Engraftment Finally!

Mark has finally engrafted and he is no longer nauseous. His white blood cell count is up to 3.49, and his absolute neutrophile count (ANC) is above 500. (Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that fights against infections. A normal ANC is above 1,500 cells per microliter; less than 500 cells means neutropenia and significantly increases the risk of infection.)

Mark and Dianna have had to spend an extra two hours at the hospital the last couple of days because Mark needed potassium and they wanted to get his level up. The best medicine for that?? Banana smoothies!

Mark can have company now as long as they are not sick nor have been in the last few weeks. Dianna said she is finally letting him out of the "East Wing". Apparently she's had him locked away in the bedroom to prevent him from ending up in the hospital with a staph infection or anything else for that matter.

Mark is still very weak and will be for awhile. He is off the antibiotics and Dianna is no longer hooking his IV up in the evenings and through the night.

Mark and Dianna will go back to the hospital tomorrow for labs. If everything looks good, they will set up a clearance appointment with Dr. Zangari. The next thing on the schedule is a 2-month break!

Still No Engraftment

Mark's white blood cell count has only increased to 0.17 so unfortunately engraftment has not yet started.

Mark and Dianna will go back to the Huntsman tomorrow for labs. If his count has increased enough, he will be able to stop taking the medication.

He is still getting a morphine shot when they arrive at the Huntsman and then again before they leave. This seems to be keeping Mark really tired but pain free for most of the day.

Mark has had a fever. The good news though is that he had a blood culture test yesterday and nothing grew from it so that just means that his body is trying to fight the Myeloma and graft new cells.

Hopefully tomorrow will show a jump in his white blood cell count.

Have a good weekend.

Support and Encouragement

Dianna has been reading all the comments to Mark that everyone has been leaving for him on the blog, and he looks forward to hearing from you all. He is down in the dumps right now and your comments really help raise his spirit.

Thanks so much for all of your support and encouragement.

White Blood Cell Count on the Rise

Today is much better. So far, Mark has not thrown up. In addition, his white blood cell count is at 0.11, so it is on the way up!!

Engraftment has started, however, the bone pain has set in and Mark is miserable. He is taking a few pain medications, plus they have given him a couple of shots of morphine. He will continue taking the pain medication tomorrow as needed.

Mark is still unable to eat solid food. He said everything tastes like Melphalan (the chemo drug). Dianna has been able to get him to eat a smoothie and he is keeping it down. Better than nothing!

More of the Same

Mark has been about the same today. His white blood cell count is down to 0.07 -- about as low as it can go. As soon as his count starts to increase, his intestines will go through a repair cycle and his nausea should end.

Andrea, the PA, does not think Mark is having a bad reaction to any medication, however, she won't rule it out either. Mark will continue on the same meds for the next couple of days and then hopefully engraftment will start on Friday. Once that happens, Mark and Dianna will not have to go to the Huntsman every morning.

Mark is still extremely tired and weak.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

This morning started out good -- Mark was tired but not sick. He was able to keep down some hot cereal.

After arriving at the Huntsman and getting hooked up to the IV, however, Mark has literally been sick and tired. He has slept a lot today, and when he's not sleeping, he's very nauseous.

Tomorrow they will meet with Andrea, the physician's assistant. Dianna will ask her if it's possible that Mark is having a bad reaction to one of the medications he has been taking.

Hopefully engraftment will start on Friday. Again, engraftment is the point at which the body starts to reproduce white blood cells and platelets needed to fight infection.

On the Right Track

Another day better than the last ... Mark was able to get a smoothie down today.

Mark was evaluated at the Huntsman today and his white cells have hit bottom at 0.21, less than what he hit with DPACE. (DPACE is consolidated chemotherapy that Mark was given just before the stem cell collection in early January.)

Today Mark had the first of many stomach x-rays to keep a watch on his bowels. Dr. Zangari wants to continue treating him with caution.

He has not been able to take any of his meds orally, so most have been given to him through IV. Mark was given a Fentanyl patch for pain that so far is not doing much for him. He was also given the Neulasta shot today which will stimulate the bone marrow and likely cause bone pain (hopefully not as bad as during DPACE). He will try to take some meds this evening to prevent some of the bone pain and hopefully he will be able to keep them down.

The good news is that Mark's nausea is finally gone. The bad is that the chemo drug, Melphalan, strips the lining all the way from the mouth to the intestinal tract, and Mark continues to have to deal with spitting up the nasty effects of that. Chewing on ice helps with preventing mouth sores but there's nothing you can do to help the intestinal tract.

Dianna will continue giving Mark his meds through an IV until Thursday. They have been told that her doing this has been a big factor in keeping Mark out of the hospital. Dianna -- we all appreciate what you are doing more than you'll ever know!

So to sum it all up, Mark is not throwing up as much, has started eating a little, has some pain that is about to get worse, and he is extremely weak.

Oh, and Mark is still bound and determined to make it to the Dunes in 3 weeks even if he has to be delivered there in an ambulance. That's better than having to be driven OUT of the Dunes in an ambulance!