The Good and the Not-So-Good... Plus #Giving Tuesday

(Originally published on 11/25/14 on cotaforjensh.com)

The transplant office is really good about scheduling the routine bronchoscopies far in advance. We knew in August that he would have a bronch. the first Friday in November. We thought this was good timing, as it would give him a few months off of the bronchs, but also would be before any holiday travel that we might be cleared to do. 

Since that time, we’ve fielded questions from family like, “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Our response was always the same, “It will depend on the results of his bronch. at the beginning of November.” Since it takes about a month to get all of the cultures and results back, we thought that this was the most appropriate answer. 

The good news: Any of the cultures or results that have come back so far have been negative for any rejection or infection. We’re still waiting on some. 

More good news came last week when Dr. Pilewski told Jens that he could hold off on doing breathing treatments for now! Jens has been nebulize-free for a few days now, and it still is not routine for him to not do a breathing treatment when he wakes up or while watching TV at night. There’s something comforting about that for him, but he is definitely glad to have a little more time back! 

No, no, no! No breathing treatments today! 

However, even with this good news, his routine bloodwork on Mondays has shown a decrease in his white blood cell counts (WBC) the past few weeks. He’s now done the neupagen series of shots three consecutive weeks. He also had an inhaled treatment that was supposed to boost the counts. The doctors have taken him off different combinations of meds to see if any of the drugs are interfering. 

And yesterday, when his Monday bloodwork was back, they called again to tell him that his WBC was still low. A low WBC makes him very susceptible to get an infection. 

With that news, it is official that we’re staying put in Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving. We’ll do our best to cook the traditional fare for the two of us, and I’m sure Jens will enjoy the abundance of food. Thanksgiving must be a Predinsone patient’s favorite holiday! (Prednisone makes Jens very hungry!) 

We have hope that they will determine the cause of the low WBC in order to give us clearance for a short time so that we can spend time with family and friends in the coming months to celebrate the holidays. 

PS- You may have seen #GivingTuesday attached to some of our recent posts. Check out what #GivingTuesday is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QKdgMdpcGY&app=desktop 

Consider giving to COTA in honor of Jens next Tuesday to help us reach our fundraising goal, and help us by spreading the word to your followers, friends, and family!