T + 101 Back in Atlanta for Testing

Monday, January 22, 2007
[I tried to post this last night, but could not get a network connection from a neighbor]
Karin and I leave the house at 6:30 am. It is drizzling and cold, but we make it to Northside Hospital in ~40 minutes. We are early for check in and that takes only 5 minutes, then we are off to Radiology to wait for my Pet-CT. The person scheduled ahead of me is stuck in traffic, so I get to go early. They check my blood sugar, good at 90 and put an IV line in my arm, and give me some contrast to drink for the CT portion of the test. Soon I’m off to the scanner truck. They inject me with the radioactive sugar (fluorine-18 [FDG]) and leave me reclined in the dark for it to do its thing. After a trip to the restroom to remove the accumulated FDG, they do the scan.

In the Radiology waiting room, Karin and I see a patient and his wife that we met when we were first here. He had an allogenic (donor) transplant and has had lot of medium to heavy duty setbacks. His transplant was successful, but he has developed new/different cancers. We continue to keep him in our prayers.

I eat a slice of my pizza and my banana as soon as I am through with the scan. We get Karin some lunch (a salad) before we go the BMTG clinic. My bloodwork is at Noon. The tech is able to use the IV line for all of my bloodwork, no additional sticks. Next is my pulmonary function test (PFT).

Next is the bone marrow biopsy. We have to wait a while for the lab technician from the hospital who will prepare the slides. Both nurses are very good. They give me IV drugs for the pain and prep the sites with Lidocaine. There is very little pain, only some pressure in each hip.

My white count has dropped again. So I get a shot of Neupogen. This is the second low drop in the last 6 weeks. They collect some of my snot after squirting saline up my nose to test for particular viruses. I am to call back on Wednesday for the results of that test and to see if they have any other preliminary results.
WBC: 1.6, NE# .78, low, but not severe neutropenic
RBC: 4.53, increased from 4.06 last week
HCT: 41.1, increased from 37.4 last wek
PLT: 115, down from 147 last week

I was incorrect in reading my schedule. I did not meet with the post-transplant coordinator or my doctor. So I have no relief from any restriction yet. I have my follow-up appointment scheduled for Wednesday, February 7th. I am scheduled to see Dr. Negrea on January 31st.

Karin and I were able to meet Lindsey and her dad Andy. Lindsey’s mother Tina e-mailed us when we were here previously. They had been reading my blog. A mutual friend had told them about my blog. Lindsay has done here preparative chemo for her Leukemia treatment and will do harvest and transplant in the next month or so. Her goal is recovery (and a little hair) for her wedding planned for July. I hope that my blog is/was a help for her and her family. We keep them in our prayers.

It was good to see all the familiar faces in the clinic. We miss them, we don’t miss having to be there.

On our way home we noticed a few helicopters in the Stone Mountain area as we approached Karin’s Folks’ home. We were passed by several speeding patrol and unmarked cars. As we pull in the drive, there are several police/sheriff cars blocking the road directly across from the Wilson’s. It could have been a meet and greet by the SWAT team but just up the street, a man served with an eviction notice by the sheriff sent his son out, but grabbed a rifle and barricaded himself in the house. Sometime later he shot himself. (I’ll post pictures tomorrow).

Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts,

Mark