My Mother

i am starting this blog as a way to keep all of those interested up to date on the status of my mother.

as many of you know, char philpott (my mom), was diagnosed this week with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).  she is 76 years old and has been battling various health issues over the last year.  this is just the latest, and most serious, development.

she is currently in Jewish Hospital in cincinnati receiving induction chemotherapy treatment.  this is basically a month-long process aimed at killing the leukemia cells and having her body replace them with healthy cells.  she will have the disease in remission if they are able to make this happen.  there are 7 days of chemo drugs and then 3-4 weeks of recovery.  as of this post, she is beginning day 4 of the chemo drugs.

she has had a rough first 3 days as she has developed pneumonia and been put on dialysis to help her kidneys process all of the "bad stuff" that the chemo treatment is creating.  this condition is known as tumor lysis syndrome.  while this is very serious, it is not uncommon in cancer patients.

yesterday was her "best" day in the hospital as they uncovered no "new" problems and her blood counts started moving in the right direction.  it is too early to tell how the chemo is working but a day without further complications can only be described as a "good" day right now.  they really won't know a lot until day 14 when they do another bone marrow scan.  the biggest danger right now is they have "destroyed" her immune system so they are being very careful about potential infections and managing the pneumonia.

my father, my brothers, and i all appreciate the thoughts and prayers my mom is receiving.  if you post on my blog, i will make sure my mom gets the messages.  i will see if i can get her to post her own updates as she feels up to it.

she can't have fresh flowers in her room right now, but any cards are always welcome.  

as for my dad, he is staying with angie and me.  so is rusty, their dog.  he could use prayers as well as he hasn't been the healthiest guy in the world for the last 10 years.  he spends the day by my mom's side and resists our, well-intentioned, prodding to get out, eat, sleep and take care of himself.

i will try to post updates every night during her stay in the hospital.

many blessings to all of my mom's friends pulling for her.

tim