Update on Dina

Okay Folks, we have the word...DINA HAS NO CANCER IN HER BODY!!  NONE to be seen, even the spleen was clean!!  Yeah!!  Are we jumping for joy or what?

Now I have to back up and fill you in on what has been going on for a while and she is not fixed yet...

Earlier in March she felt she had a yeast infection...she has had them before, knows the symptoms and the feelings, so she bought over the counter drugs that she has used before.  They didn't work (twice).  After Easter she had her yearly Pap and Mam, so she saw the doctor and talked to her about the yeast infection.  HOWEVER, the doctor did not do a culture (we are not sure why, now that we look back on it and sure wished she had).  She did give Dina a prescription for the yeast infection.  Then last week she had her teeth cleaned on a Tuesday, after that she had a sore throat for several days and then by Thursday night and all day Friday she was running a fever.  Saturday she was just okay...Ellie had a VB tourney in Corvallis and of course Dina wanted to go so Scott and I went with them so she wouldn't have to drive by herself.  She was just feeling "okay" because she was taking tylenol to help with the fever.  But by the time we were driving home (9 PM at night) she was so cold and chattering, she couldn't get warm.  Her fever spiked to 102 during the night..  She spent Sunday in bed.  After the weekend she went back to the dentist because all of a sudden she had white sores in her mouth...her dentist did not think it looked like a yeast infection,  but he prescribed a strong antibiotic for her.  She felt she should see the ob/gyn before taking the pills and that doctor also prescribed the same drug as the dentist.  It didn't get better and her fever was still hanging around.  And what she thought was the yeast infection was getting worse, making it difficult to sit and of course with the sores in her mouth she was not eating.

She saw her oncologist (actually the PA) and she did not think it was yeast either, but they took a culture and now we are waiting for the results.  In the meantime her oncologist prescribed another antibiotic and then another for a virile infection...just to cover all their bases...they also gave her pain meds.  When they drew blood her white cell count was extremely low and that had them concerned.  They are calling what she has Neutropenia...basically low white count.  Most often this is seen during the chemo infusion, so what has them concerned is that it is showing up so far out from her last chemo treatment.  They moved her PET scan and she had it yesterday morning, so that they could good a handle on what is going on with her body.  This  morning she is going to have another blood draw and after the doctor reads her numbers he will decide whether he will do another bone marrow biopsy.

For now her fever is gone and other than a sore mouth and very sore in the lower region she is feeling good.  And of course we are extremely joyous about NO cancer in her body...neutropenia can be dangerous also, so now we are anxious to get this issue resolved...

As Our Mother Mary says, Pray, pray, pray...

Thank you!