Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013
George is out of the hospital !  He is 'dazed and confused' after four weeks in a room, but he will adjust.  He is settling in at Youville House in his little, sterile apartment.  The staff here all know him, and, as with anyone, will give him the royal treatment.  His diet is limited as he can't have raw fruits or veggies, or anything with bacteria, like leftovers, or even mayonnaise or jelly that's been opened previously.  He will have physical therapy as well as a good head shaving to finish off the chemo look. 

I expect the primary family will start visiting this weekend, which I know will cheer him up.  I won't describe how hard this has been, and we are now in a new phase, where we hope he will start to gain some strength and get a boost to his sagging morale.  Thanks all for caring.j
ps Happy Birthday, Virginia !!!

Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013
George is back on track and possibly coming home at the end of the week.  He got out of his room for the first time since admission on Oct. 18.  He headed right for a big window with a view of Boston.  White cells are growing everyday.  Once he is home, he'll rest up and then start about five months of chemo in January, 2014.  He is looking forward to seeing sons and daughters, et al very soon. j

Monday, November 11, 2013

Thanks for all your concerns and for sending your white cell vibrations to George.  This weekend they started to grow, at last.  George's complications have complications, so it's been at a high price, but each day we hope the worst is over.  Today he can now come out of his sterile hospital room and walk the halls with a mask and gloves.  If he continues to progress and the other issues get resolved, he will be home at the end of this week.  Thanks for checking in. j

Wed Nov 6. George is much better tonight. An infection in his new knee is confirmed. he is receiving meds for it and blood thinners for the small clot. no white cells yet but we are hoping they arrive tomorrow. tag
hanks for checking in j

Nov. 6, 2013 - Monday was a rough day for George.  He spiked a high fever, legs swelled even bigger and his knee replacement knee was very painful.

Antibiotics seemed to help.  They found a small blood clot in his lower left leg, (knee replacement leg) and he now is on blood thinning injections, which is tricky since he has low platelets.

Overall, he seems past the crisis of Monday.  We are waiting for those white stem cells to start to grow.  Hopefully, today we'll get some news that he has started to produce them.  He is on the end of the average spectrum now, at day 15, so those white cells should be showing up soon. 

George is enduring a lot.  He probably won't be home this weekend as we expected.  Hopefully everything will start to level off and we'll see great improvement soon.

Thanks for checking in - your support is appreciated. j

Nov. 4, 2013

This is a journey.  Each day presents a new challenge for George.  Chemo has many effects on the body; and his kidney problems add complications.  Without going into detail, let's just say, we are in a day to day mode.  Everything he is experiencing is part of the process; some people have more complications, some people have fewer.  The staff at Tufts is great and respond to every issue.
If this week goes well, and we start to see some white blood counts, he may get to come home by the weekend.  He is usually quite medicated, as some of his complications have required pain control.  I'll keep you posted. Thanks for checking in.