A Praise the Lord Kind of Day
Really, every day is a Praise the Lord kind of day but last Wednesday was a special one. Jay and I had made oncology appointments and chemo appointments together. The office was laughing because they didn't know who to stick first. Dr. Ansari told his nurse that he could only handle one file at a time -- Jay came first and we learned that there were no cancer cells present
in his blood and his numbers were good. He had started chemo on Monday and wore a pump all week. It suppose to infuse in over 5 days but it actually took 6 so I got to play nurse yesterday and unhook everything. He is very tired but remains cheerful because he is having such good success with the chemo.
I came next and got the results of the scans that I had on Tuesday. The tumor in the lower back had disappeared. The one on the chest wall appeared to have grown a small amount. Dr. Ansari thinks that the tumor is actually dead and is swelling in response to the body's own reaction to it. I am having a lung biopsy on Wednesday to determine what it actually is. I am anxious to know.
Our in -house chef (i.e. Sean) leaves for school on Tuesday. It has been a joy having him here and the house will be lonely without him. It will probably be less messy also. Colleen starts meetings next week so things will slowly get back to "normal". Jay has said that he would much rather be starting school this week than seeing doctors. I don't blame him one bit. And we forgot to tell you that the last sibling came to town -- Mary Lou came up from Florida and spend the week with her Mom, sisters and brothers. That is the longest that we have seen her since she moved to Florida. So, all seven of the brothers and sisters have been here. I think that all 7 of them will be here in October around the USC game.
Please come and see us -- just call before you come to make sure that we are up and about.
Our prayers and love to all of you.
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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.
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