MORE Updates!

Seems like I'm always updating!

Rassie had his oncology appointment on July 13th.  Everything checked out well.  His numbers are low!!! Close to remission in my personal opinion.  At this point, there is no need for a bone marrow biopsy.  Hooray!!! I did not want Rassie to have to go through that pain.  The only downside to everything, Rassie will most likely be on Gleevec for the rest of his life. That I can live with!   Although Gleevec can send you into remission, once you stop taking it, it become highly likely that the leukemia will come back.   So, what we were told thus far is that once Rassie is in remission he will continue on the same dosage of Gleevec for ??? months to follow and then they will eventually lower the dosage to what they feel is a comfortable level.  They will also continue to follow up on his treatment and watch for any changes.

On another note, Rassie had another 8 rounds of physical therapy approved.  Thank you God, you are awesome!  He starts those next Tuesday 27th.  Rassie had a little set back about a week ago, Thursday  night.  We spent that night in the ER wondering what the heck was going on!  Turns out it was nothing too major.  Rassie bent over to pick something up and apparently severely strained his muscle.  His physical therapists said she had a feeling there was only a matter of time before something like this happened.  If you don't know, you're supposed to squat to pick things up, not bend from the back!  But with Rassie's right leg being locked in a brace he can't exactly squat, therefore, putting more strain on the back.  Rassie was in alot of pain.  He was having difficulty breathing because of it and so we were really worried.  The pain caused him to have some passing out episodes.  So we thought an ER trip was in order.  They ran two EKG's, and did a CT scan from head to toe pretty much. They also ran labs.  Everything came back A-OK!  That's when the emergency room doctors gave him a higher dose of pain meds, prescribed him some muscle relaxers and sent him home with a diagnoses of sever muscle strain and told him to follow up in 2-3 days.  Rassie's doctor is out of town for the week but the physical therapist saw him Tuesday.  She felt all long his back and sides and confirmed his muscle was strained and all out of whack!  Rassie seems to be doing a lot better today, up and moving and walking! The first few days he couldn't hardly get out of bed to go to the bathroom.  He goes back to see Dr. F on August 4th and they put off therapy until next Tuesday so that he can rest up and give that muscle time to heal.  Lots of ice and heat!

That's about it for now.  Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.  I have a job interview this coming Monday and Tuesday so add me to  your prayer list!

God Bless!!!