Latest Update on 10/16/07

It has been quite some time since I have sent out an update on Dave. He has had several tests since then and there have been some ups and downs in the past, but now, the big picture appears to be solid. I have included below, a blurb from Dave’s last email to me.

6 month biopsy;

Still in remission and chromosomes firing normal the most important***

White Blood 2,950    Low normal is 4,500

Platelets 72,000 rising

DNA 75% donor 25% me no change from 3 months ago, it didn't go up but it is holding steady, not sure of significance the DR has been out of the country, but I'm stable and drinking lots of dirty sock water.

I feel great, been working out eating clean diet, focused on my spirituality and glad to be alive.  I'm grateful for my friends who kick me in the ass when I start having negative thoughts.

I think you heard that Dana played the cancer card got me the best redneck birthday gift ever, HOT pit passes for the NASCAR race at Richmond.  We were the guest of Robert Yates Racing and my favorite team #88 Ricky Rudd, I got to go in the hauler and meet the team and crew chief. I got to walk out with all the drivers for Driver intros, got to stand with the team on pit road for the national anthem and they had chairs set up for us in the pit stall for the race. 

In talking with Dana, it sounds like family life is somewhat, returning to a familiar past. “Kids are great---he tells his own version in very exaggerated story lines, The Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs with prayers every night to them. He takes at least a dozen + nutritional supplements, no alcohol, no sugar and lean protein, fruit and veggie diet-organic”. 

A lot has happened and lives have been changed in the last eleven months. Dave and his family accepted the facts, took on the challenge, put their heads down and went into attack mode. Dave’s outlook now looks to be solid and with a continued perseverance, he and his family will continue to live life to its fullest.

We are all grateful to all of the support that friends and family have given through this journey, and it has made a difference.

Thank You,

Ken
 

To keep you updated on Dave Thompson!

It has been well over a month since the last update on Dave. In the last update, update #12, I had mentioned that Dave had some very discouraging test results from his t+60, (transplant +60 days) bone marrow biopsy. The
t+60 biopsy showed that his DNA was starting to fight back and claim a
little more territory. The t+29 biopsy showed that his DNA was comprised of only 9% of his original DNA and 91% of my DNA, very encouraging news for the first test results after the transplant.

Dave’s t+60 results showed that his DNA count increased by another 9% from the original t+29, count of 9%, followed by another test that showed yet again that his DNA claimed 9% more for a total count of 27%. It has appeared that for some time now, things have been slipping, and slipping in the wrong direction.

This week Dave received test results that showed a change in direction. Dave has turned the counts around, his DNA is shrinking and my DNA is on the rise. His DNA has shrunk by 3%, and that is great news.

Newest Update from Ken on 4-14-07

Today is the 114th day of Dave’s ordeal. A lot has happened in those 114 days. From the beginning…

Dave received a phone call from his family doctor saying that the blood test results are in, and that he should go to the emergency room ASAP. After arriving at Frederick Memorial Hospital, they diagnosed him with Leukemia and told him to go to Johns Hopkins ASAP. As we stood there in disbelief outside of his hospital room at FMH, Dave and Dana decided that the fastest way to get to Hopkins was to hop in their vehicle and drive there, as they immediately did. As Dana headed off to get the vehicle, we all stood around at the hospital entrance as Dave hugged his two youngest kids as if it were something more than just an every day hug, something he new he would be missing for a very long time to come. As Dave was getting into the vehicle he said “I’ll give er hell” and then he climbed in with Dana and they drove off to Johns Hopkins. That was day one.

Dave’s fortitude has been seen daily during this ordeal, such as, when the doctor told him he had to walk 100 laps, so Dave walked 1,000 laps. The doctor told him he had a 5% chance of living, so Dave went from being a “numbers guy” to, “don’t tell me the numbers, guy”. He escaped from his floor at five in the morning to come down to visit with my wife and I, and my parents while I was waiting to be taken to the operating room for my bone marrow donor procedure. I had the feeling that he was watching his back like he was an escaped convict as he pushed his IV stand in front of him as he walked into the O.R. waiting room. Many times now, he has looked into the eyes of death, but he has always kept his spirits high.

Dave, with out complaint, has endured 3 rounds of chemo, a bone marrow transplant, been kept in isolation for two 31 day stints in the hospital, all the while his team of doctors were perfecting their torture techniques.
Not to mention the mind games of having to wait days on end for test results that literally are going to tell you if you are going to live or die. Which brings us to day 114, with the latest test results just in.

Below are a few excerpts from an email that Dave sent to me this morning;

This week started out rough with fevers, headaches and I got run over by a truck, but things have improved since. Blood counts are holding steady, white blood 3,800, red blood 31.5, ANC (nuetrofils) 2,100, platelets 51K, these are still below normal but not bad for a cancer patient. The good news is that I have needed no transfusions of red blood cells or platelets since I was discharged. This means my body is working and producing healthy blood.

They did a preliminary DNA blood test on T+29 (transplant plus 29 days) to get an idea if the marrow was grafting. Bull’s-eye was 95%-100%. Mine came in at 91%you and 9% me, this is positive news that the marrow is grafting.
They will do a more definitive test a bone marrow biopsy on T+60. So my goal is to get to 95%+ by day 60. Doing all I can by eating organic anticancer diet, cut out all sugar, taking the right vitamins and supplements, protein shakes, 24 scoops of dirty sock water per day (powdered seaweed). I'm ready to start an exercise program.

Thanks for all the calls, cards, well wishes and support it has helped keep me out of the dark places, this is more mentally challenging than I thought it would be. It’s been 114 days since my world changed and it starts to wear you down.

DT

You might have seen Dave at the bowling tournament or pictures of him in the newspaper from the bowling tournament. He showed up to the bowling alley with a tattoo on the back of his head. A friend of his from high school, Pat Fuller, who lives in California, came up with an idea to incorporate Dave’s tattoo into something bigger. Some heads were put together and we have come up with something, although we have not nailed down a final version yet. Pat has already printed a first run of shirts with Dave’s logo on it. Pat is into the running community in California and he is going to get Dave’s T-shirt with logo onto a website and try to generate some interest in the running community in his area. We may run with it from there. You just may see this shirt walking or running in your area some day.

I have attached a picture of Dave that spawned this idea and the shirt logo. The logo that is attached is in its simplest form, just graphic with no script. The run that has already been printed has much more to it, but we are still working toward a final product.

Think Cure! - Click for a PDF view of the Shirt sample!

Dave is now back at home after 31 days in Johns Hopkins hospital. His first stay at Johns Hopkins started the day of his diagnosis, and that too was 31 days. The 31 day mark is not a threshold for release from the hospital, it just so happened that both stays required 31 days. In order to be released from the hospital you have to meet certain criteria, for this latest release the most critical being the white blood cell count and neutrophil count.

Neutrophils fight against infection and represent a subset of the white blood count. Neutrophils are key components in the system of defense against infection. An absence or scarcity of neutrophils makes a person vulnerable to infection. A slowly rising neutrophil count, reflects the fact that the bone marrow is recovering and new blood cells are beginning to grow and mature.

Below are Dave’s counts in the few days leading up to his release on Friday.
These counts show how he progressed up to the criteria that triggered his release.

3/26. White blood cell - 90 / Neutrophil - 0
3/27. White blood cell - 160 / Neutrophil - 16
3/28. White blood cell - 230 / Neutrophil - 23
3/29. White blood cell - 361 / Neutrophil - 102
3/30. White blood cell - 420 / Neutrophil - 130

Dave’s first 31 days in the hospital, consisted of chemo therapy to kill the cancer. His second 31 day stay, was chemo therapy to kill his bone marrow, followed by him receiving a bone marrow transplant then some more chemo therapy to get him through the initial stages of the bone marrow transplant.
Neither stay was easy to endure, but I believe this last stay was nothing short of a torture chamber. I think with every passing day he endured a new version of pain and suffering.

I received an email from Dave shortly after his release on Friday. Here is a quote from his email that puts things in perspective for me. “Good to be home, I was so happy yesterday I sat on the deck looked out across the valley and just listened to the birds and soaked up the sun, it was kind of emotional”.

Dave is now required to be staying within 20 minutes of the hospital and spend his days in the hospital. He some how convinced his team of doctors that he would be staying at his own home some 60 miles away and would report back to the hospital each day to spend his days there. Dave is now experiencing Graft Versus Host Disease. Dave’s body is the host and my bone marrow is the graft. But as Dave said, “This is good, it shows your marrow is grafting, we hope 100%. They will do a test in about 30 days to see what percent is yours and mine, that’s the next mile stone”.

Just one last quote from Dave, “Currently on kind of house arrest, no crowds (church, gym, malls, movies, parties) no sick people. As I progress, the limits will be lifted.”

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for making such a difference in Dave and his family’s life. I have received $ 107,000.00 in donations and the checks are still showing up at my house every day. I forward the notes enclosed to Dave and I deposit the donations into Dave’s fund at the Patty Pollatos Fund. We then forward Dave’s hospital bills to the Patty Pollatos Fund, and they pay those bills. This is a very tough time for Dave and his family and you all have made a huge difference in their lives.

Friends and Family,

March 6th was the day of Dave’s bone marrow transplant. Myself, and my sister, Mary Lee were tested back in January to see if we would be a suitable match as a bone marrow donor. The odds of finding a perfect match rely within brothers and sister. A person gets a strand of DNA from each parent, so brothers and sisters of the patient do have a chance of being a perfect match for this procedure.

The bone marrow match test looks at 6 different factors in the blood of the patient and the “would-be donor”. If all six factors match up, which is against the odds, you have a perfect match. If you have 5 out of 6, or 4 out of 6 match up, you can still be the donor but the patients odds go down and complications kick in. If a brother or sister does not match up, the patient can get on a list with the National Bone Marrow Registry and can only hope to be able to stay in remission for as long as it takes to come up with a match that more than likely is less than perfect.

Here is where we cashed in our prayers. I came in as a perfect match, 6 out of 6. When Dave’s doctor was consulting him on the bone marrow transplant procedure, the doctor said, “not only is your brother a perfect match, he is a perfect, perfect match”. “Your brother’s bone marrow match is a better match than an identical twin”. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but I do know it is a blessing.

My surgery show time was at 5:30 this morning two floors below Dave’s floor. I was sitting with my wife and parents in the surgery waiting room and at about 5:15 A.M. Dave, unannounced, came strolling in to the waiting room pushing his I.V. stand, fitted with a mask just so he could hang out with us until it was my time. We had a nice visit, the spirits were high and we all had a laugh during our visit. At 5:30 they carted me off for my bone marrow harvest procedure.

Just after 2:00 P.M. I was given my walking papers from the recovery room and we all headed up to Dave’s room. At the very moment we walked in to his room the nurse had the empty bag of my bone marrow in her hand squeezing the very last drop in to Dave. He ended up with 1 quart of my bone marrow. The first good sign was that he had no reactions while he received the marrow. From here, it could take a week or so until the bone marrow finds its way home and starts to graft into Dave’s body. He will more than likely stay in Johns Hopkins hospital for a month and then have to relocate very close by and visit the hospital daily and at times may become an in-patient.

Today is called “Day Zero” for a BMT, (bone marrow transplant) patient. They start counting the days of their new life from here. One cool thing about this procedure that Dave and Dana mentioned to us today is, that Dave’s hay fever allergies will be no more, he will inherit my allergies…which are none. So, this is one tough way of getting rid of your hay fever allergies. As I said in a previous update, a BMT procedure is not a sure thing, but we sure do have the upper hand on this one.

Also, just wanted to thank everyone again, for making our bowling fundraiser a success.
Thank You, Ken