From Dave on Monday, Nov 19th:

Dear Prayer Partners,

Beth has been recovering well since her hospitalization last Thursday,
the infection is under control, but we are not sure when she will be
discharged. She continues to have very healthy blood counts. She had a
scan today on her GI Tract which, as mentioned in a previous prayer
request, is where the latest challenges occurred.

Early views of today's scan and biopsy by members of her medical team
are yet not conclusive, we will know more on Tuesday, but point to Beth
may now have developed Graft vs. Host Disease. This can occur in Bone
Marrow Transplant patients because the donors cells are not only
producing a healthy immune system but are now ticked off that they
aren't in their original home, so they go on the attack against the new
body.

We remain prayerful that it might not be GVHD, we are thankful and
trusting that the Lord He can be bring these stem cells to the right
balance with His power and if needed medical means. Beth would
appreciate prayers for comfort and strength. This battle can be
frustrating and exhausting. We are hoping she'll be out of the hospital
and home for Thanksgiving. Our children have done so well but yet want
Mom home. I understand.

Sincerely,

Dave

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
previous updates from FRIDAY, Nov 16th pm

Hi Team,

I just got a phone call from Dave a few minutes ago. he was on the
road coming back from the hospital. The transplant Doctor is not total
ready to declare this Graft vs host disease yet but it is looking
likely.

To recap, G vs H is the newly transplanted stem cells that can attack
the host body. One of the systems that is can be initially affected is
the gastric. And that is exactly the trouble Beth has been
experiencing for this whole week.

Beth and Dave are calling for 24 hours of prayer about this.

Thanks team, I will keep you updated as I get new information.
--
Blessings,

Larry D'Apice,


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HI PRAYER TEAM, UPDATE FROM DAVE THIS MORNING Friday, the 16th;


Hi All,

We had a long day yesterday in Boston. Beth was unable to clear an
infection after several days of fever and other challenges and had to
be admitted to the hospital for some tests, IV infusions of antibiotics
and fluids. She'll be in most of the weekend.

Her new immune system was put under a load test so to speak and is
doing well! with no presence of disease, Praise God! The biggest issue
in this case is that no infection gets into her blood stream. Doctors
are checking vital organs like kidneys, liver, G I Tract, etc. for
presence of infection.

We were reminded yesterday that Bone Marrow / Stem Cell patients will
often deal with various infections / hospitalizations the first year,
it's par for the course. The Team told her it was time to get some
definitive data and will be getting more Information later this AM to
share in the form of a prayer request.

Prayerful & Thankful

Dave

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From last Monday, Nov 12th

FROM DAVE;

Hi Larry,

Will you send this out?

A brief update on Beth. She had a very positive report last WED 11/7.
She reached her 100 day milestone with very few complications.
Her white cell count was at 5.1 (normal is 4-10). All her other levels
are also good to excellent. 95% of her restrictions have been lifted.

However, within 24 hours on Thursday 11/8 she came down with a terrible
stomach ache followed by vomiting and fever. Her doctors suspect it is
a virus of sorts but it has not let up since it started. We anticipate
a trip to Boston on Monday 11/12 as a more definitive diagnosis by her
transplant team is needed. We have been in contact with them since
things started.

Please pray for healing and for her new fighting immune system to deal
aggressively with this bug and wisdom for her team to know what the
cause is. GVHD can not be ruled out (Graft vs. Host Disease). It can
manifest even months after Bone Marrow / Stem Cell Transplantation
which are donor's cells attacking things like the body's organs,
tissues, GI track, etc. This is most likely to occur within the first
100 day window. As stated she passed that mark this past week.

Please pray for our peace of mind, we were celebrating on Wednesday.

My Thanks
Dave





________________________________________________________________________________\
____
Be a better pen pal.
Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.
http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/