Warning - - Stem Cells at Work.......

Wednesday was Day +12 and Florence’s 1am blood draw showed that her stem cells have grafted (technical term for ‘found their home in her bone marrow’) and her White Blood Cell count was 400 (normal is 4400 – 11000) ..... three days ago they were near zero. The Medical Team has started talking about releasing her in the near future so I left Wednesday night at 2100hrs (9pm) to return home to spend Thursday and Friday getting the trailer ready and packed.

During the day on Wednesday Florence’s narcotics were reduced. With the new narcotic she was still hallucinating 24/7 and she was narcotized (technical for ‘put into stupor’) to the point that the Medical Team decided they would rather her be in a little more pain vs. falling and injuring herself. Her throat still hurts, mouth looks so-so, and her GI tract is in an uproar, so the pain is still present, but safety first. So the continuous narcotic dose was halved and by the time I left for home, Wednesday night, she was down out of the fog and able to navigate alone to the restroom. Now don’t get me wrong, the drug still had her carrying on some rather unique conversations with people I have yet to meet or see. Maybe they live under her bed…. No wait, she said she saw them drive past the window earlier…. (By the way, her room is on the 5th floor) The best part of this is when she wakes up and knows just what she was doing and saying. The look of ‘Say What???’ on her face is priceless!!!!! David, RN told her not to worry about it because in 72 hours when she comes off the narcotics she won’t even remember these days….

This morning at 0830 hours she called me to let me know that she had already walked the halls (better than walking the street I guess) and she had drank 12 oz of juice. Now, yesterday water had felt like acid in her mouth. Tonight she eat her first food since Nov 1, breakfast, then a little lunch, and then for dinner she ate soup, mashed potatoes, and some ravioli…. then threw it up... but at least she can eat. (note to self… take it slow … moderate amounts at first)

By the way, her Thursday morning Blood Counts show her White Cells at 1000. Her Red Cells and platelets should start coming up soon. Now we wait to see if her new stem cells can support her system, building it strong enough to get her cell counts to normal levels.

I will be returning to Portland on Saturday morning. I’m attaching a picture of her pole buddy from Wednesday. She should be able to shed most of it soon. These show part of what she get everyday.

Again, we thank all of you for the support, friendship, prayers, and good wishes. It helps to know we are not alone in this.

Past my bed time....
Larry

PS - In regards to the nessage below.... It is interesting to think that Florence grew up in Santa Monica...... hummmm

PSS Stop all snail nail to OHSU after Saturday (10th) because we should be gone before it arrives....