Monday, Nov 23, 2015 (Day 18 from CART cell infusion)

On November 24, 2015 by Michelle Love

Monday (Day 18 from CART cell infusion) …

BJ had a rough night last night. His confusion and agitation with everything increases at night. He’s very unsteady and weak, so he needs help getting up, and help walking to the bathroom (for balance), but he wants to do everything by himself. He’s got super strength, even when he’s weak. At midnight, his white blood cell count was 11.9k (awesome!!!), and at noon, it was 11.1k (even more awesome!!!). So, it’s pretty clear that the CART cells are in there, battling leukemia cells, and the CART cells are winning!!! He has never stopped pounding, and it really is going to be a Round 2 Knockout!!

His doctor came in today, and was very happy to see the drop in WBC count over the weekend. He was safe to say at that point, that the cells are working. God told me so, and I’m so glad I listened to him! (See November 19th post if you missed it.) Now, his WBC will continue to decline until it reaches near zero. Then, BJ’s cells will begin to make neutrophils again, and build back up to a normal level. He still has a long way to go to be able to be discharged.

Today, his mental clarity has slightly improved. His temperature dropped down to 99 this afternoon, but by 4pm, it was back up to 106.2. He received IV Tylenol to help drop that fever down some. He is still on oxygen, dilaudid, and IV nutrients. He received 2 separate platelet transfusions today. He had an IV placed in his forearm this morning, because with everything he is getting intravenously, there’s no time to slide in a 3 hour blood transfusion. He was supposed to receive 2 units of blood today, because his hemoglobin was low. After the first unit finished transfusing, BJ sat up, got very agitated, and yanked the IV out of his forearm. He didn’t even flinch. I’m pretty sure that he didn’t know what he was doing. Instead of putting in another IV, they decided to wait and give him another unit of blood after his midnight labs if his hemoglobin is below 9.

Thank you so much for your prayers! They continue to lift us up!

#CureForBJRound2 #BJStrong #Fighter #KeepPounding #CART19

#FutureNavySEAL

The pictures are of his crowded IV pole from this morning, and a graph of the changes in his white blood cell counts since Day 3 of CART cell Infusion.