Dear Friends and Family,
Linda’s departure was more draining than Nancy will admit. She didn’t fall asleep midsentence, but she did take a nap shortly after Linda left and didn’t awaken for three hours. When she finally sat up in bed, a classic impish expression returned to her face. Nancy’s sky-blues looked up and away, a little wrinkle toward the tip of her nose appeared and her playful voice gave me my marching orders.
Pointing toward the door, she commanded, “Yes, I’d like another donut. I get to eat anything I want.” Obediently, I raced down the nine floors of steps, two at a time, and then raced back up, too. Nancy literally inhaled both a classic glazed and a chocolate cream-filled donut. She finished both before I could take my last bite of my sugar-covered jelly donut.
I could watch Nancy eat donuts all day.
But as is often the case, the roller coaster called leukemia turned downward today, just when we were beginning to feel more positive and comfortable. Dr. Prystas stopped by unexpectedly for a quick report.
“Nancy, the tests have come back on both your brother and sister. Unfortunately, neither of them is a match. We’ll set up a conference call with the bone marrow experts as soon as possible to explain the implications and discuss what are our next steps.”
As you might imagine, Nancy and I were disappointed and attempted to play cards to distract us. Not far into the game, Nancy was dealing the cards and told me, “You know, Winnie, my PIC line is a little tender.” (The PIC line is a very special IV that enters a large vein from Nancy’s chest and makes all her treatments easier since it is a large needle capable of allowing lots of fluid to pass through it in a small amount of time. Additionally, it only infrequently has to be changed and does not tie up one of her arms as normal IVs do.)
When Nancy’s discomfort was explored further by the medical team this afternoon, a blood clot was discovered and the IV had to be pulled and blood thinners started immediately. To make matters worse, Nancy appears to have developed a localized infection called cellulitis at the PIC line entry site. (With Nancy’s immunity at its lowest point, not having a good IV and needing potent antibiotics to fight the infection is not a favorable combination.)
We’re scared. But Nancy remains upbeat and positive. And we did catch both the clot and infection early.
Summary: Even with the maximum dose of AraC chemotherapy, Nancy has been cruising through hospitalization two. Until today, she did not have any major side effects—though she has developed another blood clot and a skin infection. She is in the midst of her “bone marrow crash” due to the chemotherapy but remains positive and relatively strong.
Sincerely,
Winnie