Day 24 Admission Day 4 Hi DAC

Hi everyone,

Well, Bob continues to hang in there. He's showing the effects of the steroids again with his full face and red cheeks. Also gained 17 pounds from fluid retention. He receives a liter of saline every 8 hrs. via IV's, and this has caused his BP to hang around 150/80, so this afternoon he got a diuretic to get rid of some of the fluid they are pumping in. His hgb is up today after the blood, but he needed platelets, and was quite dopey and thick-tongued when I arrived at 10:30, from the benadryl pre-med. He didn't walk today b/c his BP goes even higher w/ exertion, and felt like washing up was enough exercise. Also still getting winded w/ activity. The final report of the bone marrow biopsy showed that the leukemic cells(blasts) were quite high after the first round, in fact they are up to 90%. I spoke w/ one of our drs. today and he said that AML from MDS(myelodysplasia syndrome), or what they refer to as secondary AML, is very unpredictable, which makes it hard for them to get a handle on it, since it does not respond like primary AML. Again this is nothing that we haven't been aware of. We never expected remission after the first round. We are however hoping and praying that the high dose will do the trick. We have not discussed any options beyond that point. Bob will finish this round on Monday, and have a repeat bone marrow one week after that. But for now we are taking this one day at a time. He still has to go through his counts crashing(their term) from this round. And in that vein, Bob requested that the oral surgeons come back again to check his gum wound, which they did about 2 hrs. after he asked. They are pleased w/ how it looks, and I am thankful that our drs. respect Bob enough to listen to him. I checked in w/ Bob when I got home(after a TWO HOUR RIDE on the road that must-not-be-named), and he was eating his dinner, and thinking about taking a lap or two this evening. Oh, and the last chest x-ray that was done was clear. Sorry, one of the things I kept forgetting to write.

Now, I'm sorry Bill, but Bob wanted to tell you that the Easter pie was savory...eggs, ham, ricotta...thinks it's called pizza rusticana or pizza gaina(spelling?). Also you were probably too young to remember.

And to Kathi I have to ask...Are you serious about bkh and Cooks Illustrated? Are you talking about the same bkh whose specialty when her kids were growing up was Chicken in the Red Sea(Ragu)??? Do tell. Bob and my inquiring minds want to know. Gee Bon-Bon is getting a lot of "air time" here for someone who doesn't write!!!
Okay, no further food discussions.

One other thing I've forgotten for days is to thank Joanne Nasife for stopping in to see Bob. Joanne is the daughter of one of my tennis buddies, Cathy, and is going to be working at HUP as of May 1st(she's a nurse, as well as a lawyer). But of all places in this huge hospital, she's going to work on Rhoads 7. So thank you Joanne and good luck w/ your latest endeavors. I'm sure we'll be seing you soon.

Bob and I also wanted to say hi to one of our "games night" crew, Shirley, who had knee surgery today. Hope everything went smoothly and I'm sure "my MSC girls" took good care of you. And to the other games crew members Bob says "Stop playing Poker" or fight nice. Also, Lee, since we didn't win, do I still owe you money for the lottery tickets??? Just kiddin.

Thank you as always for your support. Please keep the prayers for remission going. We need them more than ever, but remain hopeful, and are keeping our "peckers up".

All our love,
Bob and Mo