We made it home just fine at about 4:30 p.m. The traffic was heavier than it is during the week and we ran into a traffic backup due to a wreck that delayed us for probably 45 minutes or so. When we got home we were surprised to find a welcome home greeting waiting for us. After a little investigation we decided it was our dear friends Steve and Kathy that had come and left it for us.
Again, let me thank you all so much for your support in so many ways. It would have been so much harder if you had not been there.
I will resume this blog when we go back to UAMS the week of September 11th.

We were not able to leave Little Rock until about 1 p.m. today. We made it to Lebanon Tennessee and we are both ready for a good night's rest. I wasn't sure when I left Little Rock that I would be able to drive that far given how I have felt the last few days but I made it just fine.
I want to thank each person that has followed this blog and especially the ones that have left comments or emails of support. We will have to return in three weeks and at that time I will resume this blog. Thank you all so much for following with us.

My white count went up to 7.21 today, my hemoglobin went up to 9.1 and my platelets went up to a whopping 90. When I saw dr. Van Rhee today he was surprised and pleased with these results. They have exceeded what he had forecast. I feel very blessed that things have gone as well as they have with the stem cell transplant.
We are now released to come home and we plan on starting out tomorrow. We do plan on making the drive in 2 days instead of 1.
Even though my hemoglobin was in good shape as far as lab results they wanted to give me another unit of blood just to make sure that everything was in good shape in that regard especially since I was going to be on the road for two days. We did not arrive back at the apartment until about 6 p.m. because I had to get the CVL removed and the unit of blood.
I am scheduled to come back in about 3 weeks. At that time they will do testing as they did when we first got here back in early June and then they will determine the best treatment for me. They discussed several options with me today. One of them would be to go on a treatment that I have already been on before which is Kyprolis along with a drug that I have not been on before. They assured me that it will only be for testing to determine a new treatment plan and then we can return home.
Please remember that the main objective of this whole process has been to get my myeloma down to where it can be kept down with treatment. I am fearful since it is gotten down to a good level now that it may take off growing again in an aggressive way. Please remember to include in your prayers that will not happen.
I don't think it has been by coincidence that I have recovered remarkably well according to the doctor. My stem cells performed much better than they had predicted. Even the well-known Dr Barlogie thought my stem cells would not be good stem cells and even unreliable to use. I truly believe that all the good news I've shared with you in this blog has been because of your prayers and God's help. Thank you.

My platelets were up to 68 today but my white count came down to 5.91 and my hemoglobin was down to 8.5. I don't know any additional information about being released tomorrow. I will be released unless something unforeseen shows up. I may have to get another unit of blood in the morning if my hemoglobin drops below 8.5. I will also have to get the CVL line removed. I will do all of that before my doctor's appointment at noon.
In the past week or so I've lost 24 pounds. That was from fluid I gained while being on the steroids. I have very little appetite now but I don't think that is contributing to the weight loss.
The only virus that showed up where the current status is not known is the CMV. The nurse retested that today. The Provo virus is not active now. Something continues to make me feel yucky. I hope that feeling goes away soon especially before we start the drive home. I do plan to break the drive up into 2 days. We normally do it in one day.

Today was a big day for news. First let me say that my white count was 6.82 which was lower than it was two days ago and it was lower yesterday than the day before. My hemoglobin is 8.8 but my platelet level was 59. I don't know why my white count has dropped. The doctor had predicted that my platelets would max out at 50 or 60. It looks like that it's going to be much higher than that unless it stops going.
The news I got just a few minutes ago was that I will be discharged on Thursday this week. We will probably head home on Friday spending the night somewhere in route. I don't think, at this point, I could make that drive in one day. We will have to return for testing in about three weeks after we leave here. It will be good to be back to good old home again.

My white count today was 7.90 and my platelet count was 47.
They are still trying to determine about the level of the viruses that did show up in blood tests. They did a couple of specimen draws today to get more information.
I don't know why but as the day progressed I got to feeling pretty bad as I do now. I really look forward to the time when I'm feeling good most of the time.

Wow! We were surprised at my lab results today. They were even better than what we had forecast in our optimistic minds. My white count was 8.33, my hemoglobin was 9.4, my platelet level jumped up to 40 (it was 27 yesterday). We are very thankful to see this much progress this fast.
Tomorrow I have a breathing treatment at 9 a.m. The treatment is to help prevent pneumonia. Then at 1 p.m., I have the lab tests and review just like today.
Thank you all for all your support in so many ways. It is helping us so much to get through this.

We were only at UAMS about two hours today. After I got my blood drawn and tested, they determined that I didn't need anything extra. That was really good news for us and we enjoyed our time off.
My white count today jumped up to 6.83. The platelet count had gone to 27 and the hemoglobin was 9.2 which was lower than it was yesterday by .3.
I don't normally feel as good as usual and I have some other issues but I am slowly on the mend.
Let me say something about what I posted last night about the Parvovirus. It is common in children and they told me that I might have had it since childhood but never been active because my immunity has never been that low. It is not related to the parvo that dogs have. In children it is often called Fifth disease.

Today ended up being a big day for us. My white count rose to 5.05. My platelets were 20 and my hemoglobin, which is been running low, ran 9.5. It looks as if God is allowing the new stem cells to rebuild the bone marrow successfully.
In the blood cultures they ran, they determined that I have an active Parvo virus. They said I could have had it for a long time but since my immunity has been so low, it became active. I got another treatment of the IVIG to help with it. That infusion took about 4 hours and I might have to get additional ones during the next week.
The APN was so pleased with how things were going, she took me off the schedule of getting two antibiotics infusions each day and changed my schedule to only having to be there once a day. We have been going at 9 a.m. and the other appointment was at 5 p.m. so now we have one appointment which is scheduled for 1 p.m. We were really pleased about that.
It seems that recovery is progressing much faster than I expected. Based on what I interpreted that doctor Van Rhee said, this is much faster than what he would have predicted also. Thank you all so much for your prayers for the best outcome for me.

I meant to post yesterday that they did several cultures to try to find why I am still running a fever. When I take Tylenol, the fever does not show up, but as soon as I stop taking it, the fever reappears.
We spent less time today at UAMS than we have in quite a while. We were there between 4 and 5 hours and it was really good to have that extra time away from there.
My white count today was 3.33 and my platelet count was 13. The platelet count was 14 yesterday so that means the bone marrow is producing even though it's got a long way to go to be at full production. When I got the melphalan chemo, it killed out my bone marrow. The stem cells are used to go in and rebuild my bone marrow. The doctors expected that my stem cells are not in real good shape and would be very slow in rebuilding the bone marrow. I have been very pleased so far at how quickly it appears the bone marrow is being rebuilt. I am very thankful that is the case.

My white count today jumped to 2.76. My platelet count was 14 and that has been without adding additional platelets for 2 days now. I did not get a growth factor shot today since my white count had exceeded 2.0 so I expect that my platelets will now start to recover.
Today I talked with a fellow in the waiting room, before I went in for my infusion, and his wife has myeloma and they are from Newport News, Virginia. I was surprised to find out that he grew up in Kingsport and knew a lot about the area.
We both would like to say a big thank you to Crossroads Methodist Church in Kingsport for sending the nice care package they had put together. It is much appreciated and will be used.

I started the day by running a slight fever and feeling fine, but as the day progressed I felt much worse and the temperature went over 102. I have not mentioned it in previous posts but I have been having a problem with having low blood pressure. When I went back for the 5 o'clock appointment today they got very concerned because of my low blood pressure. They were going to send me for an EKG but that section was closed for the day. They thought they were going to have to send me to the emergency room but after I had ice bags under my arms for about an hour, my temperature came down and my blood pressure got in better shape.
My white blood cell count today jumped to 1.64. My platelets did not drop as much as they usually do so I'm hoping that this is an indication that my bone marrow is now producing platelets.
As I write this, my temperature is normal and that is the first time in several days that it has been normal.

Today was another day that I did not feel well. We were at UAMS from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. and during most of that time I was running a fever and late in the afternoon it went up to 102. The doctor thought the fever could be from the stem cells ingrafting. They were wanting to put me in the hospital but I talked them out of doing that.
I received one bag of platelets today and a unit of blood. My white count today was 0.71.

I felt better today for most of the day. We were at UAMS from 9 a.m. until about 4:30 today. I received the IVIG treatment with no problems and that took between 4 and 5 hours. My white count yesterday was 0.21 and rose today to 0.43. I expect it to be making some large gains in the next day or so. The nurse said the growth factor shot that I get each day is causing the stem cells to produce white blood cells instead of producing platelets. That will continue as long as I am on the growth factor shots which should stop when I've had two days higher than 2.0 on my white count. I look forward to when my platelets start to increase on their own. After I got the second bag of platelets last night, my count was 22 and today when they were checked, when I first got there, my platelet count was 11. I received another infusion of platelets today and the count went to 29.
Let me explain why I went on this new and stronger antibiotic that I have to get two infusions each day. I was running a slight fever at times and they didn't want to take any chances on me picking up something else so they started me on this more powerful antibiotic. It was done more as a preventative than it was a solution to an existing problem. As far as I know, I will only be on this antibiotic for six more days/twice a day.
Thank you all for your wonderful and caring support. It is much appreciated.

Today has been a trying day. We arrived at infusion 4 at UAMS at 9 a.m. and we're still here tonight not having left today and it is now 7:25. There is some possibility that I will have to spend the night in the hospital because of a platelet transfusion I got earlier. It did not raise my platelets and my platelets are at a critical level. I have just received another bag of platelets and waiting now for the lab results. People here in the infusion area had to stay over since the infusion area closes at 7 p.m. If this new bag of platelets does not bring my level over 10, I will have to stay in the hospital tonight so they can give me more platelets.
My white count did rise a little today and is 0.21. I think that means that it is on a steady increase now.
I will try to post another note later to let you know if I did have to stay in the hospital tonight.
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This posting did not go out when I intended. For some reason, when I am at UAMS my email does not go out and I have to send it another way. I am updating this now at 9:33pm and the good news is my platelet count went to 22 after the last infusion of platelets. That means we did not have to spend the night in the hospital and all is okay. I am feeling better tonight than I have the past several days. I hope this continues.
I received two bags of platelets and one unit of blood today.
I will have a similar schedule tomorrow at UAMS. I have to be there at 9 and then again at 5 but they tell me that I will have to have something called IVIG and that takes quite a few hours in addition to the other things I will have to get. The IVIG is an immunity building infusion. I don't know much more about it than that. It may end up being another all-day event.

I had another bad feeling day today. My white count did rise to 0.17. My platelets was 6 before the infusion of platelets. I got one bag of platelets today and one unit of blood. I don't know if the small rise in my white count means that it is turning around or not. I will know in the next day or so. The worst part of these bad feeling days are the issues I have with my digestive tract.
The APN put me on a different antibiotic today. It will require me getting two treatments each day. That means we will be going to UAMS in the morning at 9 a.m. and in the afternoon at 5 pm. This should continue for about eight days.

Today was another day of not feeling well. The nurse assured me that I was right on target for how I should be feeling now. The APN threatened me if I did not start eating that she would have me admitted to the hospital and fed through a tube. I think that has convinced me.
My white count today was 0.08. My platelet count was 12. I received a unit of blood today. My blood counts will not recover until the stem cells have found a place to live in my bone marrow and are producing as bone marrow. No one knows when this will be.

Today has not been a day that I felt good. I have run a slight fever today and generally not felt well at all. My white count was 0.10 and my platelets were 7. I did receive a bag of platelets. I got the high powered chemo, melphalan, one week ago today.

I continue to feel better today than I did two days ago. The nurses tell me that I will get to feeling worse so I will see how that goes but for now I feel good. My white count came up a bit today but they said it was because I started on the growth factor shot yesterday and it will come down to where I have almost no white count at all. I will continue on the growth factor shots until my levels are back to normal. My white count was 1.46 today my platelet level was 13. I will have to get platelets tomorrow and possibly another unit of blood. They are trying to keep my hemoglobin level above 8.5.
Getting my blood samples drawn here at the apartment worked out really well. When we got to UAMS they already had the samples tested and I received the results. I really liked that.
I hate to complain but can't they find some nurses another job to do other than nursing? A male nurse was changing the bandage on my neck, which covers the CVL line entry into my neck. He was taking the bandage off and pulled a big hunk of skin off of my neck and it did not feel good and still does not. He was simply going too fast and too rough to make it come off correctly. Pulling hair out with tape does not feel good but that is no comparison to pulling your skin off with tape.
I will stop complaining and let you go on enjoy your day or your evening. Thanks for following along with us and caring.