The two tests that I mentioned in the last post came back normal. My blood work also showed that my Hemoglobin was dangerously low, so it was necessary that I get a blood transfusion right away. The day of the testing we had to get to the hospital at 8 am. We ended up not leaving the hospital until almost midnight that same day. We learned that a transfusion was needed around 11 am. We were hoping that they would be ready to start the transfusion by 2pm and it ended up not starting until 6:30pm. It was a long day. Luckily, the next day's tests didn't start until noon and my parents were there, to watch our son so my wife and I could sleep.
My chemotherapy that was supposed to start last week was postponed. The doctors want me to meet with a hemotologist first to try and figure out why I have needed so many transfusions lately. This most recent one, would be my third in three months. The earliest the could get me in with their Hemotologist was early this coming week. I'm praying that this appointment goes well and that we can quickly move forward with chemotherapy
I have to give my wife a lot of credit . In the midst of taking care of me she's been able to take care of the kids in a way that the kids haven't really missed a beat. She has:
- provided the kids with two great birthday celebrations
- just finished potty training our just turned 3 year old
- made sure our daughter has made it to all of her extracurricular practices and games
- made sure our daughter has continued to stay on the honor roll
My wife has been nothing short of amazing and I hope that she knows that I really appreciate all that she does each day.
While I was in Texas for my appointments, I got a surprise visit from my cousin Deborah. She is my dad's first cousin. She is from Carson, CA. She made a special trip Texas just to visit with us for a couple of days. I really enjoyed it. It has probably been about 10 years since I last saw her in person. I really learned alot from talking with her those two days. Including the importance of knowing and documenting your family medical history. Deborah has spent alot of time putting together the genealogy of my dad's family. She was able to trace our history back into the 1800s and maybe even further. She shared some information with me regarding the cause of death of my great-grandfather and great-grand mother that I wasn't aware of.
Before talking with her, I didn't know that my great-grandfather had passed away from stomach cancer. I also didn't know that Deborah's brother also passed away from cancer. Deborah's mom is currently receiving cancer treatment. When I was first diagnosed back in 1999, I really didn't know of any relatives that had dealt with cancer. Since then I had an aunt and uncle have battled cancer. So now, I have a better picture of my medical history and can say that there was most likely a hereditary factor in my diagnosis. I think having a complete medical history is really important.
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