Hospital visit

sntcruzan · Hospital visit

I just got home today and wanted to let you all know what happened after my Monday's Doctors visit.
Here is a copy of an Email.
Fred

Dear Brothers & Sisters--

Rena sent me the following prayer request for her husband Fred. Please keep Fred, Rena, Alex and Ian in your prayers.

Please pray for Fred. He was admitted to the hospital yesterday for testing after a doctor's visit that raised some concerns. He is still waiting this morning for the cardiologist to come and talk with him, but they will be running more tests today. Also, they have found that his platlette count in his blood is extremely low so they are going to give him a blood transfusion of 4 units to try to get his count up. This will take 2-4 hours per unit so he is looking at another day in the hospital.
Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and clear and accurate test results.

I wanted to update you all so you can continue to pray. It turns out that not only was Fred's platelet count low, but his entire blood count in his body. The cardiologist never came to see him because he determined from looking at his chart that the problem was not enough blood in his system which was causing the shortness of breath and pain. So he spent the day yesterday getting transfused with 4 units of blood. He was just starting the 4th one last night at 10 p.m.

Basically, the direction this has taken us is focusing now on the bone marrow and determining why his body is not making blood. This morning they will be taking a bone marrow biopsy to try to determine the cause of the low blood. At this point, they've ruled out all the simple things and have thrown out the "c" word as one of the possibilities for this.

Fred should be able to come home after the test at 10 a.m. Then we will be waiting until Friday for the results. So at this point we have no answers, only questions.

Please continue to pray as the test is taken and as the results are calculated. I'm actually praying that it turns out to be a false lead and it really is just a clogged artery that needs simple surgery to reopen it. That alternative sounds a lot better to me than the other at this point.

Thank you for your prayers of support, your e-mails, your phone calls, your offers of assistance. Fred and my family are far away and concerned, but we can tell them with confidence that our family here is taking very good care of us.

Rena

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UglyKid2

Fred, you will be in my thoughts and prayers night and day. Let me know if you need me for anything!

DeeCasey

Wish you the best Fred. You are in our thoughts and prayers.
I'm sending happy and positive thoughts your way.....

Arachnocat

Hi Fred! I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling well. Hope everything is ok! I will be thinking of you. :cry:

Bonedog

Fred,

God grant you long life and health. Love and prayers.
Scott and Family

llamamama

Fred, I'll be thinking of you and hoping the very best for you.

ftorres

Hello Fred and Family.
My family and I will keep you and your family in our prayers.

francisco

darth skippy

hang in there

:wink:

EdgarOrtega

We're thinking of you Fred. They will figure out what's going on and get you well in no time. :) We love you Fred. Keep us updated!

Edgar

northswan04

Fred! You are in our hearts and our thoughts, all the best recovery from this and keep us updated!

BayLee

Fred, my thoughts and prayers are with you. Get well soon and take care of yourself. Rest up and take it easy.
We love you and now you are in good hands and your family, friends and doctors are taking good are of you.

SpiderKiely

I hope you feel better, Fred. :-(

sntcruzan · Update

Here is a copy of the email that my wife sent out today after my Doctors appointment

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for praying. I wanted to let you know what happened at the doctor's appt today.

The first test results have come back that we are NOT dealing with any of the cancers that were potential options. No leukemia or lymphoma. She said the marrow they pulled looked healthy and his blood is healthy, there's just not enough of it. The next step is to send the sample to Stanford and have it looked at more in depth to try to determine why blood is not being produced in the amounts it should be. They may want to see him at Stanford, but that's a wait and see issue right now.

They tested today and his blood levels haven't changed since he was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. The doctor wants him to come every week for a blood test on Thursday and if his levels drop they will do a blood transfusion again on Friday and they will continue to monitor this way until we know what is causing it.

She said it could rectify itself and if that's the case then they would just keep an eye on it throughout the year. This is what we would ask of God. That this situation would resolve with His hand and that it just becomes a regular health monitoring every 3-6 months.

At this point, we are so thankful for the current results and are thankful to God for hearing yours and our prayers.

We will let you know if we learn anything from the Stanford lab tests.

Love,

Rena

UglyKid2

Thanks for the updates Fred, thats good to hear! Keep us posted

BayLee

I hope you get well soon Fred.

DeeCasey

Hope your feeling better Fred! Thanks for the update.

Keep us posted. icon_7.png

SpiderKiely

Keep us posted and get better.

sntcruzan · Update

Here is an update on my Blood cell levels.
I have had 2 more transfusions in the last week. I had 1 unit of platlets and Monday I had 2 units of Blood. I went in for my weekly blood test today and my count is moving up slowly. I'm still low on all of them, but at least it seems that my bone marrow is producing some. At least it is not cancer.
Here are the results.

Then Now desired
White low 1.8 4.0
redblood 5 9.7 14-16
platlets 10 30 140

Please keep praying that I will recover from this and my Bone Marrow keeps me at a normal level.

UglyKid2

Thanks for the update Fred. Glad to hear you're doing better and I will keep you in my thoughts for more improvement!

llamamama

Thanks for letting us know how you are doing. Hang in there! We are thinking about you and want you to be well soon!

Ricky Ortiz84

Man Fred your in my prayers as well hope you get well soon!!!!

EdgarOrtega

Get well, soon, Fred. Are you able to do normal activity?

BayLee

I am very happy to hear that you are starting to do better.
We all hope you will be back to normal soon. Make sure to get lots of rest and most of all listen to the doctors and the wife.

sntcruzan

I have been back to work since the day after I got out of the hospital. I still get winded walking up grades. But , I have no syptoms like I had before I went into the hospital.

llamamama

That's great news!

Bonedog

You're being looked out for Fred.

Great to hear glad news. Looking forward to seeing you at the Spring Sling Fling!

sntcruzan · Update

4/9/09 Update
I went in today for my weekly blood test to check the blood levels. I was hoping that my blood marrow would be productive. The levels have dropped since last Thursday.
White 1.8 to 2.0 up a little due to an ear infection, but still low
Red 8.9 from 9.7 last week
Platelets 14 from 30 last week.
Dr.Choate sent me directly to the outpatient unit this morning to get 2 more units of red blood cells. This test left me feeling dissappointed and I missed the entire day of work. But ,I do feel that God has His hand on this and still has a purpose in mind for me.
So this still remains a week by week process and a wait and see approach.
Please continue to pray for healing for me and for Rena not to stress out too much in "concern"(worry) about me.

llamamama

Hang in there, Fred. You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.

BayLee

Fred take it easy maybe you need to rest a little. It takes a lot out of ones body when not feeling 100%. We are all thinking of you and want you to get better.

sntcruzan

Red blood was down yesterday and I spent the day getting 2 more units of blood. After that transfusion the nurse tells me that my platelets have dropped from 11000 to 7,000. I'll probably have to go back again today to get some platelets pumped into me.
Stanford is waiting for insurance to approve testing and they will find out what my Bone Marrow is doing or I should say not doing.
Fred

northswan04

Fred, you're in our thoughts, hang in there. we'll keep positive energy flowing in your direction!

sntcruzan · Update

Here's a copy of the email my wife just sent out on my visit today at Stanford.

"Hi Family and Friends,

Fred and I wanted to write and let you know what we learned at Stanford today. First of all, the doctor felt he didn't have enough bone marrow to make any real determination so everything after this is what the plan is if the new bone marrow sample warrants it. So, tomorrow Fred will have a large piece of bone marrow taken for testing and sent to Stanford. The doctor will look at it. What he is expecting to find is that the bone marrow is not as dense as it should be and is actually deteriorating. If this is what they find, then he feels the best course of action is to begin the preparations for finding a bone marrow donor and doing a bone marrow transplant. This will involve chemotherapy to "kill" the remaining bone marrow in Fred's body and make room for new healthy bone marrow. The doctor feels the best possibilities for a match are Fred's sibling and this can be determined with a simple blood test. If none of them are a match, then we will have to search elsewhere for a match.

The doctor feels that if Fred continues to get transfusions at the rate that he has been, he runs the risk of beginning to develop antibodies to the platelets specifically and this could lead to internal bleeding. Currently, he is at high risk for any kind of infection or bleeding because of his low blood count (any flu or minor injury can become major for him). In the meantime, the doctor wants him to stay away from any kind of chemicals (round-up, weed killers, etc.) that he usually uses for his work. If he will have to have the transplant, they will expect him to not work for at least 3 months.

So we are moving forward as if this is the plan of action and praying that God will reveal if there is something specific that is treatable without a transplant, or better yet, that God will just heal him and make his bone marrow whole again.

We appreciate all of your concern, prayers, offers of help. We know we are well loved. Please know that you are loved and appreciated back!

Fred and Rena"

UglyKid2

Dang it Fred you looked so good at the meeting it's hard to believe what you're going through. Hang in there and know that we are all pulling for you. I will be first in line to test for a match if needed, just let me know when.

llamamama

Dang it, John...you beat me to it! Well, then I guess I'll have to settle for being second in line. Hang in there, Fred. We're thinking positive thoughts for you!

EdgarOrtega

Gosh, Fred. This is not what we wanted to year. Keep us updated on the potential doner matches. I would be happy to test, too. Let us know.

northswan04

Fred, our hearts are with you and you are in our thoughts. I wish you the best in this trial, let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Marlene

DeeCasey

Our thoughts and prayers are with you Fred. Hang in there!

BayLee

Fred, you really looked good at the meeting. I hope you will find a match, if now I am in line too to help.

We all are thinking of you and hope for a fast recovery.
You need to rest now and let he doctors and Rena take care of you.
Get well soon!

Lony

Arachnocat

I will help too. Hope you get better soon!!!

Bonedog

God of all creation, you who spoke a simple command and brought forth light from the darkness, I call upon you now to send forth your miracle-working power into every aspect of my being. In the same way that you spoke unto the dust of the ground when you created humankind in your own image, I ask you to send forth your healing power into my body. Send forth your word and command every cell, electrical and chemical impulse, tissue, joint, ligament, organ, gland, muscle, bone and every molecule in my body to come under complete and perfect health, strength, alignment, balance and harmony.

It is through you that I live and move and have my being. With every breath I take, I live under your life-giving grace. I ask you to touch me now with the same miracle-working power that you used when you fashioned me inside my mother’s womb. As surely as you have created me in your image and likeness, you can also recreate me now and restore me to health.

Please fill me with your healing power. Cast out all that should not be inside of me. I ask you to mend all that is broken, root out every sickness and disease, open all blocked arteries and veins, restore my internal organs, rebuild my damaged tissues, remove all inflammation and cleanse me of all infections, viruses and destructive forms of bacteria.

Let the warmth of your healing love flood my entire being, so that my body will function the way it was created to be, whole and complete, renewed in your perfect health. I ask this through my Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
It all for you Fred.
Scott and Family

sntcruzan

Thank all of you for your prayers. Please continue ....

Weds a.m. Today is a big day and we should find out what the plan is going for me in the treatment of what ever is going on with my blood - Keep up those healing prayers..GBY..(God bless you)

See my carepage blog for complete posts/info

EdgarOrtega

We're thinking of you, Fred. Yes, keep that blog updated for us. Wish you didn't have to go through all of this, but I hope things turn around for the better.