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September 22, 2006 , Day 43
Friends,
I consulted with the Radiation/Oncology people today. The information was good and I feel fairly comfortable with the idea of getting full body radiation. I think my doctor wants to do that because there is evidence that the radiation is slightly more effective than chemotherapy alone for the type of Leukemia I have now.
We are starting to have a glimmer of a plan. Next week will be very busy with preparation for the transplant process. I will be going in to the hospital for lab work and dressing changes on Monday. On Thursday, I will be going to Radiation/Oncology for what is called a simulation. During the simulation they take a CT scan of my entire body. They use this to determine the amount of radiation that is given to each part of my body, and to fit me for a lung shield. They don't want to irradiate my lungs, because that can cause severe problems. Thus, they make a lung shield that I will be using. Once the simulation is done, they will create a plan for my radiation treatments. After the Simulation, I have a visit with my doctor to go over the plan for a last time, and sign consent forms, etc. Some time in the week, I will be visiting with the vascular surgeons to get a Groshong catheter put into my chest. This is what will be used for the transplant, rather than a PICC line. Hopefully, the Groshong will be put in on Wednesday, so I can do the first follow up of that operation on Thursday while I am at the hospital anyway.
The actual transplant process will start the following week. In the evening of Monday, October 2nd, I will check back into the hospital, so I will be ready for the process to start on Tuesday. The process starts with 3 radiation treatments spread 4 hours apart on Tuesday, starting at 0800. This will be repeated on Wednesday and Thursday, with two radiation treatments on Friday. I think I will get one day of Chemotherapy on Saturday. Sunday and Monday will be "off", with no procedures scheduled. The actual transplant will be on Tuesday, October 10th. I expect I will be in the hospital for two to three weeks after that date. Then we start the long recovery process. They expect this transplant to be harder than the last one.
No lab results from today yet, but they haven't called me, so I guess it is OK. We will pick it up on Monday and include it in our update then. My CT scan last Monday was excellent, and showed my pneumonia was gone.
No labs today.
Lab Results |
Blood Cell Type |
Normal Low |
9/16 |
9/18 |
9/20 |
9/22 |
| WBC |
4.5 |
6.4 |
10.2 |
nr |
nr |
| RBC |
4.3 |
3.22 |
3.41 |
nr |
nr |
| HGB |
13.9 |
10.4 |
10.9 |
nr |
nr |
| PLT |
130 |
256 |
310 |
nr |
nr |
Until next time!
Menchie and Ted
tw@wilcoxent.com
mench@wilcoxent.com
www.wilcoxent.com
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