Going Home - YEA!!!

What a difference from yesterday morning to this morning! Mark is back to his humorous and happy self. He still gets nauseous and will stay on some medication for that, and he gets fatigued easily. But, he is eating again, and all his systems are back in working order. The only issue today is that his platelets are deficient. Normal is between 150-450, and he was down to 30, so he got one bag of platelets to put him up to 50. Actually, the only reason he is getting platelets is that the central line IV is being removed from his neck, and they don't want him to bleed! Once removed, the nurse will hold pressure on the spot for 5 minutes, then Mark will need to lie flat for half an hour. 

It's done. I watched the nurse pull out the 8-inch line. The tiny blue tip goes right to the heart. Amazing! (I got a picture of the IV line if you wanna see it!)

So here's the good thing about having low platelets:

Research shows that there are three indicators that IL-2 will more likely work to shrink tumors:

1. Low blood pressure during the treatment, with the need for phenylephrine. Check - that happened.
2. Low co2 (carbon dioxide). Low is below 20, and they don't like to go below that. Mark's got to 21, so close to the low level without going below. Check.
3. Low platelets. Check - that happened. (BTW, our son Eric has given 86 units of platelets over the last 5 years!)

So, Mark's response indicates that he is more likely to respond positively to this treatment. Of course, no one really knows, but those indicators seem to be present for those patients who have had a durable response.

We should be leaving in less than an hour. Mark will not be able to drive for three days; he needs to rest, not lift anything heavy, do not get a neck massage (someone did that and got a blood clot), or do anything that could cause bleeding where the IV was removed from his neck. Otherwise, he should be back to normal in less than a week. Skin issues could still be a problem, but much of the redness has gone away, so he may not have the rash.

ROUND 1 is DONE! We're excited to go home!! I thought I'd get this posted before we leave, as I may have less time later. Thanks again for all the support, love, and prayers! 

With love and much appreciation to you all!!!