So Close

I rolled Krista to the appointment today, and let them know up-front about the change in her rash, which Krista has been referring to as "pickle fingers". We weren't scheduled for a doctor visit, though -- just for lab work and a possible transfusion. It's a little crazy in their office right now because Dr. Schiller's main assistant, who does an incredible amount of work, has just gone on maternity leave. That made the already unorganized office all the more difficult to make a last-minute change.

We weren't able to see the doctor, but the nurses who saw the rash recognized it as having spread and deepened in severity from the last time they saw her. They showed it to one of Dr. Schiller's research assistants. We asked her how severe she thought the rash was and she said that it was "a little bit bigger than a little bit" -- referring to how they say a little bit of GVHD is good, but not too much.

Krista's platelets were at 19,000 on Friday before the HLA-matched transfusion, and today they were back to 19,000. That's pretty good all things considered, but she still needed to get a transfusion. Another HLA-matched bag was available for her. Hopefully that will last a few days as well.

We had a few updates from people we've met down here. Larry, the guy who was in the ICU for pancreatitis, has been out of the ICU for a while and was going to be released today from the hospital, but had a little setback that prevented that from happening. His wife said that it should happen soon though. We also saw Terry, the stem-cell transplant patient from Paso Robles, and his wife Monica. He may be discharged from the hospital Friday, depending on how things go with their insurance. Apparently, the insurance is saying that they might not cover the transition to care back home, but it will continue coverage down here. Terry and Monica are trying to get that resolved so they can leave, and I'm sure they would appreciate prayers for that situation.

While I was heating up some soup for Krista, I met another temporary resident, Maggie. She was just getting started making chicken soup, and she asked me if I was here on vacation. I filled her in on our situation, and she told me that her son was in a terrible accident. He was at a party saying goodbye to a girl who had too much to drink and the two of them fell off the second-story. She didn't say what happened to the girl, but her son severely injured his groin and needs reconstructive surgery in order to urinate. She was surprised that we had been here so long, and probably felt bad for us. She brought some of her soup over to our room for us later. Krista said she was an angel.

Krista continues to have pain and itching from the GVHD while we wait again to hear what the doctor has to say. Krista has asked me to ask you all to pray that the GVHD would go away. She seems to be keeping in good spirits over it, but this is just a really difficult thing for her to go through and she could use some relief.

I called on Your name, O LORD,
from the depths of the pit.
You heard my plea: "Do not close Your ears
to my cry for relief."
You came near when I called you,
and you said, "Do not fear."
O Lord, You took up my case;
You redeemed my life.
(Lamentations 3:55-58)