U of C Day 18

Leo is still in the ICU. He is much better than he was yesterday and he is stable. The CT scan that they did yesterday showed that he did have some bleeding in his head, but it was not enough to warrant any procedure. Which is good news. They said that the bleed is small enough that it can be -re-absorbed on it's own. they did another scan today and preliminary reads on the scan indicate that the bleeding is not getting worse. Which is also good news. Leo's fever is gone and his blood pressure is stabilizing. He is starting to have some fuzzy and double vision though, so they are still keeping a close eye on him. If tonight is uneventful, they are saying that he may get transferred off of ICU. So we will see what tonight brings.

One good thing about being in ICU is that they allow kids on the unit, unlike the transplant unit. So after getting approval from the doctors, I was able to bring the girls to see Leo. This was a great spirit lifter for him as he hasn't seen them in person since he was admitted, which is going on three weeks. So he was so happy to see them. They all had to wear masks, gloves and gowns, but at least they got to see their daddy. They were being closely watched by the doctors to make sure they didn't trample Leo or have too much contact with him. So they only go to visit for about 10 minutes. But it's still 10 minutes he didn't have before.

They have started him on a clear liquid diet for now and will start phasing foods in again over the next couple days. He's still very tired, but feeling better. I will update you further tomorrow. Good night!

U of C Days 12 through 17: ICU

Most of this week was pretty uneventful until today. I was at home with the girls and got a call from one of Leo's doctors here at U of C. He told me that Leo had a seizure this morning and it lasted about a minute. He had a fever this morning and they think the seizure may have resulted from that, but it may have also resulted from one or some of his meds. There are some other more serious reasons that may have caused the seizure, so they are doing a bunch of tests on him now to rule that out. He still has his fever and now has a sore throat and productive cough. After discussing further with the nurse that was taking care of him at the time, she said he may have had 2 seizures, the first he was on his own and the second happened when she and the doctors were in the room, as he was laying in his bed unresponsive. He is stable now, just feeling like crap from all the drugs and his still uncontrolled blood pressure.

That's all I have for now. Hopefully we will get more details tomorrow. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

U of C Day 11

It's been a fairly uneventful day today. The only thing is that Leo's blood pressure is kind of high, they're monitoring his blood pressure constantly. The doctors are still deciding whether or not to start him on blood pressure medication, as they think the counts could be a side effect of a couple of his medications. Other than the blood pressure issues, Leo is doing ok. Still doesn't have much of an appetite and is easily fatigued. He still welcomes any visitors, as he is really starting to miss his friends and family, or you can IM him on MSN (leorivera25@hotmail.com) or Skype him with user ID bernadette-rivera.

Enjoy your week!

U of C Days 10 and 11

This weekend was pretty uneventful. They have started Leo on some of the meds that he used to take before, like neupogen to help increase his white blood cell count. So just like last time, that's the magic number that we need to wait to see increase. At this point, he's a 0.1, which is the same as he has been for the last couple months. Ideally, they want to see that number get closer to 3 or 4 before they will let him go home. Let's hope it won't take that long. He's feeling ok post transplant, just extremely tired, as is expected. But overall, he seems to be doing ok at this point. He's just sick of being here and misses the girls. We skype every night, but it's just not the same. So let's just all hope that the next couple weeks will pass quickly and that Leo will be home again soon. :)

So, now that the transplant is over, he's on some contact precautions. He can still have visitors (and totally welcomes them, btw), but they require you to wear gowns when you are in his room. As always, if you have any cough, cold or sniffle, please stay away. Also, there are no kids on the unit.

Hope you all had wonderful weekends! Happy Monday!

U of C Day 9: Transplant Day

All in all, the day went well. I got here early this morning with some breakfast for Leo, but all his meds have ruined his appetite and he hasn't been able to eat much at all. Originally, he was supposed to start his transplant at 10am, but due to scheduling problems, they did not start until 1pm. They brought out the first bag of cord blood cells and it's tiny, about a 3 inch square. It's really amazing how much a little bag can be so powerful. After they infused the first bag, Leo's blood pressure went dangerously high, so they had to call the doctor in to check on him. He advised him to take some blood pressure medication to bring it down, which they did immediately, but apparently, it made his blood pressure go way too low. There was a lot of chaos going on, as there were a couple nurses and a doctor in his room trying to regulate his blood pressure. Had it gone any lower than what it was, he may have had to be admitted to the ICU. Luckily, quick action on the staff's part, brought his pressure up to a safer level. All the while, Leo's head was throbbing painfully because of the drastic changes in his blood pressure.

After his pressure came up a bit, they were finally able to infuse the second bag of cells. That one went smoothly with no adverse reactions, so that's good. Right now, he's sleeping off the medications they gave him pre transplant.

According to the doctor, it should take about 2 weeks for the cells to kick in and his counts to start to recover. Let's hope that's the case and that we don't run into any complications. Thanks to everyone that sent prayers and good wishes our way today. Every little bit helps. Today is they start of Leo's recovery journey and let's hope this time will work out better.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend. It's supposed to be a hot one in Chicago this weekend-be careful out there!

U of C Days 6 though 8

Leo finished up his rounds of chemo and radiation Wednesday. Thursday (today) was a day of rest for him and tomorrow is the transplant. Again, they're doing a double cord transplant. I believe they will infuse the first unit around 10 am and the second around noon or 1. I will be sure to keep you posted on his progress.

Thanks to Glenna, Patrick, Maricris, and Celeste for coming by to visit. Leo really appreciates it. Although he may have been really groggy at times (sorry Glenna!), he knows that you're there for him and it makes him feel better. I will be starting my leave from work tomorrow and will be off for 2 weeks, so will be at the hospital most of the time.

Please pray for Leo and keep him in your thoughts tomorrow as he undergoes his transplant. Thanks again!

U of C Days 3 through 5

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours was fairly uneventful, which is actually good. Leo started his chemo on Friday and was getting two doses each day. He isn't feeling horrible side effects yet, but based on our experience last time, it will not hit till about a week. He is starting to get a weird coating on the inside of his mouth which I remember from last time. He says it leaves a funny taste in his mouth and a somewhat oily feeling. Doesn't sound pleasant at all, nor does it look any better and it's making him lose his appetite to eat. So that is the worst of his symptoms so far. He's also getting these crazy hiccups that won't go away. Kinda funny at first, but then theyprevent him from sleeping, which is not good. Hopefully they will go away soon.

He started his first doses of TBI on Monday. First dose is at 9am and second at 5 pm. With transport and all the treatments take about 2 hours. He was a bit nervous yesterday morning, but after he did the first treatment, he said it was ok. A bit claustrophobic, but fine. Again, not feeling the side effects of this treatment either, but I suspect it will come around later this week or just after the transplant, which is scheduled for Friday.

They cancelled the ultrasound that I mentioned in the previous post. The elevated counts that they were concerned about normalled out, so they didn't see a need to do it anymore. One less thing to worry about.

Thanks so much to everyone that came by to visit this weekend and yesterday! Nalini, Arvin, Patrick, Allan, Vanessa, Karl and our parents. It really lifts Leo's spirits when he has visitors, so we really really appreciate it. At this point, I think knowing that our friends and family are there for us is the best form of healing for him. Thank you again.

Also, as people have been asking, the best way to get in touch with Leo is either by MSN messenger (leorivera25@hotmail.com) or via his Facebook account. He's actually been more active with the account I created for him. He posts status updates on what's going on at the hospital and the games help him pass the time (Mafia Wars! Hahaha....) Also, he's usually on Skype (user ID bernadette_rivera), so you can try that too. So if you're looking to get in touch with him, these ways are usually the best. If he doesn't recognize a number that comes up on his cell, he won't answer, so try these other ways instead.