Headache, literally and figuratively

Rajesh was admitted to the hospital after his headache took a turn for the worse and was accompanied by some dizziness. A scan of his head apparently revealed some growth/lesions. Subsequently, he successfully underwent surgery to remove the growth.

According to the doctors, his surgery was successful. He is recovering in the ICU and is heavily sedated to quell the pain from the surgery. The good news is that the doctors think it might just be some bacterial infection of the brain in the cerebellum area. Apparently, this is not very uncommon for people whose immune systems are compromised due to anti-cancer drugs. They believe they have cleaned up most of the infection. And any traces remaining can be treated with anti-biotics.

Let us all continue to pray that he faces this hurdle also as he has in the past.

Help Rajesh Team

p.s: Please note that the opinion/information presented above is not made by a medical professional. It is a loosely packaged information based on conversation with Rajesh's dad and wife and their iinterpretation of what they have gathered from the doctors treating Rajesh.

New year greetings and update

Rajesh and his family wish to convey to all his well wishers, a very happy, health and prosperous new year.

He just returned back to Vellore after a short break. He visited Palakkad and spent the holidays with his in-laws. He is suffering from some neck pain and headache. Hopefully it is not related to his BMT. He has his routine check up scheduled for the 5th of Jan (tomorrow). He will post an update after the results of the check up become available.

Best wishes
HelpRajesh team

Update

Dear All,

An update has been long over due. The delay is due to the fact that I was in and out of hospital few times -  from 29th of October to 13th Of November. I was down with GVHD (Graft-versus-Host-Disease ). Well, the good part is that having GVHD  indicates that the body(T-cells) is capable of fighting out foreign cells. This also means that the chances of relapse are reduced. So it was sort of a mixed reaction for my admission as the Doctors were happy that I had some form of GVHD ( Stage 2 ) and they could bring its effects down by administering some steroids and Cyclosporin which was in-fact stopped about a week before 29th.

As the GVHD had effected my liver and stomach detailed Endoscopic studies and tissue biopsies were done to ensure the extent of problem and decide on the dosage of the drugs regime that was to be followed. The GVHD was brought under control with in the first week. However, due to the Steroids, my body had bloated up and the water retention in my body increased which increased my weight from 54 kg to 61 kg within 7 days.

Normally it is un-coded law that what you get within the 1st 100 days of your BMT is considered or termed Acute GVHD and what appears after 100 days is considered as Chronic GVHD. What I have had is both Acute and Chronic but within controllable limits. This is why for the 1st 100days they want you closer to the hospital so that any sort of Acute GVHD can be treated by them.

Now they would have to stabilize my condition with the dosage of the Steroids which they tapper down the bare minimum and also the dosage of the cyclosporine is regulated for a normal level.

I am going for weekly check ups and the good news is with all these variations my counts are all holding good and hence the general health condition is fine.

Coming weeks would answer the future plans for me and my Vellore stay is fast approaching 365 days( One year so to say).

Regards

Rajesh

The 100 day milestone

As we pass the hundred (100) day milestone, post transplant, please continue to keep Rajesh in your prayers. We are all praying for his progress to continue as well as it has been over these 100 days. Hopefully he will recover well enough to go back to his routines, soon.

Out of the hospital

Dear All,

After sudden chills and fever due to an E-Coli infection on my Hickman’s line, I was admitted to the hospital on the 6th of Sept. I got discharged from the hospital yesterday night after 14 days. I had to take antibiotics every 6 hours. The Hickman’s line has been removed as it was causing the infection. This was the sort of setback they were expecting after the BMT since my immunity levels are low.

Infections like these happen due to very many reasons. So it's not as if I have been careless. I have also been administered with an Immunoglobulin Injection to improve immunity level. All these days, the immunity level was controlled by the immuno suppressants drugs. They would have to keep juggling between these two drugs for some time and hope for no more such infections / setbacks. My general health and counts are holding on fine. For the next few months, it would a weekly visit to the hospital. My appetite is slowly and steadily getting back to normalcy but I have a long way to go. Do remember me in your prayers to help me get past this phase without much hitch.

Thanks for all the support and strength provided so far. I am glad to say that with the current status of my MUD transplant, there are at least 4 or 5 cases waiting on the wings to go through the process. This gives hope to a lot of patients who would have otherwise not had a chance. So we have all set a path for a lot of people to follow and pray that all these cases would proceed smoothly. Kudo’s and thanks to one and all who has been a part of it in some way or the other.

Thanks and regards

Rajesh

Update

Rajesh's fever and infection have cleared. He is in the hospital to complete 14 days of antibiotics treatment. He will be getting discharged around 19th September. Counts are normal.

Update

Rajesh has fever and chills. He is back in the hospital to check it out. His counts are normal. It must be some infection and they are investigating. His food take is very little and that is causing some weakness. So please keep the calls only to uncle or Padmaja.