Vishal doing better but tonight's critical

As per the doctors Vishal is doing much better today. There are definitely some signs of improvement. Until yesterday, his body was reacting to dialysis very unfavourably. His blood pressure would drop as soon as he was put on dialysis. Today, his body responded very favourably to dialysis. His blood pressure did not go down and a lot of fluid was pumped out of his body. His eyes were bulging out of his sockets because of this excess liquid, after the dialysis today they are now normal. He is still on a ventilator but the settings are at 50%. He is still on sedatives but the doctors have stopped giving him paralytic drugs which means his organs would start being active very soon. Tonight is a very critical test for him; if his body can cope up without the paralytic drugs, it would be a very important milestone for him. He still has mucositis. Every hour blood and mucus are being sucked out of his body.

Typically it takes about 18-28 days for the new marrow to activate and produce white blood cells. In Vishal's case the doctors want to hasten this process. They have given him shots that will kick start the production of white blood cells. The doctors are optimistic that this would help his body heal soon and also help him handle all the treatment related stress better.

Swati is being very strong through this ordeal. Helping her are her and Vishal's family. She is at the hospital 24X7 monitoring his progress and keeping close vigil. Please keep the whole family in your thoughts. Please do pray that Vishal pulls off tonight without any untoward incidents. Hopefully and God willingly tomorrow would be much brighter.

Thank You!

Vishal still critical (Transplant - Day 16)

Vishal's condition deteriorated last night. As per the plan, the doctors wanted to take him off sedatives and dialysis to see how his body copes up. They had reduced ventilation to 45% to see if his lungs can function under these circumstances. As soon as the sedatives started wearing off; the rest of the organs started functioning and his body required more oxygen than his lungs could supply. He started having breathing problems and the doctors had to act very fast. He is back on heavy sedation and now the rest of his organs are passive. He is back on a ventilator with 90% settings. He is back on dialysis as well.
If some of you are wondering how this problem has started, here's the story: After the chemotherapy and the marrow transplant, his white blood cell count was zero. During this time his body had contracted an infection which damaged his lungs and sent his kideneys into a shock. Since then his kidneys have not been functioning upto the mark. Though the infection was taken care of within 2 days, his lungs were damaged considerably. This is the reason why he is on a ventilator so that oxygen is supplied to his entire body.Since it is very hard to determine if his lungs are reviving/have revived, the doctors need to experiment and find out the progress by trial and error. They are regularly taking X-Rays of his lungs but the results could be misleading. X-Rays can only tell you that there is a problem but not the cause or the extent of the problem. There is no other option available to see the intensity of the problem. Since the oxygen supply is limited, the doctors do not want the rest of his organs to use it so much hence the heavy sedation. Medicines and fluid are being passed through intravenously which is causing a different set of problems. Since his kidneys are not functioning they are not able to pump excess fluid and toxins out of his body causing the fluid to enter into his lungs. The result being low oxygen levels in the body. The reason why dialysis is so important for him at present. Here when one more complication arises because dialysis also results in low blood pressure. Also, if his body gets used to dialysis, his kidneys might not recover fast. A day ago the doctors wanted to see if his lungs and kidneys have revived, hence he was taken off dialysis and ventilation. They also took him off sedatives to check if there was any progress. They also hoped that if his body is forced to cope with this adverse situation, his lungs and other organs might start working on a regular rythm. But this was not the case and his condition started deteriorating very fast once the rest of the organs started 'waking up'.
The key organ here is his lungs. Once they start functioning well, the path to recovery is fast.
The action plan for now is to keep him on sedatives, ventilation and dialysis today. His new bone marrow has not yet started producing cells. The doctors plan to activate and hasten this process. They are hoping that this will produce white blood cells which will ward off any infections. They are optimistic that this will also help his body recuperate.
His whole family is with him and providing him with support. He has not been conscious in the past 10 days. Every day has been more gruelling than the previous. Hopefully tomorrow will provide us all with a ray of hope. But for this to happen, we all need your support. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. You have the power to help him win this battle.
Thank You!

Further details on vishal's progress

Vishal has been diagonsed with "mucocyst": infection in which organs from intestine to mouth are affected. The sedatives has been stopped to see how his body organs behave. His blood pressure is low, and additionally fluctuating rapidly. Doctors are trying to see the cause of this by trial-and- error which means they will turn off the supporting systems one by one. Today they turned off dialysis to see if the blood pressure stabilizes and kidney functions normally. All this suggest that he is still very much in the danger zone but the doctors are hopeful of a recovery.
Vishal's lungs are recovering. He is under 55% ventilation now which is a big improvement from 100% last week. However, there is a long way to go. Swati and her parents, her brother and Vishal's paternal aunts, uncle and cousin are there with him. Please keep praying so that we can get some more positive news.

Vishal's update July 31, 2009

Vishal's condition has improved from yesterday evening. Though he still not out of danger but doctors are positive about his betterment. The external support systems has been removed, but he is still under ventilation. He has been given sedatives and artificially induced paralytic drugs to keep his organ functions minimal. Please continue to keep him and his family in your prayers.

Vishal's condition is very critical.

Hello friends, I know most of you are waiting for updates about Vishal's progress. I am writing this in a very agitated state of mind. Vishal's condition is very critical. His lungs are not working, his kidneys have failed. He is on a ventilator. The doctors have given him drugs so as to control the supply of oxygen to different organs. He is in a induced coma kind of state. He is hanging in there fighting for his life. To support him, his entire family is with him. Most of you are aware about his journey since the time he found out about his illness. This is the moment in this journey when he needs all of us the most. I implore you to keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Your prayers are very powerful, please use them to help vishal triumph in this battle. Vishal, Swati and their family need our support and strength to endure this harrowing situation. Please keep them in your prayers as well.

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—


Thank You!

Recovering from Transplant - Day +6

Today Vishal is Day +6 from the transplant day. His counts are at bottom. He is getting blood and platelet transfusion as needed. He is having fever and mouth sores which is very common after the transplant. He is extremely fatigued. He is on bunch of antibiotics to prevent more infections to come. He is not able to eat or drink much so he is put on IV Nutrition.

Doctors are saying that the donor's stem cells will take few days to reach Vishal's bone marrow. Once the stem cells are in bone marrow and they are ready to produce the new blood , that time there are chance of getting GVHD(Graft Vs Host Disease) where Vishal's immune system and Donor's cells might attack each other. He is already on medication to reduce GVHD.

Do put your comments as Vishal loves to hear from you.

Transplant Went Smoothly

Vishal's stem cell transplant went smoothly. There was no reaction. He is doing good right now.

Doctors are saying Donor's cells would start producing new blood cells at around 18th day. They would be taking extreme precautions during this time to avoid any infection while his immune system is totally knocked out. He would be in isolation till that time.

He should continue doing good with your prayers and blessings.