IT'S UPHILL AGAIN!

Today Sharon was admitted back into the Hospital. Pushing Lasix failed to accomplish what we needed and so we had to admit her in order to have the fluid removed. Also over the past week she has developed a new cough that has caused her a lot of sleepless nights and so this will also be an opportunity to check everything out and make sure our treatment plan is the right one. While she is there they will also give her her next round of Dacogen since her white counts are headed in the wrong direction again. The condition with her lungs is called an Pleural Effusion, which is the collection of fluid in the Pleural Cavity that prevents the lungs from expanding. Today they did a Pleuralcentesis or the removal of fluid from the left side. They removed about a liter and a half of fluid. Tomorrow they will remove the fluid from the right side. She was doing pretty good tonight but was in some pain. Hopefully that will go away quickly. The doctor is hopeful that removing the fluid will eliminate the shortness of breath that she is having and enable us to get off the oxygen. We are all for that! We hope that this is a short stay and she will be home by the end of the week or before. She is hanging in there and as always "WE CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH FAITH." We love you all and thank you for your continued faith and prayers.

ENJOY THE FLAT WATER

As we wrap up another week it has been one of pretty much holding our own. Sharon's white count finished the week at 8.6, about the same level as the prior week. She had a chest x-ray on Tuesday that pretty much told us the same things as the cat scan. The pneumonia is pretty much cleared up but there is a large amount of fluid still remaining. We're not really sure whether the increased lasix is helping, but we do know it has not resolved the problem. She is doing pretty well over all, but still lacks any kind of stamina or strength. We will continue the current course through next week and then begin Dacogen treatments again on the 29th. Also on the 29th we meet with the Doctor and will decide whether or not we need to move forward with having the fluid removed if it is not gone. We were pleased that Sharon was able to attend the marriage of Dale and Eileen's son Doug in the Los Angeles temple last Saturday. It was a beautiful service and we were very glad to be there. It was a long but wonderfully fulfilling day for Sharon.
We like all of you continue to pray for miracles to occur. We remain optimistic and "CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH FAITH."

DOWN HILL RUN!!

I'm sure that you all have been frantically checking your emails wondering why I haven't made a post in forever. As if that's all you do with your time. I have been waiting for the results of a Cat-Scan that was done last week so I would have something interesting to say. Well, finally I have got some results and so here goes. The scan showed that the lungs were fairly clear, with no abscess as they had previously thought. There is a lot of fluid still in them which is causing her shortness of breath. We had a couple of options to deal with the problem and took the one least dangerous. They have increased the amount of lazix that she is taking to see if that will get off the extra fluid. If that doesn't work then she will have to go into the hospital and they will remove the fluid with a syringe into the lungs. Because of her low platelet count that presents some risk, but worth taking, because we must resolve the pneumonia in order to move forward.
She completed another round of Dacogen on Friday and her white count is responding nicely. It was up around 23 and is now back down to 11. The doctor said this is better than he anticipated and so that is great news. She is feeling good but weak and is short of breath, but we are having fewer fevers and she is sleeping much better at night. Goes to show that "E" ticket rides run down hill as well as up, and we certainly appreciate that. Yesterday we celebrated 43 years of wonderful marriage and hope you all put our 50th celebration on your calendar for 2015. As always, "WE CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH FAITH."