Another mix of good news and bad news today.
Kristina isn’t going home tomorrow, as hoped – but she might go home as early as Wednesday.
Good news: blood numbers are all still going up, and some are back within the normal range. Bad news: she officially has Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD), which has been a fear all along – but it’s apparently a mild case, and they caught it early. So that’s good. It’s in her gut (it could also be in the skin, liver, kidneys, etc.), and they found it Friday after taking biopsies of her esophagus, stomach and intestine.
The treatment for GVHD is three different steroids, which she was hoping to avoid for all their various side effects. As an example of her new reality, steroids raise her blood glucose level, so now she has to take insulin like a diabetic.
The other thing about having GVHD is that she’s nauseous all the time and has almost no appetite, and she generally feels raw and dried out. She also thinks she has a head cold, and last night she has restless leg syndrome and couldn’t sleep – another side effect of steroids.
Even with all this, her doctor assures her she’s doing quite well. It’s just frustrating for her because it had been going really well, and also because she just really, really wants to go home.
Meanwhile, the Christmas boat parade is happening in Seattle this evening. Again, bad news is she can’t participate, good news is she has a great view of it from her room.
She keeps telling me to thank everyone for all of your support. She’s also looking for anyone with a digital video camera, for a couple of reasons. One is to record a segment that KOMO TV did on her so we can post it on the site; the other is that she’s hoping to be able to somehow watch the Dec. 19 fundraiser from her home via the Internet.
And finally, if you have ideas for another fundraiser (raffle, silent auction, whatever), let us know.
Please post comments below if you have a camera or just want to send some good wishes. She reads them all.
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