Mon, 7.28 - Pneumonia and WBCs

Today was nothing short of eventful. I'm back in KC after one night in Chicago. Initially I thought I'd let those of you reading regularly down by not understanding and posting things correctly, but really we just got more clarity from Ganguly this morning. The lung issue is basically pneumonia.

It has not gotten worse than it was. However it hasn't gotten better either. And that's what we need to have happen. We need to see some improvement over the next few days to set us on the road to positive health and a bone marrow transplant. She needs to be 100% healthy before they can do it. Thus Mark and I are rallying around her as are all of her siblings and parents to help in the fight.

The challenge is people with myelodysplasia (Mom's pre-existing anemic condition) take longer to regrow their white blood cells during this part of the treatment. Doctors are pretty dang sure the leukemeia's 'licked' as Mom says. But we need the bone marrow to regrow and produce some WBCs to kick pneumonia's butt. So she and I are doing a lot of visualizing and praying for new white blood cells tonight. Can I get a W-B-C?! And we're doing the same for elimination of the pneumonia...every breathe more leaves.

As I was typing this, I did get confirmation that her WBCs were up to 0.4 today. That's a good sign. We just need it to trend up and not dip back down as it possibly could. The funny thing I just realized is it's ironic that the Cubs wave a white flag with a blue 'W' on it for a win. It sounds like just the decoration for her room.

Back to Mom. She did show signs of improvement this afternoon by requiring less oxygen (60%) than she had earlier in the day. And while she upgraded machines from a CPap to a BiPap, she went back to the CPap for a bit. Now she's resting comfortably with the BiPap on. The difference between the two is how tightly the mask is held onto her face. The BiPap has straps across the top and both sides that are of a cloth material. It's also pressurized to her face, forcing the lungs to open up a bit more than she might get them to open. And the CPap basically has a plastic strap that goes around your head similar to a construction mask you'd buy at the hardware store. The nurse refers to it as more of a 'blower'.

In closing, I want to ask everyone to keep upbeat as we hope for an improvement in the near future. We need the prayers and positive vibes more than ever!