December 23rd - December 27th

Hello All,

Thanks for checking in on Tom. As I write, Tom is resting and remaining as quarantined as we have the capability to keep him. When we left Los Angeles for Santa Maria on the 23rd we expected to hear from Tom's hemotologist, Dr. Olsen, on the 24th to find out if we needed to come home for a blood platelet transfusion on Friday. At the time Tom was several weeks into a bad cold and in the last4 or 5 days had been experiencing a racing heartbeat and throbbing in the back of his head whenever he stood up. On the 22nd and 23rd these symptoms had subsided and were replaced with extreme weakness.

Early on the 24th Dr. Olsen's doctor called and said that his blood test results indicated that his hemoglobin was 5.8. Normal is 13.5 to 16.5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemoglobin). The doctor ordered additional blood tests as he didn't believe Tom could survive such a low hemoglobin. Marc took him to several lab locations until they drew again around 1:00. By 2:30 Dr. Olsen's called and told me that Tom needed to go straight to the emergency room. I inquired about whether I could get him back to the hospital in Burbank where Tom usually gets his blood platelet transfusions and which Tom trusts. Dr. Olsen's office reiterated that he didn't have time and that this is was a life-threatening situation. He was to tell them that he was under the care of a hemotologist/oncologist, that his hemoglobin was now 5.6, and that he would need a full blood transfusion.

This was the first time that his hemoglobin had ever been critically low. We were confused and panicked. Tom was at the hospital before 3:00 and was immediately put in a bed and testing began. He was admitted by 6:00. The ER doctor also explained to us that the subsiding of the throbbing and heart racing was a poor sign, as it meant his heart, which was working harder to circulate what little blood he had, was no longer compensating for the lack of blood in his body. His transfusion took all that night and into Christmas morning. They followed up the red blood transfusion with his "regular" platelet transfusion. At some point in his hospital stay the nurses began to wear face masks and explained that Tom's immune system is compromised and that he should be exposed to as few people as possible. He was discharged at about 1:30 PM Christmas Day.

I brought him back to Lisa and Jason's house and he slept/rested for about a day before we came home Friday in the late afternoon. Friday morning we spoke with the on-call at his medical group. He directed Tom to return to the hospital if the symptoms worsened again and to be at the doctor's office first thing Monday morning. Based on a recent conversation with Dr. Olsen we know that Tom will, at least, be undergoing another bone marrow extraction. The waiting until Monday morning is hard right now. We'll let you know what we find out.

Thanks, as always, for your prayers and thoughts!