Plan 'B'; Days 3 and 4

I had the pleasure of spending most of the weekend with my best friend and wife, as she continues to be a relentless warrior in her fight against this disease. I am still in awe to see her remain happy and bright, even though she doesn't feel very well. Her spirit has never failed during this whole adventure, and everytime I'm around her, God touches my heart, and lets me know that He is not more than a whisper away, watching over our situation.

We started the weekend with the handoff from Penny on Saturday afternoon, after a near terrible Friday night, caused by the after-effects of the 1st dose of Mylotarg. Christi will receive 3 doses - one each on the 1st, 3rd, and 7th days. Neither Penny nor Christi got any sleep at all, and it was nothing but tough on both of them. Fever set in, along with nausea, a bladder infection, and other unmentionables that are probably best left out of this forum. Like Christi's brother Gary said, "The good news is that the Mylotarg is working, and the bad news is that the Mylotarg is working !" We knew it was going to take a toll on her, but it's not always pleasant to see. We just have to keep telling ourselves that the chemo, or in this case, the antibody, is doing its job. Anyway, Penny was glad to get home and start a well- deserved evening of rest and relaxation. God bless her for all she has done for us.

My afternoon started by 'firing up' the DVD player to watch the movie 'Fireproof' - a movie I recommend, starring Kirk Cameron. Christi said she'd like to watch it, but I think she only made it through the Titles and Credits at the beginning of the movie, which I well understood, after the night she'd had before. Her vital signs and temperature were being closely monitored by our nurse on duty, Sarah, so she had small breaks in her rest every 15 - 30 minutes. I also had a visit from Dr. Hobbs, who is from the Palliative Care team - it nearly broke my heart to hear what she had to say, but their team provides an excellent service to help move on and try to insure a person's legacy. We talked for a few minutes, and I got her card and told her I would call her back. I have to say that I just wasn't ready to move in that direction, but I know I will have to. It is not speculating 'the end', but will help us with some loving preparation just in case. The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful, except that Sarah, our nurse, realized that everytime Christi needed to go to the restroom, she was over-exerting herself in her trek to get there, and nausea would set in when she got back in bed. So she gave Christi some nausea medicine that seemed to help a great deal. Saturday night had some challenges, but not near what was described as Friday's Fiasco. She had a high fever of 103.8, and the nurse came in quite often to check on her. Christi slept, but not that comfortably, and I woke up everytime she went to the bathroom, just to make sure she was okay. They are giving her a good amount of fluids to keep her system flushed, and it keeps her going to the bathroom quite often.

Sunday is a whole new day - she seems to feel pretty well, and things are looking good to start off the day. Her blood counts are showing that the Mylotarg is doing it's job and that's all we can ask for. Her leukemia blasts went from 72% to 60% which is what we want to see. Her white blood cell count went from 8.4 to 1.4 which shows a significant improvement as well. Gary and Penny came to the hospital about 10:00 am, and Gary and I had the pleasure of spending about 10 minutes talking to Dr. Piniero, about the possibilites of Mylotarg, and he indeed assured us that there is hope, that this has a 33% chance of working. It may sound slim, but at this point, we will take anything. He told us that this will not cure her, but it could put her in a position of biding time to get her back to health to withstand more treatment. He also said that it could possibly kick start her immune system to do the job it is supposed to, or even possibly rejuvinate the transplanted cells. The 3rd possibility wasn't one I wanted to hear, so we'll keep praying for the first 2. The rest of the day was pleasurable for both of us. I noticed that Christi seems to be breathing better, and her speech has gotten a lot better, indicating that her mouth and throat are healing. She also asked me to go and get her a Burrito Supreme from Taco Bell WITH NO RED SAUCE. She took a couple of bites of it, and couldn't stand any more. Oh well, I'll take that couple of bites. I need to find a way to get more food in her. She's getting fed interveniously, but she needs to eat real food. The doctor said eating and getting out of bed is important to her recovery. Later on, we went for a walk to the Family Meeting Room, and sat for a bit, just for her to get out of that room. On our way back, Marianna walked in with a big smile on her face, and ready for the shift change. She was glad to see that Christi was out of bed, and seemed to be doing so well. At that time, we also realized that Christi's speech was getting better as well, knowing that her mouth was healing. Anyway, I handed off with a few hugs and kisses with Christi, and left them with a DVD of 'Young Frankenstien'. I hope my little sweetheart made it through more than the first 5 minutes ! Keep fighting Christi - I'm so proud of you for the showing us the determination of how to fight big battles !

Her Loving Husband,
Rick