Hello there.
I'm honestly not even sure how to begin this or what questions I should even be asking... My father is 53 and is battling chronic myeloid leukemia. He underwent a stem cell transplant back on July 2nd, 2012, with his brother acting as the donor. Everything seemed to be going quite well during those first two days, but then the complications started hitting him—pneumonia, fevers, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, and so on. The pneumonia cleared up quickly, the rash faded, and his fever finally broke, but now he's dealing with colitis. The constant diarrhea is just completely draining him; he was up to 36 times just last night. While his stem cells have started to grow and his white blood cell count is finally rising, the diarrhea won't let up. We received approval for a new medication from United States, and he started taking it yesterday. The doctors are telling us things are looking precarious because he’s become so weak; he lost about 11 pounds in just two days, which is devastating given how mentally tough and physically fit he usually is. The medical team mentioned they aren't entirely sure if he can handle it since the medication is so potent and he's currently so frail. He doesn't even have the strength to speak right now. They say we might see results in two or three weeks, so I suppose I'm just trying to hold onto hope, though it feels so heavy. I don't know if I can do this... being one of seven children, I just can't seem to reconcile myself with this grief or face any kind of negative outcome. I've been thinking that maybe I should reach out to a psychiatrist or a psychologist just to help me process everything.
🙂
I'm honestly not even sure how to begin this or what questions I should even be asking... My father is 53 and is battling chronic myeloid leukemia. He underwent a stem cell transplant back on July 2nd, 2012, with his brother acting as the donor. Everything seemed to be going quite well during those first two days, but then the complications started hitting him—pneumonia, fevers, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, and so on. The pneumonia cleared up quickly, the rash faded, and his fever finally broke, but now he's dealing with colitis. The constant diarrhea is just completely draining him; he was up to 36 times just last night. While his stem cells have started to grow and his white blood cell count is finally rising, the diarrhea won't let up. We received approval for a new medication from United States, and he started taking it yesterday. The doctors are telling us things are looking precarious because he’s become so weak; he lost about 11 pounds in just two days, which is devastating given how mentally tough and physically fit he usually is. The medical team mentioned they aren't entirely sure if he can handle it since the medication is so potent and he's currently so frail. He doesn't even have the strength to speak right now. They say we might see results in two or three weeks, so I suppose I'm just trying to hold onto hope, though it feels so heavy. I don't know if I can do this... being one of seven children, I just can't seem to reconcile myself with this grief or face any kind of negative outcome. I've been thinking that maybe I should reach out to a psychiatrist or a psychologist just to help me process everything.
🙂