79 replies to this topic

[Susan61]

My prayers go out for your brother-in-law, and he is so blessed just to have such a loving family going through all this with him.  Take care of yourself and your new baby that will be coming.

Nobody, not even the doctors can tell you what will happen after the Transplant.  Just keep praying and have Faith that he will be fine.  He has been through so much, and he sounds like a real fighter.  That is so important.  Please keep us updated on his progress.

Susan

[PinkHat]

Hello everyone and thank you for your best wishes! We do hope that Christmas will bring us good and the New Year will be a healthy and happy one for all of us. I wish you all the same, you know that your names are added in my prayers every day. My brother knows of you and believe me or not, he is very interested to find out the  experiences that you share with me here. I told him that Trey said that having fever is not something that unusual and he seemed to be like: "ok, I am not the only one, my situation is not one of a kind, there are more people who went through the same and made it..." Honestly, I don't tell him everything, but I have to keep him going with all that's positive.... he gets really scarred when he gets fever, which is 3-4 times a day. Does anyone know if having fever is a high risk factor after the transplant?

Indeed we tried to concentrate on what needs to be done and family members take turns calling him, so it will not be a day without phone calls from one or two of us... we don't want to call all at once and we want to keep the encouragement consistent every day. My mom keeps him updated on the progress of the work at their newly built home and he is always so excited thinking that his kids are going to enjoy their beautiful home and the yard and everything.

Sometimes he looses faith, even though he was more religious than my sister ever was, and he cried a lot lately. Besides that he had a problem with a small wound on his lower lip and that prevented him to eat for almost two days. It became a problem because the blood would not cloth ... We begged him to eat... yesterday he was better.

Today his mom will visit him for the first time since he got sick (God forgive me for thinking how could she not come until now?! She lives in Romania, but God, it is so close to Italy!!!), but it is not my place to judge anyone. I hope her visit will cheer him up and I cannot wait to talk to them today. Deep down I know he is a fighter, but he suffered so much and I know all of you here know better than me what that means.

Anyway, no "medical news" except for the fact that he got fever twice yesterday. Also an acquaintance of ours (his daughter and our Francesca are in the same class at kindergarten, that's how my sister met the guy), who works there as a nurse, stopped by his room yesterday. He encouraged him, he explained him in detail what the transplant is, what's going to happen, and he also told him that for so many years working in the hospital he never saw two people reacting the same after the transplant. He said that our bodies are so different in the way they respond, that he does not necessarily need to think of what's worse. It is going to be hard, but, God help us, he will be back to his wonderful kids and my sister in a few weeks. We all pray for that and I don't know how to thank you for keeping the chain of good thoughts going on and on.

Best wishes and our continuous prayers go to you and your families! God Bless You!

Talk to you soon,

Olimpia

P.S.: Thank you for your wishes to me and our beloved baby. I know it sounds awkward, but we could not fully enjoy the news even though it means everything to us. Our family is sooooo happy with my other brother's baby coming in less than two weeks and another baby on the way., But we feel just like in old Romanian fairy tales with a King whose right eye was laughing and the left one crying because he had everything but a son, we do hope and pray that within a few weeks we will laugh with both eyes.

[Happycat]

Olimpia,

Thank you for the update.  I was wondering what had happened.  I hope the transplant goes well and is a success.  I will keep your brother-in-law in my prayers. 

I'm very happy to hear about the new baby, too.  May the Lord continue to bless you and your family.

Traci

[PinkHat]

Thank you, Traci.

We hope and pray that everything would be fine. Two more days until the transplant.

Now... my dear friends... I have some good news: HE DID NOT GET FEVER THE LAST THREE DAYS... THANK GOD!!

Speaking about fever... as I wrote my previous response message to you I realized that I asked a question that Trey already addressed... yes, the fever is a risk factor. (Thank God it went away!)  I guess the baby brain thing tricked me this time. Sorry for being stupid.

Thanks again to everyone here... you are in my prayers every day!

God bless you all!

Olimpia

[PinkHat]

Hi everyone!

Today was the big day: the transplant was completed with no significant problem. My brother feels well and he is very optimistic. He did not get fever in 4 days now and everything seems to be ok except for the fact that he feels nauseous and he cannot eat all the food they bring. He prefers veggies, cannot eat any meat.

Other than that, let's pray for a good night without problems. I will keep you posted.

Happy Hanukkah for all of you celebrating and talk to you soon.

God Bless You All!

Olimpia

[Dina]

Hi Olimpia,

So glad to hear that the transplant went with no problems,

I'm going to pray it stays this way.

Wishing your brother in law a fast recovery!

Dina

[PinkHat]

Thank you, Dina!

We pray for his fast and complete recovery every day. Just recently his daughter turned 4 years old and during one of our multiple phone conversation she told me that "Daddy's going to come back for my birthday"... no one ever told her anything like that, the only thing that we always told her is that daddy is in the hospital and he will come back when he gets better. I guess she misses him so much that she presents her desires as future facts. She is such a smart and beautiful kid...

Now, the updates:

He feels good, no pains or some other unbearable effects. It is just nausea, diarrhea and fatigue that bother him. Today he also complained about his eyes burning, but not to a level that would make it unbearable. Anyway, we pray that the side effects will stay in this range without any increase in intensity and hopefully they will disappear soon.

I just called him a minute ago, but I guess he is sleeping... he did not pick up the phone. I will try later on to see how he's doing. The family can visit him, only one person a day and the doctors said that he might be home in 15 days if everything goes well. Let's pray it's going to be like that... and it will.

That's all I have for now, I know it's not much, but at least it's good news.

Blessings,

Oli

[Judy2]

I am so happy that things are going well and I pray they continue that way. Please keep us updated and know that we are all here for you.

Judy

[Tedsey]

I mostly lurk these days, but I have been following your story.  Blessings to you and your beautiful family.  May your brother's SCT be uneventful and completely successful.  I cannot help thinking that what your little niece said is a good omen.  Here is to your brother-in-law coming home for her birthday and being home for many, many, many more.

I hope you are feeling well and enjoying the baby growing inside you.  Life is such a miracle. 

Here is to a New Year filled with only good news and good fortune and loads of happiness for you and your family,

Happy Holidays,

Tedsey

[PinkHat]

Thank you very much, Tedsey for the good thoughts. Same wishes from me and I hope the Holiday season will bring everyone health and joy.

God Bless You!

Olimpia

[PinkHat]

I NEED HELP AGAIN, I AM VERY, VERY CONCERNED AND I DON'T REMEMBER READING ANYWHERE ABOUT IT.

My brother feels really well, no significant side effects, but he has been told that he has aplasia. I looked it up to see what exactly is that. I figure it out that in the hematology field, it is used to define an incomplete or defective development of cell generation process or simply a failure of a normal process of cell generation and development in the bone marrow.

Is that normal during withing the following days of a SCT? Is that also a word that doctors use to define the waiting process until the engraftment takes place? I am confused. To be honest, I never expected that his brother's cells will not work. The match was pretty good and the doctors were really happy the day they harvested his cells, saying that they selected very good ones.

Please help me if you know anything about it or if any of you heard or faced a similar situation.

Thank you,

Olimpia

[Trey]

Of course he has "aplasia" (very low numbers of bone marrow blood cells).  His marrow was wiped out by the chemo, and the donor cells have not populated yet.  If he did not have aplasia, you would need to be concerned.

A doctor should not use such terms with patients.  He should simply say that the marrow looks as we would expect at this point.  In another few days the donor cells should begin to appear in detectable numbers.

[PinkHat]

Hey, Trey!

Have I ever told you you're an angel?

Thank you very much for your post... I was concerned especially when I read about the failure thing... On the other hand, I know the engraftment takes a little bit longer, it is not a 3 day process. And yes, you are right, the doctors should explain what's going on instead of using these terms...

I THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

God Bless You and Happy Holidays!

Olimpia

[Susan61]

Hi Olimpia:  Just catching up on all the latest with your brother-in-law.  Prayers still going out for him to start to lead  normal life.   YES, Trey is our angel.  He has given us advice and information that we do not even get from our doctors.  I am also praying for a lot of new miracles in 2012, as many here surely need them.  Enjoy your Christmas and God Bless You and your whole family with some new beginnings.

Susan

[PinkHat]

Hi, Susan and Happy Holidays to you, too!

I thank you for your good thoughts and wishes and I hope that the new year will bring everyone health and joy.

The last update: He feels good, but he got fever today. He also complained about a painful pharynx. I understand that different reactions of the digestive system might occur, so I am not that worried about that. What really worries me is the fever, let's hope that it will stay in a range that can be controlled especially now that his medication is very attentively administered.

The family can still visit him, only one person a day and the doctors hope that the engraftment will start within 10 to 15 days, that's what his medical observation papers are saying, my sister read to me from there today. Also, she told me that last blood test showed that he has zero white blood cells. I know that this means he is basically without defense right now, but in a controlled environment. At the same time I guess it is also a good thing if chemo wiped out as many white blood cells as possible, that's the whole idea, isn't it?

Also, he had platelets transfusion today because his numbers are extremely low... he always had this problem, you know already.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. I will keep you posted.

God Bless Everyone!

Olimpia

[Susan61]

Hi Olimpia:  It seems like everything is going along as they expected it to.  Sometimes, even a fever is the body's way of fighting for you not against you.  Everybody is pulling for your brother-in-law with lots of prayers, and for the family to get the strength they need to help him.  Just keep us posted like you said.  Its all in God's hands now that the transplant is done.  Just think about how far he has come in this whole ordeal.

I hope 2012 is better for everyone not just in health issues.  ITs been a rough year all around.

Take Care and God Bless

Susan

[PinkHat]

Hi everyone!

Just the latest news: my brother got fever for 3-4 days in a row now... two, three times a day and that's our biggest concern. We don't have any blood tests results yet, once we will have, you will be the first to know.

The painful pharynx is still bothering him, but other than that, noting noticeable.

We wait, wait and beg these cells to take over... In the mean time, I read some posts in the Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation, but I did not find many describing this issue of such frequent fever after the transplant. It is true I have not read all of them, I am sure people experienced the unthinkable, let alone fever.  I also know fever can be one of the multiple side effects, but he had this issue for a long time now. We just pray that it will go away once the engraftment takes place... so help us God!

Blessings and A  Healthy New Year to everyone!

Olimpia

[Trey]

There is a Pre-Engraftment Syndrome that includes fever.  If it is not steady fever and is not more than about 2 degrees high, it could possibly be that issue.

https://docs.google....nkPNKtDh5JVgQ9A

[PinkHat]

God Bless Everyone!

I am just letting you know that I posted the next message in Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation. Someone suggested to me that it might be helpful to get feedback from people who experienced a transplant as well as post our experience so everyone who might go through a  similar situation could find the story. I really want Valentin's journey to be of support to anyone looking for hope and good thoughts in similar situations. 

Here's the link:

http://community.lls...e/129154#129154

I thank you with all my heart! God Bless You All!

[Susan61]

Hi Olimpia:  Your brother-in-law is fighting really hard to let this all go well, and he sure has had a lot of prayers going out for him.  Just Let God Finish The Job.  He has been through a lot, and he needs time to heal.  Apparently the fever is something that can develop.

     Please keep us updated as he gets well again. 

Susan