MD Anderson 1/15/2011

Danny and I ended up staying in Houston until the day after his appointment.  We got to the hospital around 12 pm and didn’t leave MD Anderson until 6:15 that evening.  I just can’t stop thinking about how positive Danny is all of the time. After getting his blood drawn twice, seeing two doctors, two nurses, a physician’s assistant, and a transplant fellow, Danny still made the rounds to say hi to the nurses that took care of him while he was living at MD Anderson. (And on top of that he hadn’t even eaten the entire day!  I, however, was another story…  I was about ready to tackle the last doctor we saw, as he left Danny in the waiting room for an hour and twenty minutes before he was able to see him.  I even earned the nickname the “little assassin,” which I am extremely proud of, mind you.   That’s what happens when I don’t eat for over eight hours; I kid you not, I was super grumpy.  But not Danny.  He was joking with everyone, laughing it up, and helping everyone who looked lost.)

I’m not sure exactly what is going on with Danny’s GVHD.  Danny of course makes the best of everything.  The glass is always half full in his eyes, so even if he says he’s okay, I can’t help but wonder what his definition of “okay” is.  What I do know is this:

• Good news:  Danny’s tremors are gone and he looks as handsome as ever!
• Not so great news: Danny has chronic GVHD.
• He finally admitted that his joints hurt and that he has been having intense bone aches lately.
• His white blood cell count has been steadily increasing over the past year and is up to 6.2  (Last January, his White blood cell count was 4.0.)
• His immature granulocytes percent is 0.5, which is high.  In October, it was at a more normal level of 0.2 percent
• Danny’s Basophil Absolute count is 0.02 and it needs to be at 0.00.  If this level does not decrease, or if were to increase, then the Danny will have to have another bone marrow aspiration the next time he goes to MD Anderson.
• The Doctor doubled Danny’s CellCept dosage and wants to talk with him in 2 weeks.  CellCept is an immunosuppressant, which should help keep his body from attacking the transplanted marrow.
• For his joint pain, the doctor recommended that Danny take anti-inflammatories.
• Furthermore, Danny was informed that if his levels get any higher then they might add a Gleevec pill into the mix.

Danny, of course, does not want to be on any more medication, so we really need to pray that his blood levels normalize and that his body develops a tolerance to the transplanted marrow.  If I find out anything else, I will definitely update the blog.  If anyone has any questions, feel free to submit  a comment bellow or ask it in the cancer forum and we will be sure to respond.