The Chemo count down -- day two of seven

This is a quick slap dash post before I go to the hospital with Mia to see Steve. 

Last night Steve was feeling poorly with fever, fatigue and headaches. The doctors feel these symptoms are from the Leukemia rather than from the chemo. They think that after a few days of chemo the headache will diminish.

He has some nausea but they are treating that quite aggressively with medication. 

More to come! 

His address is:

Steve Buchsbaum

Tower 7B-39

Brigham and Women's Hospital

75 Francis St.

Boston, MA 02115

I am staying at the Inn at Longwood, 

It's a Best Western Hotel on Longwood Ave.

My cell is 207-877-4282

The Events Leading Up to the Diagnosis

 After our two-week bike trip, which was wonderful, we returned to El Puerto. Steve had a headache much of the time on the bike trip, but took Ibuprofen for it. But once back in El Puerto he stopped the Ibuprofen and had constant headaches and fatigue. We decided we had better return to Maine and see his doctor. Last Monday we returned to Maine and he saw his doctor on Tuesday. 

They took blood samples and called us in the afternoon. They were alarmed by his lab values: low platelets, immature white and red blood cells. 

We saw a hematologist Wednesday and he had a bone marrow biopsy. Friday they confirmed what we already suspected, that he has Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). 

We are in this harrowing odyssey of dealing with a serious illness. 

Steve has been really feeling awful, very fatigued, constant headache, chills and aches, and fever.

We are now in Boston at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, which is the inpatient arm of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, an excellent, internationally known center for cancer treatment. His doctor, Dr. Richard Stone, is an expert in the field of leukemia. We feel that he couldn't be in better hands. Tomorrow Steve starts a 4-6 week, very aggressive chemotherapy regime to put him into remission. 

I am staying in a hotel just minutes away from the hospital. My family lives near Boston as well as some very good friends. Emily was here for the weekend, and will be back again Saturday and Mia returned to Boston Sunday after being away for a few days. She spent the night with me here in the hotel. We feel loved and supported, and well-fed as everyone has been taking us out for meals and entertaining me. Mia took the electric clippers today and sheared off Steve's locks, as his hair will start to fall out in two weeks. 

This is insane, and as I sit in my hotel room writing this email, I still have to ask myself if this is all true. But unfortunately it is and he could be in for a rough ride until he is in remission. Let's hope he tolerates the chemo well. The fact that he very healthy and as one doctor said, "you are in remarkably good shape considering what's going on." This is important since people like him have a better chance of getting through the chemo without serious side effects. 

While not all the testing is complete on the biopsy, the doctor told Steve that he has a type of AML that has a good prognosis,. It's called T(8,21).

The trip home from Spain was very difficult for him, sleeping most of the time, wherever he could. We are so relieved that we left when we did. 

I will keep you posted as the days and weeks wear on. It has been very hectic getting to this point.