The mystery continues

Family and Friends,

I want to make sure that everyone realizes that Bob is still in a medically induced coma and is on a breathing machine. I have been getting lots of emails and phone messages for Bob to call people and as much as I'd love for him to, it's just not possible. That being said, Bob's doctors are happy with the progress that he's been making with regard to his blood counts. Today he is up to 184,000 platlets, 4.8 white, and 8.6 red. He's doing so well that they've decided to keep his hospital room door opened and not make anyone wear masks in his room. (I'm still a little bit leery on this one) His oncologist did not want him to get any red blood today and I'm happy to report that there has been no bleeding in the last 10 hours. I hope this trend continues!!

Now for the not so good news, although it looks like Bob has conquered the systemic yeast infection in his bloodstream, his doctors told me that they have found the yeast colonizing in his spit (sputum) and could possibly be in his lungs. In addition his fevers are still ongoing and they think this may be a factor. Bob is not out of the woods, but he is fighting hard. We are still on a holding pattern with regard to the mystery bleed in his small intestine. After speaking with the oncologist and nurse for a lengthy period of time, it seems that in addition to the ulcers that were found initially in his stomach, he may have had some ulcers in his small intestine that could not be detected in the initial testing and were caused by overuse of anti-inflammatory medicines such as Advil and Alleve. The doctor could not stress enough what kind of damage overuse of these over-the-counter medicines can do. They believe the chemotherapy aggravated this area and are hoping that the bleeds resolve on their own. They will most likely repeat the angiography later on this week or early next.

Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.
Love and thanks,
Michele