DOT +19

Sorry for the missed post yesterday, we threw a massive super bowl party- two of our good friends from Greensboro drove up for dinner and watched the game! For us, that is a party!! We were too tired after the game to post afterwards, and headed to bed.

During the night Burns ran a low grade fever, not high enough to be alarmed, but high enough to make it uncomfortable for you to sleep. I guess you could say we started the day off on the wrong side of the bed. All day he has struggled with nausea and terrible headaches. The PA told him he could take some Tylenol before bed as long as he doesn't have a fever. Normally you can't take tylenol because it masks fevers, and fevers indicate infections. He has been having to take pain pills to dull the headaches, but Tylenol works better. We are hoping for more relief tonight. I came home for the night, so Derry is taking care of him, so of course he is in excellent hands!! Derry has always been there whenever we have needed her, which I greatly appreciate.

We have some news to report. They ran a test last week to determine whether any of the graft (John's cells) have set it. The clinic does not normally run this test until day 30, but since Burns numbers jumped up so high so quickly, they ran it early. It came back negative, which means none of John's cells have set up shop. This is not to say they won't, it just hasn't happened yet. Right now we are so grateful for all the doctors and staff at the clinic. It is obvious that everyone from Dr. Chao, to our favorite PAs, have been in deep conversation on the best action plan. They have decided to leave everything as is. Even though his white blood cells count is below 2, and normally they would give him a shot, they don't want to disturb anything. So basically it is a waiting game until day 30. So, what happens when we get the results back from that test? If the graft has set in be a marginal percentage that the doctors are satisified with, hallelujia! If not, more than likely, Burns will have to undergo a second transplant. Since his immunity is already down, he will not have to have as much chemo as last time. He will have one day of the same three as last time, but will also have a low dose of radiation. There was a very brief discussion whether to go to a bone marrow donor bank or not, but they quickly decided that John would be the best bet. He will have to go through the exact same procedure as last time. The doctors shot it to us straight. Of course they are hopeful that the graft will work, and everything will continue smoothly. But they did not lean towards one way or the other- remained neutral. So now, if you prayed before, we need you to step it up!! Burns is a strong man, and will not go down without a fight. And if he gets tired, he has all of us to help push him back up. My husband is a remarkable man, and has not wavered yet, and I don't expect him to! He will beat this!!