Brenda Suits Potter _UPDATE *Re-Admitted*

 

 

 

It’s been about 8 weeks since the last update. Brenda was re-admitted to VCU Critical Care last night for another lung infection. She was diagnosed with RSV( Respiratory Syncytial virus) which is essentially for everyone that is not immune compromised a common cold. For Cancer patients It can become a real problem because 1) It has to run its course (usually 2 weeks), and 2) it causes other respiratory infections that lead to additional concerns such as bronchitis or pneumonia which her doctors believe she also has. In September she was diagnosed with a fungal infection in both lungs, she was put on anti fungal medicine for a duration of 3-4 months. She is still on those meds today. Her infectious disease Dr. compared her chest CT from admission yesterday to the one that was taken in September and the fungal infection has not gotten any better but no worse either. The nodules are the same size. There is additional infection  they are treating her for and should  start to take care of in an few days. They will repeat the CT in a few days to look for changes. She is running a fever and struggling to breath normally. Very similar to respiratory distress like she had  back in October but not as severe. In order to move forward with a bone marrow transplant, its highly likely that her lungs will need to be clear of any infection. There are a few other obstacles going on that would prevent her from getting to BMT but the fungal infection that has not cleared up in 6 months may be the defining factor. Brenda has had reservations about going to transplant because of its aggressive nature and given how much her body has been through makes her a very high risk for failure. She did not do well with the Immunotherapy/ Chemotherapy on this last treatment. Her doctors stopped a portion of the treatment a few weeks ago to allow her counts to recover but as of today she still is at 0.03 white blood cell count which is why we are here with the inability to fight off infection. She is scheduled to have another bone marrow biopsy next week but I am not sure they will do it with her low counts. I tell her every day to take it one day at a time. It’s the only way to look at it. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Please feel free to share.

 

Much Love,