Friday, April 2, 2010

Strong Willed Women

Carly's bone marrow biopsy went smoothly without any complications. The preliminary results came back quickly and she does not have leukemia which is a big relief. The results were not normal though, her marrow showing almost no sign of any cell production. There is no clear explanation for this and once again Carly has the team here at UCSF guessing. It will be a few days until more detailed results from the biopsy are available, but they may not provide an answer either.

The running theory is that a virus is affecting Carly's bone marrow and the marrow may have been further compromised by a seizure medication that Carly took a few months ago. Carly is getting a blood transfusion now to bring her blood cell levels back up to normal range and they will check again tomorrow to see if the cell levels are stable. If they are, and if Carly is doing well otherwise and maintaining her blood oxygen levels without the nasal cannula that she is using now, then we may be allowed to go home.  Carly will need to have her blood levels closely monitored for several weeks and she will probably need to have some transfusions along the way to keep the levels where they need to be.  Hopefully her bone marrow will rebound on its own and we will be able put this one behind us.

On the seizure front Carly only had one today which is an improvement from the six she had yesterday. There is still no explanation for them, but the stress that Carly's body has been under is enough to bring them back. We continue to hope that these too fade away once Carly is feeling more like herself.

I feel like there is an extra strong presence watching over Carly tonight, as my grandmother "Grammy" passed away today.  Grammy was 97 and she was an incredibly strong woman, fighting for these last weeks and defying all expectations down to the very end. She was ready to go, and I am thankful that she went peacefully while my parents kept her company.  It is no question where Carly got some of her fighting spirit. I won't forget the look on Grammy's face when she first held Carly, and I know she is keeping an eye on Carly now.

Love, Brad 

3 comments:

Olivia said...

I am sorry for the loss of your Grammy. I am sure she is watching over Carly. Peace be with you all tonight and this weekend, O

Marybeth said...

I am very sorry to hear of the loss of your Grandmother, she sounds like she was an amazing woman who is most definitely watching over Carly now. There is a lot of love an positive energy heading Carly's way, I hope that you are all back home very soon. Love, M&M

Becca Wright said...

Sorry to hear about your Grandmother, but it sounds as if there's now a new sense of her spirit - and it can be channeled to help Carly.

Thinking of you guys. And sending thoughts for your family and hope for Carly to get through the next few days/weeks.

Love, B and B