Jan 21, 2010

Today is 1 Year plus a day since Adele's autologous stem cell transplant at John Hopkins!!!

Last week on the 14th we had our 1 year checkup in Baltimore. Blood work, CAT scan, bone marrow extraction, 4 of 5 immunizations, full physical and head doctor's appointment were all done - in that order - by 2:30 PM. We had arrived at 8:20, just in time for the 8:30 appointment.

Blood work was good, showing an good increase of platelets, some liver damage (we basically knew that), elevated thyroid numbers and all else was good. The CAT scan showed a return to normal size for the groin lymph nodes, while a question arose about one under her arm. The bone marrow was clean, no cancer there.

During the head doc's appointment, we heard about all of that, with a caveat about the enlarged lymph node under the arm. He said he wanted to hold back his final opinion until he saw the actual CAT scan, not just the lab tech's report. He also said he might consider a PET scan if he wanted to see the area clearer. As I understand, the CAT and PET scans together give a clearer picture of what is going on. Not that either is very clear. They are talking about a 2 mm increased, while the CAT scan only takes a picture every 3 mm. He also talked about the liver damage - never drink again (like that is a big problem with Adele - she only thinks about a drink once in a blue moon). He also said there could be thyroid damage, something called a "lazy thyroid", which could cause most of her symptoms lingering with her.

Today we are at the Lancaster Health Campus getting the PET scan and then back to Ephrata for a Dr C appointment and discussion about the thyroid - most likely tests will be done to see what is going on.

After all the tests are in - I will post something about how the results looked.

Pray for Peace in Adele
Pray for Haiti and all the families that lost so much
Thank you - Rick