2/17/11 What did Dr. Romaguera say?

We got over to MDACC Lymphoma department early to meet with Holli Baker and her husband. Holli was her ever cheery self and ready to tackle whatever cards God deals her. She looked cute in her hat covering her lack of hair. She is no longer teaching Art because of the danger of catching the dreaded germs of 1st and 2nd graders. You can tell that Holli is still enjoying her life to the fullest with the zest of personality that oozes out of her body. Hollie was in remission for a year and a half when the Mantle Cell Lymphoma showed its ugly head again. Dr. Romaguera has recommended an Allo Stem Cell Transplant which are stem cells from another person. She has under gone three Part A's of the HyperCVAD with one more to go. The key is for MDACC to find a stem cell match but so far there has not been one which is nerve wracking. Holli is taking it with much hope and courage that she will survive one way or the other. Once they find a match, she will undergo consolidated chemotherapy which destroys the bone marrow and immune system to zero. It is done for a week in the hospital. It is followed by a month's stay in the hospital being totally isolated as she receives the stem cells intravenously. Holli gave Joe and I a gift she made, a colorful cross with a special message to us on the other side. We will keep it near us to remind us that God is always with us during this journey of earth.

The nurse called us back into the exam rooms early at 4PM with our appointment being 4:30PM. We are so grateful to the amazing staff of MDACC. It was great to see Goley Richardson and we gave each other a big hug. We told her we were back till the job is finished at the Ritz of Cancer hospitals. Joe weighed 183 today which was good and his blood pressure was perfect.

Dr. Romageura greeted me with a hug and a handshake for Joe. He stated that he was very pleased with the results of Joe's chemotherapy. He said that Joe did better than younger patients who had no other serious disease like Joe has with Myelofibrosis. He stated there was no mantle cell lymphoma in the blood. He went over the CT radiologists comments where he did not see any lymphoma in the lymph nodes. The radiologists did see that Joe's sinus infection is worse and has spread so we are glad to know that we are seeing an expert on Monday in the ENT and Infectious disease department. It will be a great help to the ENT to have the blood tests and the CT results. A big negative on the CT scan showed that Joe's spleen substantially increased since the last CT exam in December. Dr R showed us the current and December CT exam and we could see where the spleen is now dropping into the groin area. Dr. R thinks the large spleen is from the Myelofibrosis because of the positive results of the blood and CT scan that the lymphoma was gone. The spleen would not normally harvest lymphoma cells but Joe could be an exception. Dr R wanted to confer with Dr Verstosvek about the spleen and if he also believes that it is from the Myelofibrosis. Dr R promised to call us tomorrow about his decision on additional tests and what Dr. V stated. Myelofibrosis is scarring of the bone marrow which results it can not produce enough healthy blood cells. In Myelofibrosis the spleen takes over the job in producing blood cells. The danger is if Joe spleen gets so big that it could rupture and cause death. I pray that they find a way to decrease his spleen size.

We left MDACC today with mixed feelings. Shouldn't we be joyful about what was said that Dr R thought the Mantle Cell Lymphoma is in remission? Both Joe and I feel that some other demon is in his body causing new issues. We will have to wait till more tests are done and find out what the results are then Dr R will tell us what he recommends next.

Both Joe and I are happy that he is being treated at MDACC. It is the right place for Joe and it is the right place for me.

Good night!