T plus 22

Well another week has passed. Jan's mouth sores improved to the extent that she was removed from all her I.V.s on Monday. By improved I mean that yesterday she had several sips of water, three ounces of Boost, and one saltine cracker. Apparently that's the minimum requirements for discharge because we were told yesterday that we would be able to leave today and relocate to a nearby apartment for the next two months. However, yesterday Jan began to develop some diarrhea and nausea that became worse through the night. This potentially is an early warning sign of Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD). As a result, any plans for discharge were dismissed, and instead Jan was scheduled for a double endoscopic procedure (one via the esophagus and one rectally) to obtain biopsies. Only a microscopic examination can confirm GVHD. It may take a few days for the results, but they don't waste any time starting precautionary treatment with steroids. The side effects of steroid therapy can be varied and unpleasant. Jan has already endured four weeks in the hospital and I dread the fact that we need to stay a little longer. Numerous tubes of blood have been drawn daily since Jan was admitted on February 27th and the numbers today continue to be excellent with a WBC of 5.66K, Platelets 255K, and hemoglobin at 10.4. Her numbers have actually been sufficiently high enough for discharge for about a week. Only the mucositis and now the diarrhea/nausea have prevented us from leaving. So, once again, we check off another day.........and wait to see what Day Plus 23 will have in store for us. By the way, today Jan was able to eat a container of yogurt......Yippee. I can't wait until she can once again enjoy my famous spaghetti with Cuban toast.