A New Month! February 1, 2012

Treading water. I had had concerns about Ron's skin, especially the last 3 weeks. Today I asked the PA to ask Ron to take his shirts off, so he could have a good look at his torso. Usually, they just have him pull his shirts up, but I wanted him to see his shoulders and upper back and chest. They had taken him off the steroid cream and just had me put eucerin moisturizer on him the last two weeks. His skin had looked redder, darker, and more rashy to me. So, we tread water with no tapering of steroid pills or immunosuppressant meds. He is back on the steroid cream twice a day and goes back next week to have it checked. His blood tests remain good. The issue remains the GVHD which affects his skin. It is his body's (skin's) reaction to the new immune system. His new bone marrow is producing blood cells, so his blood counts (red and white blood cells and platelets) are doing well, but his skin continues to recognize them as "not his own".

We continue to be on track to move home in early March. Next month!!! Once Ron doesn't require weekly appointments and meds are tapered more, we can stop living in Ann Arbor. We certainly didn't expect to be here for the Wolverine football AND basketball seasons! At this point the concern about moving outside the one hour radius from the hospital would be if something would happen at the same time as a winter storm that made traveling bad. In good weather it is about a two hour drive.

The clinic just called with his blood test result that measures the level of his immune drug, tacro, in his blood. It is running low, so they are upping the dose, and that should help his skin. All of this was a bit disappointing today, and Ron called it not a good day, but it is not a devastating setback. The success of the transplant itself is good news everyday, and we are on track to be home in March. Treading.