Setback

Kathy is back in the hospital. She was released last week, following her second dose of chemo. She was doing great. We visited her at her RV on Saturday and she seemed energetic and healthy. She went in for routine bloodwork on Sunday and they discovered that her platelets were dangerously low again, and dropping. They will have the platelets she needs for transfusion on Wednesday.

I assume she is back in the Kohler building, on the 14th floor again. But if her levels keep dropping or if she is bleeding she will likely end up in ICU again. I will update if I hear anything different. Please send lots of positive thoughts.

The best birthday present ever

Kathy is getting the best birthday present ever this weekend...she is going to be discharged! She has to stay local (Portland area) so she will be taking up residence at Jantzen Beach in the fifth wheel. I'm sure that she is thrilled to be getting out of the hospital soon!

She is doing great...platelet levels are soaring and SHE is making them. They took her off of things yesterday (platelets, coagulants, etc.) and even without getting them her numbers went up. She is sounding great, and even went to Arts and Crafts class yesterday (maybe that is where she made the platelets?!?).

We plan to come visit this weekend, dependent upon her discharge plans. It could be challenging if she is in transition but maybe we can help out.

Are we there yet? YES!

So, a platelet level of 10,000 was the magic number to get Kathy moved out of ICU and back to the 14th floor. This morning, she went from 5,000 to 9,000...an amazing jump! Brian just spoke with her less than an hour ago and her levels are now to 13,000!! The doctors will be meeting soon and hopefully she will move out of ICU tomorrow. :)

If you are interested in sending her a birthday card (May 3rd), this is the address:

     Kathy Parrott, c/o OHSU 14KPV 
     3181 SW Sam Jackson Park RD
     Portland, OR 97239

Platelet Update

We thought this morning that a solution had been found for Kathy's platelet situation; a friend and visitor was told by a nurse that they had found the donor and that her body was accepting the platelets. This turned out to be inaccurate information.

From Brian:

"My mom did not receive a matching donor until later in the day today. As of now her body is still rejecting the blood platelets because her immune system is wiped out. What they are doing now is introducing the blood platelets at a very slow rate in hopes that her own immune system will start to take over and start producing it's own platelets. So now we wait to see what happens. The good news is, she is stable, alert and able to visit a little."

Brian spoke with her just a few minutes ago and the head doctors will be meeting tomorrow to come up with a plan. They will also be doing another CT scan tomorrow.

Setback

Please send lots of positive thoughts towards Kathy. She has had a somewhat substantial setback. 

She has bleeding in her brain that they are having trouble stopping due to her antibodies rejecting the platelet transfusions that they are giving her. They are currently searching the Red Cross database for platelet donors that would be an exact donor for Kathy (to avoid the antibody rejection issue).

She has been moved to ICU and the next 24 hours are pretty critical. She is in stable condition right now, she is coherent but also has a lot going on so please keep this in mind if planning to call or visit. The chances of things getting worse with the bleeding are slim (5%) but if they do get worse it could kill her. 

Brian is making phone calls to try to reach family members right now. Please know that we are doing our best to get the word out quickly.