I just got this from his secretary at Penn State U, where he works. This was hard to sit and read...but as Tana put it, it goes to the horribleness of this disease.
Please continue to keep Tom and all our challenged brothers and sisters here and elsewhere in prayer... There are so many forces working against the Good in the world.
A week or so ago, Tom called the office and we all got a chance to talk with him. He sounded good and was very positive about the upcoming treatments. This note was a surprise since he was doing so well. It reminds me of the horribleness of this disease and the amount of suffering someone goes through, like the cancer and the treatments aren’t enough. Please continue to keep Tom and Ann in your thought and prayers. tanna
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Hi Tanna,
I hadn't expected to have any updates for a while since Tom has been handling his chemo treatments so well and there was no new news to report. That changed on Sunday. Tom was 13 days into his 1st consolidation treatment and, despite feeling a little "off", was doing well. On Sunday, he woke up late and complained of being tired. We assumed his hemoglobin was getting low. He went back to bed and woke up at 10 AM feeling feverish. His temp was 103. While we've been warned that an infection can come at any time once the white blood cells drop, Tom had no infections with his last treatment (a more rigorous chemotherapy) and we felt confident that he would get through this one infection-free too. As a result, we weren't as prepared as we should have been. Our bags weren't packed as they had been after the last treatment and the gas tank was empty. We made it to Danville by 12:15 PM. Tom was immediately admitted and started on antibiotics. Several hours later, his fever spiked at 105; he broke out into a profuse sweat; and his temp dropped down to normal. By dinner time, Tom felt reasonably well and we assumed the worse was over.
I first realized something was wrong when the nurse, taking Tom's blood pressure, looked curiously at the BP gauge, removed the cuff, came back with a replacement cuff to try again and then asked a second nurse to perform the test to see if the results were correct. Tom's blood pressure had plummeted and was getting dangerously low. The obvious concern was septis. Tom was transferred to the ICU so he could be given drugs to get his blood pressure under control and where his vitals could be continuously monitored. The first drug administered, even at full strength, did nothing. Finally, a combination of two other drugs did the trick. His blood pressure came up and stabilized. It was a scary few hours. On Monday, he was weaned off the blood pressure meds and his BP stayed where it should on its own.
Tom was moved out of the ICU yesterday and back to his original room. I never thought I'd be glad to have him back in the hematology ward, but it was a welcome relief after two days in the ICU. I returned to State College last night but Tom will remain in Danville until his white blood cells recover and he can take care of infections on his own--likely Saturday or Sunday. I talked to him today and he's in good spirits. He had a solid eight hours of sleep last night and, although weary, is relieved the worse was over.
When talking to the doctors before I left, I fretted about the extra time we had taken getting Tom to the hospital. They assured me that the 45 additional minutes didn't make a difference but that if we had been 2 or 3 hours later the outcome could have been very different. We'll never be so complacent again.
Once Tom returns home, he should start feeling stronger over the next several weeks as his blood counts begin to return to normal. Hopefully, I won't have any more unexpected updates any time soon.
Ann
Topic: Another Brother with a fight on his hands (Read 2657 times)
