Thursday, February 28, 2008

Post Transplant & Battle to Get Better

Well it's been a waiting game for the last 2 weeks, but Matt is still staying positive and is trying his best to get better. Matt had 4 rounds of Chemo post transplant on day's 1,3,6 & 11 to help him NOT get GVHD. Between the Chemo & Radiation Matt developed lots of mouth and throat sores, and really bad mucoussidous. That was probably the worst week Matt has had so far, as he couldn't talk or eat and barely swallow. The Pain team meet with us at least once daily to make sure he was as comfortable as possible.
Matt has had to have 6 bags of Platlets and 4 bags of Blood since the 14th. Matt's body isn't producing it's own yet so he needs a little help. Did you all know that Matt now is O POSITIVE instead of A. WEIRD! Nicole is O and gave it to Matt.
Matt had to have xrays to check out his organs and chest because he wasn't breathing to good. He was almost sent to ICU. They said that he wasn't breathing on the lower part of either lung. The Doctors were on top of that and he is doing much better now but still needs oxygen to help him breath.
There are lot's of test's that they do after Transplant to watch for GVHD. Matt is showing some sign's of GVHD but they arn't sure yet if it will go away on it's own. They did a Cat Scan on him to make sure that his organs were o.k. and everything looked good except a possible problem with his colon.I went with him for the test and was able to be in the booth were they shoot the Cat Scan. They thought I was a nurse imagine that ( ha-ha ). Parents arnt allowed in there, so I was lucky!
A couple of night's ago Matt gave us a bad scare. At about 12:30 p.m. he fell and I couldn't stop his fall. We were all worried that he had pulled out his Hickman Line or broke an ankle. The Team he rushed him off to xray to check him out. After all that we got back to our room and settled about 4:00 a.m., of course I couldn't sleep and was up again at 6:00a.m.. Matt is a tough Boy he's O.K. nothing broke thank goodness.
Matt has been running a fever for the last few days. The team has been doing cultures to see if it was GVHD or an Infection. Today they told me that he has a Bacterial Infection one of his Hickman lines. They have him on antibiotics to clear it up.
NOW THE GOOD NEW"S! Matt started getting his counts yesterday. His anc's were 190, and his white blood count is slowly coming back. It's terrible timing to have a infection when your trying to produce white blood cells but we are confident that Matt is on the road to recovery.
Matt takes short walks and loves reading his email on his computer. He says Hi to all. Take Care To All. LYNN

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Nicole and Matt Before Transplant

2-14-08 of Matthew

Happy Valentines Day.....

Matthew receved his Bone Marrow on Feb. 14th, 2008. His Sister Nicole came to Children's Hospital at 6:00 am to get ready for the big day. Everything went smoothly and Nicole donated 650cc's of Bone Marrow for Matt. To make things easier to calculate there are 30cc's in every ounce, and if you do the math, thats about 21 to 22 ounces of Bone Marrow. It looks just like a blood transfusion.
Nicole was in recovery for a few hours but was able to go home with her Dad around 1:00pm. Steve was with Matt while I was with Nicole so Steve took some pictures of Matt's new Birthday.
Matthew has had a few side effect's from the Transplant, but I told him that it was just his Sister giving him one more punch, He laughed.
Today is Post Transplant Day 3, and Matt is doing good. He is going to have Chemo on Day 1,3,6,&11 to help him NOT develop GVHD. They are trying to make him comfortable as possible because the next 10 Days will be very tough on him. At about Day 14 Post he should be able to show signs of some response to the Transplant. We are keeping a positive attitude because your mind has a huge influence on your recovery and Matt knows that.
Nicole will be going back to school on the 19th but with some restrictions, No P.E. or Dance Class for a week or two. Nicole is a true fighter and dosen't stay down for long. Steve and I are very proud of what Nicole has done, she is a very special girl.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayer's, keep them coming I do believe that is making a BIG difference in the road we are going down. Thanks Again the Yantzer's

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

UPDATE ON RADIATION

Matthew has completed 8 trips by ambulance to the UofW for radiation treatments with great results. Matt joked with the ambulance crew to and from the hospitals. The team at UofW let Matt listen to Creed, Queen, and Ted Nugent CD'S while in the radiation room. One of the staff at UofW asked Matt not to bring to noisy of music his last 2 treatments because they were really early in the morning. Matt and I think they were country lovers and couldn't handle GOOD ROCK MUSIC.
Matt had 2 day's of really extensive Chemo to get him ready for the transplant.He dosen't feel to good today the 13th. The nurses are all really helpful here at children's hospital, they are giving Matt lots of medicines to make him more comfortable.
Tomorrow the 14th is the big day. Nicole will be addmited at 6:15 a.m. and should be able to go home with Dad that afternoon. She is a little nervous but is being strong.
Matt wishes everyone a Happy Valentines Day, and says Hi to everyone. We will update this blog soon after the transplant. Talk to you all soon,Lynn & Family