Day 42 Update from JoJo's Cancierge

The Big C is an interesting weekly series on Showtime just entering its second season. Laura Linney plays a middle aged woman stricken with melanoma. Upon hearing the news of her diagnosis, the husband embarks on an energetic effort to assist in any way he can while proclaiming himself to be her Cancierge. What a perfect title for a caregiver.

Granddaughter Delcy JoAnne is anxious to show off her ability to turn over! 

If JoAnne continues her upward progression from the stem cell transplant, this blog is doomed. The element of tension will be removed. I mean really, how many people want to read good news on a regular basis. 

JoJo is doing well although she had a little setback over the weekend. She has what her doctor refers to as reactive lungs and bronchials. It is an affliction that can probably be traced to a bad experience with a chemo drug she took during her first round in 1999. Recently she has been undergoing a 10 dose regimen of IVIG. Allergic reactions can occur but they usually and successfully pretreat with steroids and benadryl. Wouldn't you know, in the last 15 minutes of the last of 10 doses, JoAnne experienced a reaction. These episodes are unnerving as they bring on a hard cough and it becomes difficult to breath. A mainlined dose of hydrocortisone quickly chilled her out and she finished up the infusion without incident.

We were waiting on the car from the valet when a smoker near JoAnne gave her a snoot full, and that revved up her lungs again. She headed directly back to the clinic in a minor panic which only exacerbates an already angst ridden experience. Inability to breathe does that to a person. I am left to figure out what to do with the car amongst a circus act of attendants, cars and other patients. By the time I caught up to her, she was in the care of 3 nurses, and our Physician Assistant. They shot her up with some more hydrocortisone and she quickly recovered. We sat around in the lobby for a half hour just to be sure things had settled down. I don't want any of those urgent issues on my watch :-)

Over the weekend, she could tell her lungs were not back to normal. A scheduled Monday morning visit with Dr. Ustun led to another chest x-ray and good old prednisone to relieve the inflammation. There doesn't seem to be any infection which is of primary concern. Prednisone usually helps, but it also reduces her immunities for awhile. She will get through it, and we will go back for a quick check on Thursday.

JoJo and I are settling into a nice comfortable routine. Our visits to the clinic are less frequent than we had anticipated and will remain so as long as complications stay at bay. To this point, we are beginning to appreciate how much she has benefitted from having a sibling donor. The similarities moderate rejection side effects. Were she to have had a transplant from an unrelated donor or from umbilical cord blood, the odds would not favor such an uneventful path.

We continue to pray for success and ask you to join us when the opportunity presents itself.

Cancer Sucks