Things are looking up!

Don saw the othopedic oncologist today. Dr Nicholas (http://www.uams.edu/ortho/faculty.asp) and his resident were great! It turns out that the liner in Don's hip prosthesis has worn, resulting in instability in the joint. Small fragments of the lining ("like sand") have created some inflammation around the joint, which is what is showing up on the PET scans. So, the hip dislocation/relocation incident was NOT myeloma-related. Dr. Nicholas recommended 6 weeks of "hip precautions", as Don would follow after a joint replacement. That means crutches, no flexion >90 deg., bending, lifting, etc. We went to a medical supply store this afternoon and got some of the essential equipment (grabber, shoe horn, etc).

It would be nice to just deal with one problem at a time, but that doesn't seem to be our path . Don is already chomping at the bit to make an appointment with Dr. Peters to get the joint liner repaired. He will need to get a bit more stabilized medially, first. His recovery from this transplant is going well now. His white count was 1.20 K/uL today, hemoglobin 11.7 g/dL and platelets were 301 K/uL. The platelets are the best indicator of robust bone marrow activity, and his have doubled since yesterday...... now within normal range!

They discontinued a bunch of antibiotics. He will stay on doxycycline and acyclovir for another month. They also resumed the Lovenox (anticoagulant) injections twice a day. I picked the precription up at the pharmacy today and said a prayer to thank God for health insurance. One month of Lovenox cost $4,153.00!

They have scheduled the next round of tests for next week. He starts with a MRI on Sunday morning at 10:00 and has another PET scan, skeletal Xrays, bone marrow biopsy and, of course, the laboratory blood-letting! We should see Dr. VanRhee on Thursday morning. After the appointment, Don will get an infusion of his own white cells. That afternoon, they will pull his central line. Friday he will start vaccinations again. With any luck, we will be home on the weekend!

In the meantime, he needs to behave himself and not dislocate his hip again. If he does, I told him that I could help him get it back in place..... I didn't take kickboxing for nothing!!!

As you might guess, our sense of humor is recovering along with the blood counts. Thank you all for your cards and emails and prayers. I'm ready to click my ruby slippers together once again...