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Today is day 3 of Dad’s most recent stint. So far, to be totally honest, no one seems to know what’s going on. Yesterday (Wed) was not a good day by all accounts. The best overall description that I can give is that he just wasn’t (and isn’t) feeling well. He is in pain all over, the mouth sores are still present, there are some bladder issues that are inconvenient at best and I don’t think that it’s been ‘at best’ recently. Mom was in yesterday and said that there was a whole lot going on, and then a whole lot of nothing.

The heads of departments for Pulmonary, Urology, and Infectious Diseases have were all in to see him. The consensus at this time, is to treat the symptoms. Not necessarily the normal course of action, but at this stage there seems to be so many different things going on it’s difficult to find the source of the problem. And in most things with transplant patients, they are intricately connected and are often precarious.

With that said, his lung scan showed some ‘sketchiness’ that they believe to be pneumonia, but NOT related to GVHD. His kidney numbers continue to be good, and his liver numbers are ‘ok’. At this point it is being monitored, but they are not cause for concern. He has tested positive for Cyto Meglo Virsu (CMV), which is common in transplant patients, and can explain many of the symptoms that have recently presented.

Today, he had a bronchoscopy to have a look at the ‘sketchiness’ in the lungs. They expect to have some results back later tonight or in the morning, but will also be sending it out for more detailed tests. Again, they do NOT think it is GVH in the lungs, but rather a virus due to the CMV. We are all thankful that they caught the it early before it had the chance to become an issue.

Some GOOD news, is that after consulting with the clinic, they have decided the increased level of prednisone have not had marked decreases in the overall appearance of the rash (which IS GVH), so they have decreased the prednisone from 100mg to 60mg.

So that is the news, as it were, from the hospital. He seems to be feeling a little bit better, and more coherent now from when we arrived at lunch time today. We will keep you updated as information surfaces. As always, thank you for your love, support, and hospital link messages!

Much Love,
Emily (With Mom, Dad, Tori & Sean)

P.S. There is also a blog post that Dad wrote around the Holidays that, for some reason, was never posted. I have posted it now, and you shoudl find it below this one. Thanks :o)