Weekend Update Sunday May 1

Emma's week ended with the school play on both Saturday and Sunday.  A valiant effort was made by the staff here to get me a day pass to attend.  In the end it would have compromised my care (missing doses of antibiotics) and been a bit too exhausting so we went to plan B where my dear friend Zolton hooked me up via skype and I watched from the comfort of my room.  The kids were adorable and there are some amazing singers among our 8th graders.  So glad I could see the play and thanks Zolton and Debbie!!  The weekend was busy with friends Glen and Kirsten here on Saturday.  Jim was here Sunday and we went to church with my nurse Julie followed by bertuccis pizza.  Pretty close to a date.  Joseph is set for housing for next year - for those  of you with College kids you know this can be a nightmare starting sophomore year so I am glad he's nailed down housing (not to mention selected his classes for next year!!)

Medical Update:  Well Friday marked a full week in the hospital - they've identified the bacteria as Enterococcus.  Most likely source is the pic we were using for blood draws and antibiotic infusions. Every day they draw cultures to see if the bacteria is growing.  As long as the bacteria is growing/present I need to stay in the hospital.  Some good news...the cultures have shown no bacteria growth for the last 4 days.  To make sure the bacteria is totally eradicated the antibiotic needs to run for a total of 6 weeks.  Luckily I can do the remaining course of the antibiotics at home and I am hoping to head home early this week.  Kate comes in tomorrow and it would be so wonderful if our first night together is at my home!  One other big event...this week I had another donor lymphocyte infusion. This is an infusion of the donor's healthy T cells designed to fight any remaining leukemia.  I had an infusion back in November and half the cells were frozen for a future infusion which I had this week.  There are no side effects from this treatment and it will hopefully help get me to a durable remission.

Thanks for checking in

Love Maureen