Tuesday December 15th

Eric had mentioned a couple days ago that it would probably be beneficial to create a blog of his progress.

For those of you who haven't heard, Eric was officially diagnosed with leukemia. The type of leukemia is called Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) subset M3. This subset is also called promyeloid leukemia, so sometimes you will see APL in literature. Discovering that he had this subset was really good news for him, because they have a very good success rate with curing this disease, and will probably only need a few rounds of chemo. This disease comes on very fast.

Thurs Dec 3 - Thurs Dec 10
We had first really started noticing bruises around the beginning of the month (a week ago Thursday). By Saturday, he started getting pretty bad headaches that wouldn't go away, and feeling a little feverish. He felt well enough to go to work all last week, and only occasionally complained of headaches. Although, Eric never really complains much about ANY sort of pain. By Tuesday, he had gotten a lot more bruises and red spots on his legs, for no reason. I've since learned that these spots are called purpura (1-3 cm in diameter) and the little pin prick red dots are called petachiae.

Fri Dec 11
We started getting worried, and he went in to see the family doctor mid-day on Friday (Dec 11). They right away put him in the Clarian-Arnett hospital in Lafayette to do some blood work, since those signs could have meant any number of things. He was still feeling really well, and I basically had to wrestle the keys away from him to drive him to the hospital. I also had to put my foot down NOT to bring his work laptop into the hospital with him.

Later that night, we found out that night that his platelet count (one of the things in blood that is used to form clots) were VERY low (he had roughly 10,000 per dL when normal is 150,000) and his white blood cell count was VERY high (he had a little over 100,000 when normal is 5,000 - 10,000). The oncologist there came to see us and tell us that he suspected leukemia, and that a bone marrow biopsy was needed to confirm the diagnosis. He was very nice and answered a lot of our questions. Obviously we were surprised and shocked, but you know Eric, he took it in stride and wouldn't let it bring him down. He kept joking around with the nurses (yes, some of them were cute).

Things moved pretty fast then. He was transported to Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis to get the best treatment in the area. Of course he had all sorts of stories about the ambulance ride on the way down (apparently it maxed out at 85... he WOULD be the one thinking of this kind of thing) and complained at the end that he didn't get any cool meds on the way down (joking of course). We spent the night in the ICU, where they started giving him blood products (platelets, plasma (blood juice with clotting factors in it) and cryoprecipitates (more clotting factors with fibrinogen)). These were all to get his blood to clot better, which is why he had been bruising.

Sat Dec 12 - Sun Dec 13
They decided the next day (probably after another one of his jokes) that he was entirely too healthy for the ICU and moved us to the PCU, which is a step down. We had a fairly uneventful couple of days where they kept giving him blood products to improve his numbers and a drug called hydroxyurea that is supposed to attack the bad white blood cells that are cancerous. Sunday night, he took a couple speedy laps around the PCU floor, and when I say speedy, I mean SPEEDY.

Mon Dec 14
Early Monday morning (around 2 am) he started having trouble breathing. Apparently, the cancer had caused some problems with he lungs and was blocking off part of it. So even though he was taking breaths, he was not getting enough oxygen in his blood. This all meant that he had to be sedated and had a ventilation tube put down his throat. I have to admit, this was pretty scary. I don't want to go into too much detail, because he is doing much better now and I'd rather not think of it anymore. He is still on the ventilator and uncounscious, but I guess he is more comfortable that way. They were able to do his bone marrow biospsy -- they said that his bone was so strong that it actually bent the needle, which they had never seen before. He is such a stong, healthy guy. The hemotologist that is working with us is very nice, and is good about explaining everything to us and letting us ask questions. He was very honest and said that this week is the highest risk for him. Since his blood's clotting capability is not good at all, if he starts to bleed, he will not be able to stop. However, since they've been giving him the blood products, he is doing much much better.

Tue Dec 15
The doctor said Tues morning that with his blood counts, he could take him to surgery if needed and be alright, but his body is not maintaining these numbers and will not be able to maintain them until the white blood cell count is brought down with chemo. He already had one dose of chemo yesterday at 1 pm, and is scheduled for more doses on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. This should kill off pretty much all of the cancer, and he'll be given 3 to 4 more weeks of recovery time in the hospital. They said that they used to send patients home at this time, but always had complications with bleeding and infection, so they want to keep him here to watch his more carefully. He can get what he needs a lot faster that way. We are paying close attention to his blood numbers, and as of right now (5 pm on Tuesday) they are:


Platelets (clotting): 78,000 (normal number is 150,000 but they are happy with 50,000)

Fibrinogen (clotting factor): 162 (they want anything higher than 150)

INR (internation ratio for clotting capability): 1.57 (they want it to be less than 1.4) Since it is a ratio, normal is 1, and anything higher means thinner blood.

White blood cells, WBCs (these include the cancerous cells, called blasts): 97,200 (normaly is 5 - 10 thousand)


Once we get his WBCs down with the chemo, the cancerous cells will stop attacking the platelets and other clotting factors, which will get us out of this high risk time. Also, they can start giving him the vitamin A derivative pill (also called retinoic acid or ATRA) which will help the chemo even more.


All in all, it has been rough the last couple of days. It is hard seeing him like this, but I know he is much more comfortable this way. I'll be really happy when he is breathing well enough on his own to take him off the ventilator. We've been talking to him and holding his hands. He does respond to us, which is comforting. The nurses occasionally bring him up enough for him to open his eyes, squeeze his hands, wiggle his toes and move head just to make sure he is alright. This morning, when he was more aware, he was able to shake his head no when we asked if he was in pain, and to nod his head when I said I loved him.

Luckily, he will not remember any of these last couple days, which includes the biopsy and his first round of chemo. I'm just anxious to see him awake and able to talk with me once more. Every day that goes by makes us that much closer to getting out of the high risk time. We've been getting so many well wishes and love from so many people. We really are blessed with having so many good people care for us. People are asking about what to do or send. We cannot receive fresh fruit or flowers, and right now your support and prayers are what we need.

He is currently in room A4 of the TICU on the 4th floor. They are really limiting the number of people who can see him due to risk of infection and the fact that he needs so much care. He is type A negative. People have been asking about how to go about donating for him. I believe everything is done through the Red Cross, and I'm not sure if you can request a recipient. But I know first hand how desperately people can need blood products and every little bit helps.


I love you all, and I'll try to keep this updated as time goes on.
Melissa