WBC Starting to Climb

Leo's fever has still been hovering around 100 most of the day, but the good news is that his WBC went up a bit and is back at 1.4. He has gone back on his neupogen injections that help to increase his WBC count, so it's not his body increasing the counts on its own. Regardless, his counts are going up again, which is a good sign. He had to have platelets again today, but other than that, just his standard medications that he's been taking all along. He did have a bit of an appetite today, as he asked his mom to make tinola (like a chicken soup), so this is a good sign as well. For most of the day, he just rested. Nothing much more to report, but sometimes, uneventful is better.

Have a good evening.

Still Here

Just wanted to send a quick update on what's been going on today. Leo still had his fever most of the day today and it spiked a couple times last night. He was holding steady at around 101 or so most of the morning. It seems to have subsided this afternoon, which is a good thing. One of his blood cultures came back positive, confirming that he did have an infection in his blood. They are speculating that the infection is related to his central line. So they have him on antibiotics now to control that infection. Additionally, his blood counts have dropped again. His WBC is at o.8 and his platelet and hemoglobin counts required that he get transfusions. So basically, if we can get the infection and fever under control and his blood counts start again on an upward pattern, they will release him. No projected timing on this, it just depends on how his body reacts to the medication.

If there are any further developments today, I will post again.

Back in the Hospital - Fever

Sorry I didn't update sooner. I didn't have my laptop...

Leo was able to enjoy being at home for just under 2 days. Most of the time, he was in bed sleeping. He was feeling a bit warm and I was taking his temperature now and again and the highest one I got was 100.9. His discharge orders said to call the doctor immediately when his temp was over 101. Technically, it wasn't over 101, so I didn't call as I didn't have the heart to tell him he might have to be readmitted to the hospital. So Saturday afternoon, the home health care nurse came to our house to care for Leo's hickman line. As part of her process, she has to take his vitals. She took his temperature as 103.4. He did feel warm, but we're skeptical as to whether is was really that high. But given that reading, she wanted us to call the doctor immediately, which we did and of course, she wanted him to come into the hospital right away. We got to the hospital around 4pm and were admitted into the ER, where we stayed until about 11pm, when a room came available. They did some blood tests and found that his blood counts have dropped significantly and quickly. His WBC count on Thursday was 5.9 when he left. It has now dropped to 1.2. He needed both a platelet and blood transfusion as those counts were low too. They did an xray on his chest to see if there was an infection there, but there was not. They've done some blood cultures to check for other infections, but we won't know the results of those until maybe tomorrow or Tuesday. The doctors that came by today have suggested that possibly the stem cells from his mom (which is what was causing his counts to do so well in the past) are starting to expire and the cord blood cells need to take over at this point. So they said it's not unusual that his counts would drop. The hope is that they will start to climb again as the cord blood "learns" how to work in his system. But until that happens, they have to investigate any cause for infection possible, as his body cannot handle infection at this point. Since he's been admitted, his fever has been pretty consistent and have spiked one other time this evening to 102.3. So they are keeping a close eye on him.

Hopefully they will find something soon and he won't have to stay here much longer. I'm sure you can imagine that the girls were all very disappointed that their daddy had to leave again and it just breaks my heart to see them like that. Thanks to everyone that sent good wishes and welcome home vibes our way for the short time that he was there, but he is unfortunately here in the hospital again for an undefined period of time. I want to send a special thank you to all of Leo's co-workers at Mobil Travel Guide. They sent a beautiful Edible Arrangement of different fruits. Leo was not able to eat it, as he was still restricted from fresh fruits and vegetables, but he really enjoyed watching the girls (and me!) enjoying it in celebration of his homecoming! Thank you all so much! Updates to follow...

HOME!!!

After 29 days in the hospital, Leo is finally home! We didn't get home this evening until about 8:30 or so. He spent most of the day in the hospital getting updated on all the medication that he needs to take at home (He has to take almost 30 pills a day!). He also needed platelets and a few other medications through his IV before he left. His WBC count was at 4.9 today, which is great news. He's certainly on the right track. He's so glad to be home and the girls were thrilled to say the least. After saying hi to the girls, he basically just went to sleep. He's exhausted, but glad to be in his own bed again. At this point, he'll basically be on a lot of medication, will have frequent visits by a home health care nurse, and several doctor visits a week.

Thanks again to everyone for all your support. Even though Leo is home already, I will continue to update the blog as needed, but not everyday like I have been. As always, you can always call or email us for whatever. Have a great weekend everyone!

U of C Day 28 - Light at the end of the tunnel?!?!

Hey everyone-I just spoke to Leo and he got GREAT news today! HisWBC count is now at 4! He's been doing so well that his doctors have said that he can go home either tomorrow, if not Friday for sure!!!! I'm sure you can all imagine how excited Leo must be and how excited I am!!! It's been 28 days so far and it's been really difficult for him, especially not being able to see the girls. Although nothing is confirmed yet, I think we can count on him being home by the weekend!!!

As such, they may not move him to a new room since he might be leaving tomorrow. So I'm not sure if I can go visit. Just wanted to share the wonderful news! Later!

U of C Days 26 and 27 - More Progress

Looks like Leo's done really well the past couple days! His WBC count is now 3! Also, his doctors said he could stop doing the nebulizer today (either this afternoon's was the last or he may have one more this evening), which is a day earlier than originally planned. Finally, they are starting to take him off some of his IV's, which have been running 24 hours a day to this point. The plan is to start taking him off the IV's, then start him on the oral equivalents of those IV's so he can continue to take them when he comes home. So all these things combined mean really great progress for Leo! He will be transferring rooms as soon as one is available, so I will be able to visit him in the hospital again hopefully tomorrow night.
As always, thanks to everyone for their support. We could never have done this without you!

U of C Day 25 - WBC Over 2!

You read right! Leo's WBC count has gone up to 2.2, which is a big jump and a good sign that he's well on his way to recovery. I still cannot visit him in the hospital, but have been talking to him whenever I can. The nebulizer treatments are annoying, but they certainly seem to be helping him. He also has to make sure he eats at least a bit, as it affects the way that his new antibiotic works for him. If he has no food in his system, it basically won't work. So he's doing better and better in eating food and keeping it down.

I am going back to work tomorrow after being gone for over 3 weeks. As I still cannot visit Leo in the hospital, the timing actually worked out ok, but I'll go back to the hospital in the evenings after I get the all clear from the doctors to come visit.

Thanks again to everyone that's stopped by or called to keep Leo company. He really appreciates the company. Have a good evening!

U of C Day 24 - Nebulizer

To date, the only experience we've had with a nebulizer is with the girls and their asthma. The treatments that Leo started last night to help his cough require that he be on a nebulizer for 2 hours, 3 times a day. Based on his treatments last night and today, he says it makes his nose and throat feel like they're frozen and when he took it off, there was some sort of white residue on his nose. But the good news is that it seems as though the treatments are helping, as his cough isn't as frequent and he is coughing up less. So let's hope he keeps getting better.

Leo was moved back to the oncology unit last night, which is good, as the nurses are better and more attentive. He's on the non-isolation side just because of the type of room he needs, but doesn't mean we don't have to take the same precautions. All visitors still need to wear a mask, can't be sick and cannot be females of child bearing age. Thanks again to anyone that can stop by to visit, as Leo really appreciates the company.

My thanks to Charles, Arvin, mom, dad and Tita Nena for coming by to visit Leo today. I feel really badly that I cannot be there with him though this difficult time, but am so glad that Leo's got wonderful family and friends to help him out. Thank you guys!

U of C Day 23 - Male Visitors, Please!

So based on the CT Scan that Leo had yesterday, his lungs were not looking much better, although he feels better and isn't coughing as much. As such, the teams of various doctors have recommended a treatment plan to clear his lungs that utilizes a nebulizer treatment 3 times a day for 2 hours a piece, so basically his entire day. The bad thing about this treatment is that there are bad side effects to women that are or may be pregnant. So they have informed us that women of child bearing age (i.e. me) are not allowed in the room during or in between treatment. Treatments start tonight, so I will be kicked out at that point and will not be allowed back until the treatment is over (5 days) and the room has had a deep cleaning. So if any guys (or women no longer of child bearing age) have been thinking of coming, I would really appreciate it if you could stop by and keep Leo company between this evening and next Wednesday. Of course, the same rules apply-if you are sick, coughing, or with any other symptoms, please don't come. And you will be required to wear masks the entire time. Thank you all in advance!

U of C Day 22 - Hair

Leo still in his isolated room as they are still waiting for the RSV virus to pass. They are contemplating giving him this nebulizer therapy to help cure the virus, but apparently it has more bad side effects than benefits. And the benefits aren't really proven, so the doctors are still deciding what to do. They did another CT Scan this evening and if the infection is worse, they will start the therapy right away. If it's better, then they will just let the virus pass. Hopefully we'll know be tomorrow. On a more positive note, Leo's WBC count went up again today and he is at 1.9, which is really great.

Leo's hair has been shedding quite a bit the last couple days. He started to see it on his pillow and shirt and it was depressing him a bit. When I washed his hair today, quite a bit came out and he now has several bald patches around his head. He didn't think he'd be too bothered by it, but I think he is. It's just another step in the recovery process.

Thanks to Charles and Cathy for coming by to visit today. Leo was so happy to see you guys! Thanks also to Charles for donating platelets. I had to stop by the donor facility and let them know I was on anti-biotics, so couldn't donate. It was like I broke up with them. They were disappointed that I wouldn't be coming by every three days, but I'm sure they'll deal just fine.

Have a great evening everyone. I'm getting pretty used to breathing through a mask all the time, but it still sucks. Hopefully this virus will pass and Leo will get better soon. Take care all!

U of C Day 21 - RSV Virus

So the result of the CT Scan yesterday was that Leo has the RSV Virus, which may sound familiar to those of you that have kids as it's actually quite common in younger kids. But since Leo's immune system is so compromised, the effects of the virus are multiplied. He did have a procedure this morning, called a bronchoscopy, where they insert a camera though his mouth to examine his airways for inflammation or other irregularities. He was sleeping for the procedure, and was pretty groggy most of the day. Because he has this viral infection, he had to be moved to another room. His current room is no longer on the oncology unit as he is now on the medical surgical unit. But I guess this room has negative pressure, which is supposed to prevent the virus from infecting other patients in the building. How he got the virus, we don't know, but at this point, the doctors want the virus to run its course. He will be in the medical surgical unit until the virus passes, then he will go back to the oncology unit.

The WBC count of 3 that I told you about the other day was a fluke. His counts are still increasing, but right now, it is at 0.9, which is still good, as he started at 0.1 last week. So he's making progress, but not as huge of a jump as originally thought. This viral infection that he's picked up has put a bit of a bump on the road, but I know that the doctors are doing their best to get him back on track.

My tooth is doing ok, in case anyone is wondering. The pain isn't nearly as bad as it was yesterday, but it's still a bit painful. It's tolerable, so I'll be ok...:(

U of C Day 20 - Respiratory Infection

So I've been telling you guys that Leo's had this nagging cough that would just not give up. they did a CT Scan of his lungs last night and have determined that he has a respiratory infection. They are worried that it may be TB or pneumonia, but haven't made a final determination yet as to what it is. Because of this development, he has been moved to a different room, which is considered a respiratory infection room. It's still on the same floor in the same unit, just a few doors down. He is still allowed to have visitors, but NO ONE is allowed in the room without a face mask. So if anyone is anticipating coming to visit, please keep this in mind. And please, even more than usual, DO NOT come if you have a cough, sore throat and any other symptoms that might indicate a sickness coming on. Thanks so much for all your cooperation.

Also, I had to have a tooth pulled today (OUCH!) and have been in a lot of pain, so wasn't able to go to the hospital today. It also means that the pain killers and antibiotics they gave me will not allow me to donate platelets anymore. Leo still needs them. So if anyone has been thinking of donating, this would be a great time. Thanks again.

Have a great evening!

U of C Day 19 - Counts Up!

We got great news from Leo's doctors today. His WBC count was up to 3! His counts haven't been that high in 6 months, so this is a great accomplishment. Now that his counts are starting to recover, they need to make sure he'll be stable enough to be released. At this point their main concerns are the nagging cough that he's had the past week that seems to be getting worse and the fact that he still cannot eat. So they had him get a CT scan today of his sinuses and lungs to see what the problem is and why the cough is so persistent. With regards to his appetite, Leo's been trying as hard as he can to get at least a couple bites down. The doctors and nurses are monitoring how much he eats so he wants to to the best he can to show them that he can keep food down. He made some strides today as he was able to eat a half a pancake for breakfast and a half of a hamburger for dinner. Doesn't sound like much, but he hasn't eaten anything in the last week, so this is actually quite an accomplishment.

Kadence and Claudine had a wonderful day today. Tito Patrick and Tita Celeste took them to Brookfield Zoo to enjoy the weather. They had so much fun and we are so grateful to have such wonderful friends that have the courage to take our kids out in public. The girls have been stuck in the house a lot lately, so this is something they really needed. Thanks so much guys!

Hope everyone else was able to enjoy the wonderful weather today as I hear it's going back down to the 20's by the end of the week!

U of C Days 17 and 18 - Getting Better

All in all, it's been a pretty quiet weekend. Leo's nausea and that cough are still fairly persistent. It's been about a week or so since he's had anything to eat, as the mere thought of putting food in his mouth is making him sick. They decided to take another x-ray of his lungs since that cough isn't going away. The doctors have been hearing a crackling of sorts in his lungs and they said that may be a sign of fluid collecting in the lungs. So the x-rays will let us know if this is the case. The fever hasn't returned, so that's a good thing. The one bit of good news that wee got today is that Leo's white blood cell count is creeping up, which is an indication that his body is recovering and starting to generate white blood cells again. He went from 0.1 to 0.2 in the last couple days. It's a really tiny movement, but a positive movement, which is great. The doctors want to shoot for a count of about 5 or so before considering his release. At the earliest, they said if all goes as well as it has been, he may be able to go in about a week or so. But she stressed that this would be the absolute earliest that they would release post transplant. We're not pressuring them to release, as we know it's best for his recovery for him to be under constant care, but we just wanted an idea of what timeline we may be looking at.

So that's about it. Thanks to Patrick, Arvin, Raquel and Frank for coming by to visit. The visits that Leo's getting really lift his spirits and helps pass his days. So thanks so much for coming out and sparing some time for him.

Kadence and Claudine are officially out of daycare as of last week. Per the recommendation of the doctors here, we took them out to help minimize the germ exposure when Leo comes home from the hospital. So it's a good thing that they're out so we can all prepare for him to come home, but I'm wondering how long it will be before they all go crazy from boredom.

Hope everyone enjoyed the great weather we had this weekend! Here's to a stronger, better week!

U of C Day 16 - Quiet

Today was a pretty quiet day. Leo is feeling better. He still has his cough and is somewhat congested and he still cannot keep any food down. But the fever hasn't returned and overall he's feeling better. He was able to walk around a couple times today and hopped on both the treadmill and bike for a couple minutes each. So those are all good signs. His blood counts still haven't started to go up and that needs to start to happen before they can start talking about him going home.

Also, I wanted to remind everyone to try to head out to one of the bone marrow drives this weekend and Northeastern and North Park University. Please let all your friends and family know of the opportunity. Thanks for your support.

Have a great evening and enjoy this weekend's weather!

U of C Day 15 - Clear

After Leo's fever broke last night, they came in and took an xray of his chest to make sure everything was ok. His xray came back clear. So at this point, the doctors are saying that it's normal that he had that fever last night and that it's all a part of the recovery process. The fever did not come back at all today, but he's still feeling the nausea and cannot eat. So we'll take it. Yesterday was horrible and today was slightly better, but not great. We'll just have to take baby steps at this point. Leo needs another platelet transfusion tonight, so they will be giving him the unit I donated this past Monday. If anyone was thinking of coming down to donate platelets, now would be a great time to do that. Leo will be fairly transfusion dependent over the next couple weeks and it's really nice for him to receive the donations from people that care about him and want to support his recovery. Again, it's not an easy process and it will take about 2 hours, but this would be a great sacrifice for us. I am going to donate again tomorrow, just in case anyone was wondering.

Thanks to Patrick, mom, dad, Doll, Bing and Mike for coming out to visit today. Support of family and friends is essential at this point in keeping Leo's spirits up and keeping him strong. He is really missing home and being with the girls at this point. We do have Skype, but we all know that's not the same as actually being with the girls. So thank you to everyone that's coming out to support him and his recovery.

Have a wonderful evening!

U of C Day 14 - Fever and Cough

I'm heading home tonight so I want to make sure I post an update before I leave. Leo's been really sick all day. He's had a cough the past three days and it was getting more and more productive in the last 2 days. He's also had severe nausea the past few days that's been best controlled by drugs that basically knock him out for a couple hours. So it's been really tough for him. Just in the last hour, Leo's picked up a fever and they're a little worried. If it is an infection of sorts, they have to figure out what it is as soon as possible. So they just did a bunch of cultures and will be getting him a chest x-ray to see what is happening. So for now, he's just got meds to bring his fever down, suppress the cough and clear his nasal congestion. Hopefully this will be the worst of his condition, but we will just have to wait and see.

I will be sure to post as we hear more on his condition. Have a good evening.

U of C Days 11 to 13 - So Sorry!

I'm so sorry to anyone that I've worried by not posting the past couple days. I was actually quite surprised at how many people noticed! Thank you all very much for religiously following the blog. Things are ok here. Leo is just recovering from the transplant and fighting the effects of chemo. I've just been tired and lazy to post, especially since there hasn't been much going on. Leo is on meds 24 hours a day, mostly anti-rejection meds that will help his body accept the transplant. He will be on these drugs for several months, but hopefully when his counts start to get better, he can use the oral meds instead. There's a whole bunch of things that they have him on right now, I've totally lost track. But I'm sure they know what they're doing. He's also on frequent doses of various medications to keep his nausea away. He's been horribly queasy and unable to eat and weak, all after effects of the chemo he had last week. The nurses and doctors hope it won't last much longer, but we will see. He's actually feeling much better today than he has the last few days, so that's a good sign. I can only hope that was the worst of it, but I suspect it's not.

We've been regularly using Skype so that Leo and I can talk to the girls at home. Kadence has learned to use it on his own, so she knows how to give us a call if she needs to talk to us. So that's a nice thing. Again, if anyone wants to try to get hold of us at the hospital via Skype, we are using the ID patrick_legaspi . Thanks!

Also, I want to make mention of some bone marrow drives that are being held this weekend. They are being held by the AHEPA Marrow Foundation, led by Dr. Venetos, who originally helped us out in getting the drives together over the holidays. He is sponsoring a basketball tournament as a fund raiser for his foundation and will be holding bone marrow donor drives all weekend at North Park University and Northeastern University. I was supposed to be coordinating this drives, but given Leo's condition, I passed the torch on to Raquel Maloto, who has done a wonderful job of coordinating volunteers and getting the word out. If you or anyone else you know are interested in becoming registered donors, I strongly recommend that you stop by and register. It will only take a few minutes and you may have the chance to save the life of someone that is in a similar position that we are in right now. If you want more details on the drives, please visit www.ahepamarrow.com or email Raquel at raquel_maloto@hotmail.com

Thanks so much!

Skype

Thanks to Patrick, we've gotten Skype to work here at the hospital. It seems to work pretty well, but calls seem to drop now and again because of the wireless connection here at the hospital. But if anyone else is on Skype, we're using the user ID patrick_legaspi if you'd like to look us up. I will try to keep in on whenever, but again, with the wireless connection here, it'll be hit or miss. Hopefully this will be a good way for those of you that have wanted to visit to talk to Leo to get in touch with and see him.

U of C Day 10 - Recovery

So after the transplant was finished yesterday, Leo was feeling quite good. He started to get his appetite back and said he was starting to taste food again, which was great. We ordered pizza and he was starting to eat again, after not being able to for so long. But then today, his first attempt at food didn't turn out so well, as it made him very queasy just when the food hit his mouth. Since then, he hasn't been able to eat at all. In talking to the nurses, they said that the way he is feeling is a combination of the chemo kicking in and his body adjusting to his now non-existent immune system. His white blood cell count is at an all time low of 0.2, sobasically he has bottomed out at this point. His platelets were at 12,000, so they did another transfusion. They could not confirm which of the three donors (Celeste, Patrick or Nikcko) donated the platelets that they used, but it was a very full, almost double dose, so I have an idea which platelet rich friend they belonged to. So thank you again for donating. I will be donating again on Monday, as Leo will likely need platelets again in a few days.

So we really didn't do much else today except watch movies and hang out. Leo's pretty wiped out and not feeling too great. He's taking meds to help with the nausea, which is good. I think at this point, he really just needs to rebuild his strength. He's been getting up 3 times a day, as suggested by his doctors and walks on the treadmill for a bit to keep his lungs strong and take away the soreness of being in bed all the time. So he's really trying his best to get better as soon as he can.

We also figured out the video chat via MSN messenger. So we have been able to talk to and see the girls a couple times a day. It really helps Leo since he hasn't seen them in over a week now and likely will not be able to see them for a couple more weeks. Thank goodness for technology!

I guess that's it for today. Have a wonderful evening.

U of C Day 9B - Transplant Over

The second half of the transplant is over. They infused one unit of cord blood and it was fairly uneventful. Thank you to whoever the family was that donated that cord blood. It literally saved a life and we are so grateful! After all these weeks of waiting, it seems a bit anticlimactic that the transplant is over. But what's important is that it's over and now we being the journey of recovery. So what we are waiting for now is to see how Leo's body takes the cells. The doctors said that it will be about 14 days until Leo's blood counts start to improve. It will be a long wait.

Leo is feeling better now that he's slept off the Benadryl they gave him earlier. He's starting to eat again and says that he can start tasting food again. So those all seem like good signs, but at this point, we'll just have to wait. The doctors did say that he will go through a rough patch likely mid to late next week that could consist of severe nausea, severe vomiting and severe diarrhea. Not looking forward to that, but it's all part of the recovery process.

One thing that I forgot to mention last night is that we ordered pizza from Italian Fiesta Pizza, more commonly known as Obama's Favorite Pizza Place, or OPP. Hahaha....totally had to throw that one in. The pizza was pretty good. I can see why our Commander in Chief likes it so much. But really, the chicken wings took the show away. We were convinced they were laced with crack they were so good. So the place has my recommendation and I will certainly be ordering from there again! Just in case anyone was wondering...

If anything exciting happens tonight, I will update again. Otherwise, thanks again to all the good wishes and prayers everyone has sent today. We're so lucky!

U of C Day 9A - Transplant Half Over

Just giving you all a quick update. They have completed the first half of the transplant, the infusion of his mom's stem cells. There were 4 bags of stem cells that they infused (it just looked like a clear gel in case you're wondering) and it took about an hour for the actual infusion, maybe an extra half hour for all the prep work that was involved. There were 2 nurses that were present the entire time and 2 doctors that were present for the first 30 minutes or so. Leo did well. No allergic reactions or any other bad reactions to the stem cells.

He is due to start part 2 of the transplant between 1:30 and 2. They will now infuse the donated cord blood, which they said should only be about 30 minutes or so. I will be sure to update again when that is complete.

Things are looking good so far. Leo's just sleeping now as they gave him some Benadryl to prevent any allergic reactions.

Thanks to everyone for the support they've shown so far today. I'm getting all your emails, IM's and texts. I just may not have time to respond to them all. Thank you!

U of C Day 8 - Transplant Tomorrow

It's the night before the transplant and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about it. It's scheduled for 10am tomorrow and will take a couple hours. It's just going to happen here in Leo's hospital room, similar to a blood or platelet transfusion. First they will transfuse Leo's mom stem cells and then the cord blood. A nurse needs to be present the entire time to monitor the transfusion and make sure he doesn't have any bad reactions. Then we wait to see how his body accepts them. I will let you all know how it goes of course. Several have asked if they could visit this weekend. I will let you know after I see how things go tomorrow if it's a good idea or not. At this point, Leo's immune system is totally shot. They knocked it out completely in hopes of building it up again via the transplant. So the more exposure he has to germs, the greater the chance he could catch something. I will let you all know tomorrow afternoon/evening.

My attempts to download Skype and getting it to work were thwarted. Seems as though it cannot be downloaded onto either of our laptops. It may be the connection here in the hospital or it may be our computers. Either way, it didn't work. We had our IT support team (aka Paul) here this evening and he couldn't get it to work. For now, the best we can do is the video messaging service via MSN messenger. If you are on MSN, you can add me and we can attempt a video call. But the connection is goofy here, so it might not work. My MSN messenger address is brivera1017@msn.com . It's worth a shot. Leo was able to see Alaina and Claudine quickly this evening. Kadence was already sleeping. Hopefully we'll figure out the bugs soon.

Leo's platelets are doing well. He was at 22,000 for his platelet level. I keep attributing it to my platelets. They were donated with love, you know. :)

I will post tomorrow as things develop. Good night.

U of C Day 7 - Getting Closer

Not much happened today. Leo's still recovering from the chemo regimen of yesterday. He's been really tired and queasy. He hasn't been able to eat anything. So if anyone is planning to bring some sort of food for him, please don't bother anymore. He most likely will not be able to stomach it. He had another dose of chemo today and made his symptoms worse. Friday cannot get here fast enough. We just want the transplant to be over so he can start to recover. I went home today and needed to catch up on lots of laundry and other things around the house. I'll be heading back tomorrow. I will try to set up our Skype account tomorrow as well. I will try to use our video camera as our webcam. As soon as I figure it out, I will let you know how to get hold of us via Skype.

Special thank you to Lisa and her family for bringing over the wonderful dinner. The food was so awesome. It was so thoughtful of you and the girls LOVED both your dishes!

Tomorrow will be another day of chemo, but not as muchas he had been getting the past few days. Leo did need to have a platelet transfusion last night, around midnight and they were able to give him the platelets that I donated last week. It's great to be able to help out this way. I'm on the schedule again on Friday for another donation! :)

That's all I have for now. Have a great evening!

U of C Day 6 - Super Chemo

Leo got his biggest chemo dose today since he's been here. Three different doses throughout the day. One of the meds that he got required him to chew on ice chips 1 hour before the dose and 6 hours after. This was to prevent mouth sores. He was also under a lot of Benadryl, so was groggy and hazy most of the day. The drugs also made him feel really queasy and took away almost all of his appetite so he hasn't eaten much of anything all day. He's also telling me that the meds seem to have developed a goofy coating in his mouth and a funny taste. Totally not helping with the queasiness. Tomorrow and Thursday's doses won't be nearly as bad, so hopefully he can recover a bit before the transplant on Friday.

I donated platelets again today (a double unit) and coincidentally, we were just told that Leo will need a platelet transfusion today as his level is at 10,000 (compared to the 341,000 that they said I had). I'm being very Nancy Drew at this point trying to figure out if the platelets they are about to give him are the ones that I donated. I'll get to the bottom of it and let you guys know. I'll be back on Friday to give platelets again.

Patrick came to visit again today and brought some movies to watch that he is alleging were legally downloaded. But they're still in the theatres...hmmmm. After I posted last night, we did have quite a few other visitors, mom and dad came, Jerome, Gyneth, Chris and Glenna all came to show their support. Thanks so much guys!

Have a good night!

U of C Day 5 - Platelets

It was a pretty quiet day for Leo today. He only had one dose of chemo today, so he'll be able to take it easy before tomorrow. Tomorrow's dose will be the highest he's had since he started, so they have already warned us that it won't be such smoothsailing when he starts that. Mom and dad came to visit today, as well as Patrick, Nikcko and Celeste. Thanks so much to Patrick and Nikcko for the food from China Town that Leo was totally craving. We had a little platelet donation party this afternoon. Celeste, Patrick and Nikcko all donated platelets for Leo. The nurses were so glad to have had so many platelet donors. I wasn't able to donate because they only have 3 platelet machines. So I will go tomorrow instead. They did tell me that I have really high platelet counts (341,000), so now when I donate tomorrow and any other time in the future, they will be taking double units. So that's good. I really feel like I'm helping Leo out. That's about it for today. I think a few others are planning to stop by tonight. I will be going home to see the girls and will come back tomorrow. Later...

U of C Day 4 - Visitors

Today was a good day. Good thing we got the bigger room because Leo had quite a few visitors today: Dad, Tita Nena, Cecil, Celeste, Myra and her dad all came to visit today. It really helps Leo to be able to see everyone as it certainly keeps his spirits up. He'll probably still be good to see people for the next few days or so, until the chemo really starts to kick in and his blood levels drop. He did have to have a blood transfusion in the middle of the night last night, so I think they are already beginning to drop. So if anyone else is planning to stop by, I would do so in the early part of the week. The closer we are to the transplant date (3/6), the more difficult it will be. And after the transplant will be even harder, until his immune system builds up again. But please, please don't come by if you have any kind of cough, congestion, sore throat, anything. Thanks!

We will be installing Skype to one of our computers as soon as we get a webcam to use. This is what we will use so that Leo can talk to and see the girls. The doctors have told us that the girls cannot come to see him, as they don't want him to catch anything and possibly derail his transplant schedule. So it's difficult for him not to be able to see them, but he certainly doesn't want this procedure to be postponed again. So if any of you have Skype, it'll probably be the best way for us to keep in touch when the date gets closer. I'm not 100% sure how it works, but when we install it, I'll let you know the user name or password or whatever you need to know to get in touch with us.

I guess that's about it. Leo just had more chemo today and no bad side effects to report. He's watched Lord of the Rings, oh I don't know....57 times since he got in here. You'd swear he's never seen it before! He is also putting his new Kindle to good use. It's pretty awesome. So he's got enough to keep his time occupied.

Till tomorrow!