TREATMENT BEGINS

Ron had his right heart cath and biopsy at around 2:30pm.
He was back in his room by 4:15pm....just in time for dinner..his first meal of the day.
All went well for the most part.
Around 6pm...Dr. Copeland came by ..he took a look at his cardiac pressures ...and determined it was best to start the retuxamab tonight....this is the IV chemo drug ...he said given the numbers he was seeing from the right heart cath...there is some heart failure taking place due to possible rejection. As for the biopsies themselves...we will not get the first results on cellular rejection until tomorrow afternoon....we will not receive the antibody rejection results until 48 hours.

They just started the treatment 5 minutes ago. It took forever to get someone in to start a new IV line....protocol for this drug is that he have a new IV line that is no more than 24hours old. Ron is such a hard stick now because all his veins are shot at this point...so they usually have to find a nurse who is extremely good at getting IV's ...so it takes a while to find someone around here.
Fortunately, the charge nurse tonight was very good and was able to get one in on the first try.
He then has to receive various medications prior to receiving the chemo drug...benadryl..tylenol and a steroid. Then the Chemo nurse has to come up from oncology to start the IV...lots of policy and protocol to follow. The IV will need to run for three to four hours.
We still need to do his dressing change...but he is so out of it with the benadryl ..we do not want to start the dressing change just yet...because he needs to have pain meds while we clean the wound ....we are going to wait a half hour to see if he comes out of it a bit.

No one came by to discuss the photopheresis today so I don't know when they plan to start this.
It has been a long day .....I am once again finding my patience running thin and not in such a great mood. I hope they caught this early and it will not set him back further to where he cannot go home soon.

The hospital chaplain came by tonight...Dave....he comes by to see us every night that he is on shift. He has been great for me. He is so good at keeping me focused and of course Ron's sense of humor..which he has always managed to keep...keeps me laughing at just the moment I need to. Tonight, for instance, Dave could see it on my face and here it in my voice how disappointed I was of the news we received today. He could see my spirits were down and so he took the time to pray over Ron and for me and the family. I was a bit emotional through it all and Ron was quite "goofy" because of the Benadryl....he started saying some quirky stuff and just made me laugh so hard...he had Dave laughing too....I told him that it was just what I needed.

My hope is that all this was caught very early and things will stabilize for Ron very quickly.
Other than the test results the doctors are receiving...Ron really has not felt bad or had any symptoms to indicate he was having any rejection. Other than the atrial fibrillation...there have been no other indications...and this may have been caused by the pacemaker itself....from what the pacemaker tech told me today...but this has not been confirmed.

So...now ...we just allow the treatments to take place and hope for positive results.

His wound looked better this morning...the skin that was red and inflamed last night looked much better this morning. We believe it was just irritated last night from the dressing change and then the doctors coming in and poking around in it ...and then having to repack the dressing ...it all just did a number on his skin and tissue. Fortunately, it looked better this morning. I hope it still looks good tonight...we will see later.


Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given. 1 Chronicles 15.:8-12