I was Chris' wife/caregiver & this is the medical blog I wrote during his treatment. Short history: dx in July 2010, no initial bone marrow involvement, did 5 rounds hyper-cvad protocol. Found out he is in relapse/refractory status with involvement in his chest, spleen, inguinal & throat lymph nodes, bone marrow, spine & brain in January 2011 when we went to MD Anderson for treatment. The two different rounds of chemo Chris got at MDA could not put him in remission; he died of leukemia/lymphoma on March 18th, 2011, an astonishing and horrific 8 months after his diagnosis.
There is a donation page for organizations here: http://chriscranecancer.blogspot.com

Monday, January 17, 2011

more tests


Chris spiked a fever of 103 around 6:45 last night.  He is still very fatigued and the pain in his left arm hasn't gotten any better.  
 He was a bit disoriented yesterday and at times it took him awhile to answer basic questions like what is the name of the hospital he is in; he is on a lot of medication.  They put him on a morphine drip yesterday and a pain management team came by to see him this morning while I was showering at the hotel.  They increased his dosage slightly and hopefully that will help. 
They are still waiting on the results of his PET scan.  So far nothing unusual has shown up on his chest xray's or blood cultures.  He will be getting platelets today since they are quite low.  He will be getting a shot to help counteract any reaction he might have to the platelets.  He will also have an ultrasound done on his left arm to help figure out the cause of the severe pain.  
He mostly sleeps and I try to keep quiet so he can rest and be here for him when he wakes up and needs help getting water or using the bathroom.  

When I was at the Livestrong Cancer Navigation Center in Austin last week I saw this book: http://www.amazon.com/Home-Before-Dark-Portrait-Healing/dp/140276071X and it looked quite good.  I'm about 50 pages in to it and it's hard to put down, I can identify with so many of the words/feelings/experiences in it.  An experience like this can be hard to explain to those unfamiliar with it.
I will update again with any new developments.  

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