After a long, relatively painless week of chemotherapy, Jay is finally starting to feel some of the ill-effects of the drugs (and for those in the family who have gone through the trials and tribulations of better living through chemistry, it has been a great opportunity to say, "I told you so!). He's starting to feel the promised fatigue and loss of appetite. We all are encouraging him to continue to eat; the experts recommend mashed potatoes. So last evening, Jay enjoyed a beige meal of mashed potatoes and a vanilla milkshake. This family firmly believes that a milkshake is the solution to all of life's ailments.
In other news, the daily visitor count remains high, and the sibling tally is now 6 out of 7 with only Mary Lou remaining. We'll cut her some slack since she's down in Florida! Jay continues to love to mingle with all of his guests; he tried to prevent Bob and Linda from leaving with his witty repartee. But, it is now even more important than ever to call before visiting as he will tire easily (don't have the phone numbers? send an email to sean.fitzpatrick@mail.wvu.edu and we'll get them to you!). The nurses are now acting as bouncers when the "No Visitors Please" sign is posted. If you come to visit and are turned away, please remember that it isn't that Jay doesn't want to see you; it's that his family doesn't want him to see you ;) In all seriousness, while guests are very welcome, we don't want to wear him out, and there are going to be more times in the next two weeks when this will be a distinct possibility. Consider sending him a note instead!
Finally, Jay has his bone marrow test tomorrow. This test will measure how effective the week's treatment has been. Please send your prayers and good karma into the atmosphere! More updates to follow!
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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.
1 comment:
Hi Jay,
Just checking in to let you know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. We are anxious to hear how your tests results are tomorrow. We are keeping our fingers crossed for you.
God Bless
Bob and Linda
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