News on my Dad...

Hello Family & Friends,

Well my Dad got back his test results yesterday from his bone marrow... They confirmed that he does in fact have Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). As of right now we do not know which stage, but they should be able to confirm that this week. The doctor suggested starting my Dad on a Chemo drug to start off with... to which my Dad said NO. He explained to the doctor that his parents both died from Cancer and they died during Chemo treatments… He asked the doctor why when his white blood cells and platelets are at a great count they would want to risk
compromising them? The Doctor said he respected that and so he is starting smaller first…

They put him on a weekly shot of a hormone called Procrit. Basically your kidneys already make procrit and his kidneys are making plenty, the problem is the bone marrow is not using it properly thus not creating more red blood cells. So there hope is for him to give himself and overdose of Procrit in hopes that his bone marrow will use some of it and get his red blood count up. They will monitor his count every Monday… if he drops below an 8 they will give him the blood transfusion, he is currently at an 8.2. However if in a few weeks his count doesn’t go up then they will move on to the next drug to try…

If neither of the drugs work it would be Chemotherapy talk again and a bone marrow transplant. My Dad would be in the hospital for about 30-40 days to get the bone marrow transplant all the while going thru the Chemo. Full side effects in force… hair loss, sores in the mouth, vomiting, fatigue… the works. This step as of right now is not something we have to worry about but it is out there…

As of right now that is pretty much all we know… Please keep my Dad in your prayers… He is pretty positive right now… I mean, he has his moments where he thinks of the worse case scenario but basically he is pretty good. He keeps making stupid jokes like “you better make the flowers nice for my funeral”…

Thank you to everyone who is praying for my Dad… I told him last night that I’ve been keeping everyone updated through emails and he said that he appreciates it. Thank you all again and I’ll keep you posted with more information when I get it… If you have any questions feel free to email me.

Love,
Laycee