Adrienne never ceases to amaze me with her toughness and determination. This week she had exams at school and a paper to write. Believe it or not, this is already the fifth week of a 14 week semester, though it seems like she just left. As if that wouldn't be enough for any new college student, she had daily radiation at City of Hope. Her treatment was cancelled on Monday because the tomotherapy machine was down but the other days included at least 2-1/2 hours of treatment and travel time. She is thoroughly exhausted but feels pretty good about what she accomplished this week.
Wednesday was a particularly long day with labs and a visit to the BMT doctor. So far, she has no sign of graft-vs-host disease. We found out that all of the lymphocytes, both the third and fourth doses, were sent to City of Hope so Adrienne won't have the DLI at Stanford on October 17 as originally planned. We are seriously considering not continuing with the DLIs after finding out that Adrienne won't qualify for the cytokine-induced killer cell trial if she has any GVHD, or probably any other trial for that matter. The DLI was supposed to be for "consolidation", to hopefully sustain a remission, but since Adrienne isn't in remission, it doesn't seem worth the risk.
Adrienne's mouth is bothering her from the radiation. She has a white film on her tongue and her mouth is quite dry. Eating spicy foods is painful. Despite her efforts to stay away from spicy food, it seems that so many things have something in it like pepper or mustard. If she were home, we could watch the cooking ingredients but it's tough when you eat at the dining hall.
Daniel will be driving down to visit Adrienne later today. She decided to forego Disneyland tomorrow because she wants to take it easy and so she can spend some more time with her brother. He is bringing a few "supplies" including her favorite magazine and some gum that helps make saliva.
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2 comments:
I stumbled upon this site looking up information about someone else, but the similarities are amazing. I see now where the bond between them was created. I remember the struggles my wife experienced when I first met her 5 years ago up until recently. Her determination truly amazed me and I see the same the Strength and Determination in Adrienne. Adrienne IS very strong and (looking back thru the archives) very beautiful, I hope the plight of others inspires her and know she will overcome all obstacles. I am sure (again from experience) the offers for help are an everyday occurrence, but if needed I will honestly drop everything to help out. The health/cure of 1 person out of the 295+ million in the US is more important than my job. You do not know me from Adam or Eve, but hopefully my determination with my wife will prove my resiliency to helping you if needed. I will sign my first name but hopefully at least half way thru the paragraph you figured out who the full name is; and I am glad I was able to find the chronicle of Adrienne’s treatment and if you never contact me I will be able to follow her successful cure.
Hi, my brother in law Darin sent us this site. Jaclyn was my sister in law. It saddens me to think you are going through all you are. I didn't get the chance to really get to know Jaclyn since we lived 1500 miles away up until right before she died. This disease has devastated too many lives. I lost my mother 2 years ago to this same thing. As I read through some of your archives I could really sense Adrienne's strength and determination to still live her life to the fullest. I applaud her. It's obvious she has an awesome support system. Anyway, I just wanted you to know I will be checking in to see how things are and also praying for you and your family's continued strength. Be blessed.
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