Thanksgiving Eve

Jim's home now. PET Scan scheduled this Friday am and needle biopsy of lymph node scheduled next Wed., Dec. 2 in am. Young Jim spent the night with him last night and tonight, Carlos, the aide we hired will come from 11:00 pm til 7:00 am which will assure me of another full night's sleep. We're going to Ellen's pre-school Thanksgiving program this afternoon and to Kathleen and Dan's tomorrow for Thanksgiving. May you all have safe travel this weekend and enjoy your various family gatherings. Love, Barbara and Jim

Diagnosis: TIA

After MRI, Ultra-sound, and Echocardiogram, the conclusion by the doctors is that Jim had a TIA (transient ischemic attack, commonly known as a "mini-stroke"). He is perfectly fine and the doctor ordered an Aspirin a day as a preventative. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Barbara

A Scare

Jim was admitted to Arlington Hospital last night for observation. Yesterday, about 3 pm he started talking and all that came out was this garbled language--nonsense words. I called the ambulance right away thinking he was having a stroke. The symptom lasted about 10-15 minutes and he seemed all right afterwards, the CT scan was clear--no bleeding in the brain. Joe was with us all the time in the ER. Jim has had an MRI this morning, and is waiting to have an ultra sound of his carotid arteries. A neurologist was called in last night and she will meet with us this pm to discuss all results. What next, Lord????? Barbara

Bad News

We went to NIH yesterday and Jim has a lymph node that is enlarged in his left groin. Doctors feel it is most likely a return of his cancer. They will schedule a needle biopsy of the node and a PET scan to see if there are any internal nodes that are enlarged. Needless to say it was very disheartening news and we are still trying to process it. Jim sleeps most of the day, is very depressed and discouraged. Can't say I blame him. It has been advised that we postpone the hip surgery that was tentatively scheduled for Dec. 11 and we will go for a meeting at NIH on Dec. 10th. By that time all of the tests should be completed. Don't give up on us with your prayers as we will need all the help we can on this journey. Thanks for your love and support. Barbara

A Boost for Jim's Immune System

Jim had blood drawn Monday and hemoglobin OK, but neutrophils even lower at 195 (normal=1700-5400). Nurse practitioner called from NIH when he got the report and said the doctor wants to start Jim on Neulasta which is a longer lasting Neupogen-type drug which will raise the neutrophils. So tomorrow we will go for his reevaluation at NIH and he'll get the shot then. Barbara

Long Story to Update You All

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately. We were doing fine until 10/14 when Jim's right hip dislocated (it was the left hip twice in July) while we were at our house on LBI. Went to local ER where it was manipulated back into place. Jim was doing fairly well, although still netropenic, when that right hip went out again on 10/24 AND again on 10/25--both times manipulated back into place under general anesthesia in OR in Virginia Hospital Center. But this time Jim continued to have severe pain in hip and two orthopedic opinions recommend revision surgery. Well he's not a good candidate for surgery with no active immune system (risk of infection too high) so the oncologist recommended waiting to see if neutrophils come up and, if not, giving him a shot of Neulasta (a long acting Neupogen-like drug to raise neutrophils). Then last week he was hospitalized at NIH with a rapidly falling hemoglobin (hgb.) (oxygen carrying red blood cells). A CT scan showed a huge hematoma (pooling of blood) in the muscle of his right hip. The docs theorized that the bleeding caused the falling hgb. and the pain--all this from the trauma of 3 dilocations and 3 manipulations. They transfused him with 2 units of blood and monitored hgb. 3x/day until it tapered off. He was discharged on 11/10 and we go twice a week to check CBC (looking at hgb. and neutrophil counts). So we're waiting and being EXTREMELY CAREFUL with his right hip. Next week (11/19) we will have a reevaluation of his CLL and lymphoma at NIH. Barbara,