Update - Visit to Hershey

It's one something in the morning.  John and I woke up at one to get ready for the day, LOL.  The alarm clock said six.  He set it wrong.  I awoke in the middle of the night, and awoke John and we came out to the living room here at Hope Lodge.  John started the coffee, then finished a cup.  I took my diabetes medicine so I could eat breakfast.  Then John asked, "Krissy, what time is it?"  I looked at the time on the computer.  Strange, it said one thirty.  Then I looked at my cell phone.  One thirty.  He looked at his watch again and the wall clock.  One thirty.  Then I said, "It looks like the electricity went out."  This is funny to me now.  How could the electrity go out on a cell phone and watch, LOL.  At any rate, it finally dawned on me that John had set the bedroom clock wrong and that we had gotten up at one in the morning instead of six, LOL.  And we had been talking kind of loud for about a half an hour also, LOL.  Well, we are up now, we may be too awake to go back to bed.

Looks like it is going to be one of those days, LOL.  

It has been an interesting stay here at Hershey so far.  On Monday Dr. Claxton told John he would have to have the spleenectomy.  Not exactly immediately, but he wants him to meet with the surgeon soon, so that the surgeon can become familiar with him.  But then Dr. Claxton decided it could wait a little longer because he wants to see John in four weeks first.  He wants John to go to four more weeks of chemo (at least) to see what happens to the Hemolytic Anemia.  I am concerned about his brain now, and short term memory loss, having over 50 treatments of chemo.

Anyway, Dr. Claxton also said he was going to do a bone marrow biopsy on John (major major ouchie) to check out his bone marrow.  I understood him to say that he was doing this to check to see if his cancer(s) had come back, John took it as something else.  So yesterday we called Mitzi, John's nurse coordinator, and she said that it is a possibility, but she was not sure how likely, and that she would ask Dr. Claxton, and call John immediately on his cell.  I hate the waiting.  I read on the net that two causes for Hemolytic Anemia are Lymphoma and Leukemia.  John of course has had Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma and bone marrow cancer that was about to turn into Leukemia.  So I am a little nervous.  And NO, I am not jumping to conclusions, but am not too happy.  I won't be rested until after they get the bone marrow biopsy done and Dr. Claxton reads the results.

Yesterday John had an appointment with the opthomologist.  He has Graft Vs. Host Disease that affects his eyes.  But it is getting a lot better.  After we went to the opthomologist, it was off to the lab, because we got a message that Mitzi wanted John to get a test.  We of course were wondering what was going on the whole time.  When we got to the lab we found out what the test was.  And then John called Mitzi for something, and she told John that the test was to check for antigens in John's blood.  Antigens are sometimes in blood that the transfused person can pick up from a donor who gives blood to be used for a blood transfusion.  Mitzi told John that the Hemolytic Anemia could be caused by an antigen.  So they are NOT just looking at cancer as a cause for John's Hemolytic Anemia.  That is so good to know.

Well, that is about all on John, except to say he is getting transfused today.  His hemoglobin has dropped pretty low, and he is pale, and lightheaded when he stands up.  But at the transfusion he will be fine.  He always is.  Until he drops again before transfusion time.  

Okay, well that is about it.  I'm doing okay.  Krissy :)  

Tags: don't get up at one in the morning, don't drink coffee at one in the morning, watch how you set your arlarm clock, blood transfusion, antigens, cancer, spleenectomy