June 30 2004 DAY #246
Friends,
My appointment today went real well. Everything was pretty normal. The doctor was a little concerned about the cold I had and looked for GVH it might have caused, but didn't see any. No problems!
I would like to share with you the story of a brave young girl, and ask you to pray and remember her in your thoughts. Her name is Alexis. Her grandmother works at SAIC, the company I work for. Alexis was diagnosed with Leukemia (AML) in February of 2003. Following her original course of treatment, she was in remission for about 5 months, but in February of 2004, she was diagnosed as relapsed. In April of 2004, she had a Stem Cell Transplant from a Matched Unrelated Donor at City of Hope. She has been doing quite well until a couple of weeks ago, when she got a staph infection and was re-admitted to the hospital. Subsequently, she has also been diagnosed with pneumonia and infection from Cytomegalovirus (CMV). Lung cultures have have shown a fungal infection with Candida. She is also starting to struggle with Graft Vs Host Disease (GVHD). In the midst of all of this, this wonderful little girl has been selling crafts she made and sponsored a Team in Training runner preparing to run a marathon in honor of Alexis. Last year, Alexis led a small Light the Night Walk team and raised $1500.00 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. On Sunday, she had a great victory in her life when she was able to eat a hot dog! This little girl is a great warrior. Details of her story can be found at her web site at: http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/alexispellicane/index.htm
.Team Mzima is working to help brave girls like Alexis. Will you help?
On the medical front, my feet are really bothering me. That is the major problem I am having right now. My energy levels are up, and I feel pretty good most of the time. I just can't seem to hit my stride as long as I have numbness and pain in my toes. The doctor cut my Cyclosporine completely today. He also said I could stop taking Alpha Lipoic Acid, since it doesn't seem to be doing anything. I tried to convince him to stop the blood pressure medicine, but he wants to wait a couple of weeks to let the Cyclosporine in my system wear off. My creatinine was down to 1.3 this time! I am slowly beating it back to normal levels! Maybe I should say I am drowning it.
Lab Results |
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Blood Cell Type |
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| WBC | 4.5 | 4.7 | 6.3 | 4.1 | 3.8 |
| RBC | 4.20 | 4.37 | 4.10 | 4.46 | 4.08 |
| HGB | 13.0 | 13.2 | 13.0 | 14.2 | 13.1 |
| PLT | 130 | 245 | 207 | 235 | 221 |
Have a great day!!!
Ted
tw@wilcoxent.com