July came and went without too many issues. Sharon continued working full time.
Sharon retired in August. She says it has been great. She no longer has to commit to going into work when she is not feeling well. As most of us know, come hell or high water, Sharon was always at work even on her worst days. Now, she is able to focus totally on her recovery.
September 4, Sharon celebrated her 1st transplant birthday. While you would think there would have been a party going on, there wasn't. It was Labor Day weekend and she'd sent Bob to the races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. She enjoyed a peaceful day doing what she wanted to do.
In Sharon's routine blood work with Dr. Bender, in Georgia, he noticed her liver enzymes were elevated. She went through a couple of tests here before they left for Minnesota. Once in Rochester, Dr. Hogan's team evaluated her further. They performed a liver biopsy to determine the cause of the elevation in her counts.
Graft vs. Host Disease has reared it's ugly head again which is not uncommon. It is the result of her donor stem cells still attacking certain parts of the host. First, it appeared as a skin rash again. She had this same rash after the transplant last year. While the rash is more of a nuisance than anything, the GVHD is attacking her liver this time. The doctor's have placed her on heavy doses of prednisone to eliminate the GVHD. As a result of taking the prednisone, this has caused her blood sugar to spike. Now, she is testing her sugar a couple of times a day and giving herself an insulin injection each day. She said her counts are really good in the morning and get higher in the evening. The doctors are optimistic that this is a temporary side effect of the medicine. Once she had been weaned off the prednisone, they believe her levels will return to normal.
The Mayo confirmed the presence of 100% donor cells. Great news!
Bob said the doctors in Georgia and Minnesota are on the same page which makes them feel confident moving forward.
Sharon and Bob are currently in Ohio visiting family. They were attending Bob's mini class reunion tonight and Sharon's class reunion is on Saturday. The plan is to head back to Georgia around the 17th. They will be here a couple of weeks before returning to Minnesota for another check up. While it is a long drive, they don't mind. After all, they are receiving the BEST treatment from the BEST doctors.
As always, thank you for your continued support and prayers. They are much appreciated.
