Day 22 – Another CT Scan and Results

We actually had some great news today — Praise God!!  Lanie isn’t in remission right now, but both her lumbar puncture and bone marrow biopsy results were negative for leukemia in her body and cerebrospinal fluid.  There are some questionable items in the results the doctor is checking into.  The medical students that have been very curious and constantly checking on Lanie were actually put back on her case today.  They were on in the beginning, then taken off; now they’re back on.  But they’ve constantly checked on her even when they weren’t on her case anymore.

When they came in, they informed us that they were assigned to check all the medications to see if there was something there causing Lanie’s headaches.  They said she has meningeal symptoms — headaches, fever, stiff neck, but her lumbar puncture was clean.  She believes her headaches are due to the lumbar puncture.  She didn’t eat much today either, mostly because her headache has been really bad today.  She says it hurts the most when she’s sitting up.  Lying down makes it better, but it doesn’t go away.  The Norco she had earlier worked for about an hour before her headache came back.  They try to give her tramadol, which wasn’t effective at all.

So because both texts were negative so far, Dr. B wants to do another biopsy on Lanie the 28th day after chemo.  So I believe that’s October 8.  If it, again, comes back negative and her CT scan matches that negative, she will stay another two weeks in the hospital for continued recovery without chemo, then be discharged.  She will have to return so many times a week for chemo until her stem cell transplant.

Tomorrow I hope to be there when the doctor is there.  I have questions about Lanie’s symptoms.  I know I’m ready for her to just heal and feel better.  She hasn’t had to be attached to that pole all the time so far.