive flowers or plants and asks that you consider donating blood in his name instead. It's easy, painless and you get free cookies!! If you're in the South Bend area contact the South Bend medical center. If you're anywhere else, contact your local Red Cross for dontation times and places.
Got Questions?
Send an email to:
sean.fitzpatrick@mail.wvu.edu
sean.fitzpatrick@mail.wvu.edu
The 411
Over the past few weeks Jay was noticing that he was short of breath, and he was having trouble working-out at his usual pace. After a trip to West Virginia to visit Sean, Jay read an article in “Parade Magazine” that listed 10 symptoms that require immediate doctor’s attention, one of which was shortness of breath. He went to his family physician that week, who ordered a chest x-ray and blood work since he thought it was pneumonia. A few days later the doctor called back with the blood work, and said that Jay needed to see a hematologist since he was anemic. Before picking up Dianne from her routine Thursday chemotherapy appointment, Jay made a meeting with the hematologist. The hematologist, Dr. Ansari, took more blood, ran blood marrow test, and ordered 2 units of blood. Dr. Ansari thought that Jay had a blood disease called MSD. He was also told to get a CAT-scan on Monday. The results of the marrow test came back Wednesday morning, at which time Jay was told to immediately go into the hospital because he had leukemia. Jay was in the hospital for three weeks. He spent the first 7 days receiving continuous chemotherapy and stayed for an additional two weeks since his risk of infection is so great. Over the next three months Jay will be going back to the hospital once a month for a five day stay for more chemotherapy. The oncology team will repeatedly raise his blood cells counts then knock them back down with chemotherapy in the hopes of strengthening his blood production.
2 comments:
Let me know when the pool is finished - I'll volunteer to be the life guard.
Lou
I will be happy to organize the first swim meet at the glorious Fitzpatrick pool. I believe we'll have enough competitors...Eric, Meredith and of course, Max! For those needing a little work on their skills before the meet, Eric and Meredith will be happy to oblige. Meredith's a pro with those of you who consider yourselves "bubblers". Eric can work with anyone wanting to improve their butterfly capabilities! See you on deck...and get well soon, Jay!
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