The last few days have been both good and not so good for Doug. We have been told it would be this way as his system adjusts/reacts to all it is being given to beat the cancer and engraft the stem cells.
On the good days Doug has been sure he would beat the odds and not have any more nausea. Not so. It comes in waves. We do have medication to keep it in check but sometimes it requires more fluids which we get in our daily clinic visits.
Yesterday was Doug's birthday. I gave him a card with a roller coaster on the front--and a pill case with S M T W TH F S on it for laughs. He received Happy Birthday baloons from his administrative assistants and recieved bags of sodium chloride, ondansetron and dexamethazone through his central line from the clinic!!!!
We have been asked if the stem cells were treated to know that no tumor cells were in the two bags Doug received. The PA we spoke to about this said that the cells go through the FLOW process at the blood bank and he thinks they are radiated as well. It is a question we have asked before but we want to ask the doctor whom we have not seen since the infusion. Physician's Assistants (PA) and chemo nurses are who we deal with daily.
To date Doug has remained an out-patient and we are very thankful for that. They warn us that the next couple of days could still be Doug's low points as indicated in his daily blood panel where the numbers are still "too high" to say he has hit bottom. I don't think they like to say exactly what he can expect because every body reacts differently.
The main thing that would send him to the hospital will be a fever. There is probably less bacteria to be concerned about out of the hospital than in it! What they do tell us might occur often does come true. We are amazed at the science behind all of this.
I was talking with a post doc man who is doing a neuroscience fellowship at the medical center here. His interest is in stem cells as it impacts Parkinson's disease. He told me that they are now using skin cells (at the follicle level) and multiplying them into stem cells in the laboratory (like they do umbilical cord stem cells) to make a fluid they can inject into the skull to the area impacted. The stem cells then regenerate the area that has been affected. He is Chinese and returning to China to partner with people doing this in his home country. (Now there is room for more information in this area to be sure as we had a very limited cross-cultural communication on the subject but that is what I took away from it.)
On Sunday I was discussing this with the PA who affirmed the fact and told me that there is also someone in the hospital right now undergoing a stem cell transplant procedure they are using to combat her multiple sclerosis. Perhaps it is the "learner" in me but I want to read up more on these new treatments. The teacher/student in me wishes I could tour some of the labs and see for myself. On the other hand there are probably plenty of mice and rats I'd have to overlook.
Perhaps you saw the television piece when the three powerful evening news anchors from ABC,NBC, CBS came together. They were promoting something that will take place around the world and on each network September 5th. You can go to the website http://www.standup2cancer.org/to see for yourself.
The point they were making in their broadcast is that we need to find better ways for those doing research in a particular cancer to collaborate, funds to do so being one of many limiting factors. The goal is to eliminate this horrific disease that is no respecter of age, gender, or culture. Because Doug's future, as so many others, now depends on additional research I, for one, will take more interest. If you, a reader, struggles with another terminal disease I do not wish to diminish that fact. I'm just sharing what is on my heart and wish for the day that will end all suffering.
~Carole
