Yesterday, Monday, was Doug’s day to have his blood chemistry evaluated again by Dr. Mandell. One of the blessings we count is that Doug has very prominent veins from which to take blood especially now that he has lost weight. Facing a blood drawing is not a big deal for him.
It is amazing to us how the phlebotomist can draw the vials of blood from Doug and, thanks to computer and medical science, 15-20 minutes later a preliminary report is in Doug’s physician’s hands so he can advise us and make any adjustments in Doug’s treatment protocol.
In ways I don’t understand the blood chemistry is also sent from our Center at Huguley in Fort Worth to Dallas for additional evaluation. Within 24 hours a much fuller report is electronically sent back for Doug’s doctor and his records. I get a copy, too, and file all his lab reports in our notebook. We are just now learning how to read them to be able to see Doug’s progress!!
The news I want to share with you is that for the first time since probably even before July and his first hospitalization on Monday Doug’s white blood cells, his red blood cells and his hemoglobin are ALL in the normal range. This is huge for us! We want you who have told us you are praying for Doug to please give thanks to God for this important milestone.
After we left the Center we had prayer together in our car. To show you how excited Doug was, on our way home Doug asked his driver—me!—if she would stop at the grocery store. It was so fun to see him walking (albeit slowly) through pushing the cart through the aisles gathering a few things that just sounded tasty to him.
One thing Dr. Mandell wants to do to confront Doug’s weakness is to readjust some of the strength’s of the pain and primary medications. During the visit he had me delete 3 prescriptions from our routine. None were the pain or chemo drugs. But elimination any prescription drug is another huge thing for us! Let me tell you why.
Each doctor in the hospital prescribed what Doug needed to “slam” the myeloma. During his hospitalizations he had three physicians. Upon discharge we had 14 different prescriptions in bottles lined up on our dresser. My job is to distribute the medications to Doug as prescribed. That is why—thanks to a friend and former home health nurse—I have to chart and each time I give him a pill, I mark it on the chart. The BIG news is that as of yesterday we are down from those14 different bottles of pills to just 6 different medications bottles!!!!
Today, Tuesday, we did some of the readjusting that Dr. Mandell suggested to us yesterday. We haven’t had a good day. He told us to try something different tomorrow. Eventually we’ll hit on what a balance is for Doug.
Regardless of the slight set-back today, we are encouraged. We’ve been told by one who has gone before us to get use to the unexpected being the norm. We are not out of the woods but we may be out of the jungle.
I went to bed with a smile on my face last night. ~Carole
