Updates

Hi everyone-sorry it's taken a while to update. I feel badly when so many people are asking for updates and I can't talk to each of you personally. Thanks first of all to everyone that's been asking how Leo's doing and showing their concern. We do appreciate it, just don't always have the chance to say it to each of you.

So a lot has happened since Leo was admitted on Friday. Most of the weekend was spent stabilizing Leo as his blood pressure when he came in was dangerously low. I knew it was bad on Friday morning when Leo told me that he needed to be admitted. But he's been feeling better since he's been in. Still not spectacular, since he still gets quite dizzy and is very unstable. So on Sunday, one of the ENT's came in a stuck a camera down Leo's nose, as the sinusitis that he was diagnosed with a couple weeks ago has not subsided. (the following might be TMI, so skip forward a couple sentences if you're easily grossed out) They found a HUGE, ummmmm growth (that's the best way I could describe bugar) that was bloody and crusty and basically trying to set up a permanent home on the inside of Leo's nose. I was mesmerized watching the video. I swear, the thing was almost the size of my pinky. It was really gross. So after about 5 different tools were used, the doctor finally got it out and Leo's been breathing much better since. That was probably the only "good" thing that happened since our stay here.

So today, Leo had a procedure to stick a camera down his throat to see what's going on in his stomach and why he's having so many issues. They found some internal bleeding and had to seal those points off to try to stop the bleeding. They don't know exactly where the bleeding was coming from, but they think they were able to stop it. He is actually going to have the same procedure tomorrow so they can make sure that the bleeding was stopped and determine the source of the bleeding. This bleeding is the reason that the blood transfusions he's been getting have not been holding. When he came in, they gave him 4 units of blood and have been giving him a couple units each day, but his counts haven't been holding. In addition to the bleeding, Leo has tested positive for a colon infection, which we were told is likely from the string of anti-biotics that he's taking. So they have to switch up his meds a bit to help treat that. Finally, other tests they performed showed that his sinusitis has gotten worse from what it was just a couple weeks ago. This would explain the pressure and dizziness that he's been feeling. So right now, it seems like all these conditions are snowballing and the team here at the hospital is trying to attack each ailment as it comes. The other good piece of news is that despite all this, Leo's white blood count has gone up to 4.0, which is great considering everything that's happening. So we'll take that piece of good news.

I guess that's about it for now (that's more than enough if you ask me). I will update tomorrow as well when the results of his tests come in. Thanks again to everyone for their prayers and support. We love you guys!

Back at the Resort

Leo was admitted at U of C earlier today. He's been feeling exceptionally crappy this past week and the last couple days were really tough. He hasn't been able to keep anything down, even his Ensure. He's been vomiting quite a bit and has been experiencing quite a bit of dizziness. We knew he had to come in. So we called his doctor earlier and she got him a room. As hard as we've tried to keep him out of the hospital, we know he needs to be here right now until he stabilizes a bit and the doctors can figure out what's going on. Today, they have a bunch of gastro intestinal specialists looking at him. Hopefully they can get to the bottom of things.

Please send some prayers our way today. Thanks. I will keep you posted as things develop.

Getting better, slowly

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Since Leo's birthday, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster for him. He still had some nagging bug that was keeping his counts down to 3.1 or so, and it was very frustrating for us all. He's been coughing like crazy, but they did a scan and his lungs are clear, so they think he may just have a sinus infection of sorts. Given that he's already on several anti-biotics, they want to re-evaluate his meds to see if maybe there's something they can give him that would attack the sinus infection directly. Good news is, just this past Monday, his WBC went up to 4.9! Let's hope that count will stick and continue to rise. He also had another biopsy earlier this week, so the doctors can see what's going on in his marrow. We should get those results by next week.
The biggest problem is getting Leo to eat. He's pretty much not been eating for months. This week, he's trying little things here and there which is way better than the ensure a day diet he was on since back he was in the hospital. We just have to find the right foods for him to take.

Other than that, he's kept fever free and just continues to see his doctors every other day. So let's pray that things continue to get better.

Also, I am going to be scheduling a bunch of Donor Drives in the next month. If you are interested in volunteering this holiday season, please let me know as we will need a lot of extra hands. Also, if your church or organization would welcome a drive, please let me know and we can coordinate.

Happy Birthday Leo!

Most of you already know, but Leo's birthday is coming up this Sunday (10/25). It's been such a crazy year since he turned 40 last year and we had to cancel our family trip to Disneyland because he was hospitalized, but we're here. He's doing better, not great, but I'll take better. I just keep hoping that his counts continue to go up and that he doesn't pick up any infection or sickness. It will be extra difficult now with the colder weather coming up and all this Swine Flu scare. What's important is that he is at home here with us and getting better. I cannot wait for him to make a full recovery so that our life can get back to semi-normal. It's been difficult, but with the support of friends and family, Leo has fought to get out of the hospital and get better. The girls are so happy to have him at home, even though he can't play with them like they're used to. Claudine has been telling her teachers at school that she is so happy that her daddy is home. She says, even though he just stays in the bedroom and rests, I can go there and talk to him. When I hear stuff like that, I really know how important it is to the kids that Leo be home.

If you want to get hold of Leo on his birthday, he doesn't really have his cell on him much, but if you message him through Facebook or send him an email at leorivera25@yahoo.com , that would probably be best. Have a great weekend everyone!

Detour

Leo has been doing really well. As of last Friday, his WBC went up to 5.6! Over the weekend, though, he was feeling exceptionally weak and could barely get out of bed. When he went to his usual appointment at U of C on Monday, they almost admitted him because his blood pressure was so low. In addition, his WBC had dropped to 3.1. Luckily, his pressure came up a bit and he had no fever, so they let him go home. They ran some blood tests on him to make sure he doesn't have some kind of bug, but we haven't heard back form those yet.

Yesterday at Sherman, he was better and his WBC is creeping back up, and was at 4.2. So we're hoping the episode on Monday was just a little detour and things will continue to go up after this.

Leo's birthday is this Sunday and we were thinking of having a gathering of friends, but since he's not feeling great, we'll postpone to another time when he will be able to enjoy everyone's company.

There is a donor drive today at NIU in Dekalb if anyone is in the area and has not been able to register. I've emailed the details to my regular distribution list, but if you need them, please contact me!

Have a great day!

5.0!!!

More great news today! Leo's WBC is up to 5.0! What's important is that the doctor has also requested that he stop his neupogen injections, which are supposed to help him produce more WBC. So that pretty much means that he is increasing his counts on his own! This is so exciting-I can't even express it properly on this blog. I just feel like we kept getting bad news after bad news and then this week, it has totally turned around! More good karma everyone!

Have a wonderful rest of the week! :)

4.1 !!!!!!

You read right! Leo was at U of C today for his regular appointment and transfusion and his WBC is up to 4.1!!! The nurses are doctors were all so surprised! This is the good news that we've wanted and needed for so long! Originally, the doctors said around 23-30 days is the magic time for the WBC count to start to go up, so when Leo had hit the 60 day mark and there was not yet any improvement, the outlook wasn't looking good. Now that he's past the 70 day mark, I don't think a jump in his WBC was really what everyone was expecting, but here it is! Science is definitely powerful, but I'm telling you, there's something beyond that. Just the comfort of Leo being home has helped him to heal and recover better and we couldn't be more excited about this development! Let's hope this is the start of a whole lot of good news!

I also want to send another thank you to everyone that participated in the Light the Night walk in support of team Hope4Leo! Thank you to everyone that walked with the team yesterday-it was cold, but so worth it! It was so much fun and I will certainly lead another Hope4Leo team next year! A HUGE thank you to everyone that donated funds to the team! This was the first year I joined the walk and through everyone's generosity, Hope4Leo was the third top fundraising team at the walk this year! Thank you all for your kindness-although you were not there with us in the 40 degree weather walking (brrrrrrrrrrrrr), we felt your support there as our teeth chattered the whole 2 miles! Leo is totally overwhelmed with everyone's kindness and sacrifice....I think the success of team Hope4Leo has contributed to Leo's recovery!

I hope to post even more good news soon-it will be a great week! :)