Hi All,
Here is a run down of what has happened this last week with Detlef's fight against ALL.
Tuesday, January 24th, Detlef got to leave St. Joseph's hospital for a couple of days to be at home with family and his dog Chance. That was the momentous day when we found out that not only is Dietmar a match, he is a "perfect" bone marrow match. I know that many of us were in tears at this amazing bit of news. With that one announcement, Detlef's chance of beating this cancer went from about 40% to 70%. Detlef felt quite good while he was home, and especially getting to have a sleepover with Chance.
Wednesday, January 25th, Detlef was still at home, and felt good enough to go outside and walk, and enjoy the fresh Colorado air. He basically had a great break from the hospital being at home, and getting to spend time with his dog and with Karma, Juergen, Dietmar, and Jennifer. Karma has mentioned many times about how great the basement apartment is that Jen and Dietmar have set up for Detlef.
On Thursday, January 26th, Karma picked Detlef up to take him to the new hospital which is closer to their home. Detlef on this day was feeling pretty terrible. He had a very bad headache, body aches, and a low grade fever. When they got to the hospital, it took a little longer than they were anticipating getting him admitted, and Detlef was miserable. Karma was quite concerned that day, because it is always hard to see someone you love in pain, and you can't fix it. Especially if it is one of your children. Finally, Detlef was given some pain medication, and blood work was drawn, and things calmed down a little. Detlef and Karma met the new oncologist, Dr. Brown, at this point. He felt that the severe headache was probably due to the spinal tap, where they removed spinal fluid, and injected some chemo to help prevent cancer from spreading to that area. As a nurse, I was actually pretty amazed that Detlef didn't have any of these side effects right after he had the procedure, because they are pretty common.
Friday, January 27th, Karma got there to meet with Dr. Brown, and Detlef, while the doctor was doing rounds. Karma said that she got to officially introduce Detlef to his doctor, because the previous day, Detlef was so miserable he didn't really get a chance to talk with him. On Friday, Detlef was able to work most of the day on his computer, because he felt pretty well. The second round of chemo was started on Friday, which includes even stronger medications than the first round.
Saturday/Sunday January 28th, and 29th. Chemotherapy continues, and Detlef is feeling a lot of fatigue. Fatigue is something that is very common when undergoing chemotherapy. The first round of chemo tends to not be too bad, but the cumulative effect of the second round tends to make you feel much worse. We need to all keep Detlef in our thoughts and prayers, as he goes through this second round. When I spoke with Karma this afternoon, she had left the hospital to allow Detlef to take a long nap. She was going to be returning there around 5 pm to check on him. The nice part about him being closer, is that it is easier for everyone to come and go for short periods of time because it is not very far from their homes. Karma said that the nurse Detlef has had for the last couple of nights is from Pakistan, and she is very sharp. She printed off a lot of information about the chemo that Detlef is receiving for Jennifer to look over. Everyone is thrilled to have Jennifer there to decipher the medical things that are going on.
Some updates about the bone marrow transplant: Detlef has an appointment on February 7th to see the bone marrow specialist. We'll call him Dr. B. because his last name is foreign, and difficult to pronounce. At that point, they will start looking at when this will take place. Karma is not sure on the timeline, but it could be within the next few weeks. A lot depends on how well the chemo goes, and if Detlef goes into remission quickly. They are also going to continue to test his spinal fluid, and to give chemo into his spinal fluid, as a preventative measure until the bone marrow transplant occurs. They don't want any cancer cells spreading to that area before they can kill them all off in his bone marrow.
My husband, Scott, had a question about why Detlef would need a bone marrow transplant if he goes into remission. My understanding, in Detlef's case, is that because of the aggressive nature of this kind of leukemia, they need to get the bone marrow transplant done as quickly as possible to improve his chances of living. If he goes into remission, and they don't do the transplant then, the cancer may come back very aggressively, and will spread to other places in his body, and that will decrease his chances of survival long term. If the bone marrow transplant is successful, then the risk of it spreading and/or returning goes way down.
Karma again commented to me today how grateful she is for friends and family that have been so supportive of them. She can't believe the outpouring of love, friendship, and caring from so many. She said that so many people have sent cards, letters, facebook messages, etc., that have lifted everyone's spirits.
She also mentioned today, that our family needs to plan a big trip to Disneyland when Detlef is feeling better. I know that we will all be up for a celebration when Detlef is feeling better as well! Karma is going to try to get me some pictures to post, so as soon as I have them, you will all get to see them.
Keep all the prayers, positive thoughts, cards, letters and facebook messages coming! We love you all, and appreciate all of the tremendous outpouring of love and concern.
Lisa
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