This blog is to keep our family and friends informed on how things are going while we are at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Some people have asked why I choose to go all the way to Little Rock which is a 610 mile drive from home. UAMS has the Myeloma Institute of Research and Therapy. Here, they treat more people with Myeloma than any hospital in the world.
Monday, June 24--A Disappointing Day
White cell count-7.00, hemoglobin-9.2, platelets-186. We were getting ready to leave the apartment to go for the evening growth factor injections and got a call from the APN. She told me not to come for the evening injections. She had talked with the apheresis doctor and my doctor and they had decided to stop the injections since the stem cell count was still too low for collection. I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow at 10:30am to discuss what will be the next move. The APN said her guess would be the doctor will send me home to return again at some later time and try for collection again. I asked about the hyperbaric chamber, and she did not think that would be a good thing to do but she did not know what the doctor would say. It was if she had not even suggested use of the hyperbaric chamber a few days ago. After I finished talking with the APN, I called her back and asked if I could go ahead and get my injections today and tomorrow morning. She said she would put the order for the injections back into the system (she had already removed the order for the injections) so I could get them today and in the morning. Reta and I were both very disappointed with what she said. It has been a long and expensive road this round, and we felt it is not appropriate to just give up. I have done everything they have told me to do, and it seems like they are giving up too soon on trying to collect for now. I will know more after the doctor appointment tomorrow. Maybe things will look better after I talk with her. Does God have another plan other than using a stem cell transplant in my future? We both know God is still in control.